Metal Gear: Soldier X
by ShardclawKusanagi
Summary: A COE multicrossover story of accompanying side stories, anime/manga and games. The new story phase begins after a long hiatus with new mysteries, allies and more! It's been a long time, but...revised chapter 14 now uploaded.
1. Introduction and Cast of Characters

This is a multicrossover fic featuring several anime/games and even movies that will play a role for my main MGS/Evangelion crossover story, 'Children of Evangelion', though this story is fitted to have more focus for these canon characters that have integrated in this fic. This story is only for the benefit of personal entertainment and not profit.

**Disclaimers:** I do not own any of these characters; they all belong to their respective authors, anime and game companies.

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**Prologue**: For two hundred years, the organization known as the Philosophers have been secretly controlling the events of the world to fit their scenario. Now, they were referred to as the Patriots, or the Wisemen's Committee and their influence on the world's governments have grown more than ever.

In the year 2007, Solid Snake, one of the surviving clones from the genes of Big Boss himself, the greatest soldier who ever lived, and who was renowned for having successfully stopped the infamous Metal Gear weapon three times during the years 1995, 1999 and 2005, had became the world's most wanted terrorist after a mission gone awry due to the Patriots' plans. In 2009, the Patriots also played part in deceiving him, Solidus Snake, and a young soldier Raiden in taking part in an exercise constructed by the Committee for the purpose of bringing up soldiers like Snake and Raiden.

As Snake had defeated Liquid Snake during the famous Shadow Moses mission in 2005, Raiden kills the third clone, Solidus Snake on the roof of Federal Hall in 2009, while Ocelot managed to escape with Liquid's right arm still attached to replace the missing one that had been sliced off by Grey Fox back in Shadow Moses.

However, the Patriots were just getting started on their plans for Snake. During that time, the C-Genome project led by Kagami Mikage was taking fruit, while former Prime Minister Reiji Takatori had been involved in illegal crimes to raise his own status, as were the cult of psychics he was working for, Eszet. Kagami was known to have his own purposes for allying himself with the Patriots, as the same went for Takatori and Eszet. In the meantime, experiments on genetically altered female psychics, known as 'Diclonius' led by a man named Kakuzawa were also underway under the watchful eye of the Patriots while he secretly prepares his plan, the Lesbenborn project, that had also gone into phase. All the while, the massive crime syndicate, Enfant, was consolidating its already growing power.

As this was happening, other forces of evil were arising. The members of SEELE had their own plans for the developing organization known as NERV, a UN created defense facility which exists for the reason of defeating the Angels. Crimelords, assassins, gang leaders, shadow organizations, rogue mercenary and occult groups...they all want the world to do their bidding one way or another. If one evil falls, another will be ready to take its place.

This was when a new FOXHOUND group had been formed to combat this new growing threat of evil. Men and women of varying ages, abilities, experiences and skills combined to become a force to defend the safety of humanity from the many threats of evil that challenges them.

It is currently 2015, in the midst of humanity's war against the mysterious and dangerous Angels, the newly resurrected FOXHOUND and the anti Metal Gear group, Philanthropy, has joined Earth's only defense against the Angels, the organization known as NERV, in a confrontation against terrorists and the secret pact of leaders who easily have grasp over NERV and everything revolving around them, the Patriots.

While outside of FOXHOUND, other warriors have become involved with the war against the Patriots, while others are being targeted by them, and other forces of evil, most of them with plans much different than the Patriots'.

Each of these individuals are unique in their own special way, and most of their paths will be intertwined with one another. The events taken place can unite them against the evil, or tear them apart and bring disaster for humanity. The outcome depends solely on the balance of their teamwork and actions.

This is a story where one FOXHOUND's recruit battle within himself revolves the choices and actions he must choose to bring his allies together while coming to terms with his own forgotten past. Everything will revolve around him, closest and apart from him. This is the story of Soldier X.

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_**Companion stories for COE**_

**Soldier X by ShardclawKusanagi**

_Gregory Matthews 'Psychic Panther/Soldier X' Kinezono, Violent/Burning Greg, Linn 'Silver Eagle' Aramaki, Kari 'White Hawk' Mondeau, Curtis Matthews, Judith Richard Matthews, Candice Matthews, Enrich François Welker, Samantha Welker, Louis Hardin, Shin Murakami, Kyoko Murakami, Trey 'Full Clip' Johnson, Theodore/Teddy Harold, Clair Harold, Raymond P. Tanning, Mikhail Spinoza, Hermann 'Khyber' Kruch, Patrick 'Overboss/Hunter 1' Dixon, Kendal 'The True Soldier X/Hunter 2' Martin, Joshua 'Blood Dancer/Hunter 4' Steele, Melissa 'Abyss Saint/Hunter 5' Frank._

**Dragon, Crow and Rabbit by DarkFusion**

_Riku 'Drakken' Hanabishi, Albert 'Al' Lowe, Karen Allenford, Mariel Allenford, Isaac 'Zack' Allenford, Tetsunosuke Mikagami, Miyu Koganei, Mia Takiyama, Scorpius._

**Bloody Hands by TempestDynasty**

_Garland 'Berserker Demon/Bloody Hands' Durev, Maggie 'Dark Eden' Thompson, Dee Starling, Pei, Kanashii._

**Sting of the Scorpion and by GoryParatrooper (formerly RuneKnightPictures)**

_James 'Silent Scorpion' Masterson, Nagu Masaki, Matthew Reese._

**Venom Coursing by GreyWolf4**

_Michael 'Venom' Hansen, Aritomo Ishida, Masanori/Yukimura Sanada, Sayoko Tachikawa, Michiko Tachibana, Takeru Mori, Shingen Koga/Shade, Kurando/Darkness, Zhang Yu/Widow-maker, Nobunaga Oda, Robert Thorn, Carter Drake, Seishiro Takeda/Black Tiger, Marcus Blackthorne/Ice Wolf, Trang Nguyen Han/Black Cougar, Kojiro Shimura/Hawkeye, Ulric Helzan/Dire Beast, Unknown/Lone, Zhao Jian/Cobra, Reiko Morgan/Overclock, Mafayu Hattori/Shadow Raptor, Harrison Zhang/Falcon, Sharon Burnside/Fanged Python, Hideki Kanzaki, Thomas Marcfarlene/Nitro, Noriko Hattori/Ghost Sparrow, Jake Lawler/Steel Bear, Dr. Richard Steiner._

**Shadow Dragon by GreyWolf4**

_Kenshin Mori._

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_**Anime/manga series**_

**Burn Up W and eXcess**

_Rio Kinezono, Lilica Ebett, Maya Jingu, Nanvel Candlestick/Namberu, Maki Kawasaki, Yuji Naruo, Miyuki Fujidera, Masoura, Honda, Hassan, Anna Kitagawa, Harry Masato, Ruby, Mama, Chimama, Caroline, Josephine, Gojiro Jingu, Tome, Bob, Kan, Yamada, Haruko Imada, Yukari Imada, Cary Mare, Toshiake Imada._

**Angel/Dust**

_Yuina Hatori, Seraph, Tokimi Hatori, Akiho Kudou, Lucifer._

**Angel/Dust Neo**

_Akito Haga, Marino, Musia, Leia._

**Noir**

_Mirelle Bouquet, Kirika Yuumura, Chloe, Rosaly Hammond, Silvana 'Intoccabile' Greone, Sha Li._

**Madlax**

_Madlax, Margaret Burton, Laetitia, Elenore Baker, Vanessa Rene, Limelda Jorg, Nahal, SSS, Badgis, Charlie, Carrossea Doon/Poupee, Friday Monday._

**Spriggan**

_Yue Ominae, Jean-Luc Mondeau._

**Weiss Kreuz**

_Ran Fujimiya, Youji Kodou, Ken Hidaka, Omi Tsukiono, Manx/Hanae Kitada, Birman/Kyoko Takaoka, Aya Fujimiya, Sakura Tomoe, Yuriko Asou, Brad Crawford, Schuldig, Nagi 'Psychic Crow' Naoe, Farfarello, Nanami 'Usagi Ninja' Hibino/Tot, Akira Hibana, Kaori Hibana, Reina Yukki, Yukie Kashiragi, Akane Tanaka, Masafumi Takatori, Hel, Reiji Takatori._

**Full Metal Panic **

_Sosuke Sagara, Kurz Webber, Melissa Mao, Kaname Chidori, Tessa Teletha Testarossa, Andrei Kalinin, Richard Mardukas, Belfangan Grouseaux, Ed 'Santa' Sacks, Kyoko Tokiwa, Shinji Kazama, Ren Mikihara, Mizuki Inaba, Ryo Kojima, Shouta Sakamoto, Maya Mukai, Mayuko Uchida, Shiori Kudo, Satoru Shirai, Manami Akagi, Madoka Tsuge, Shouko Midorikawa, Issei Subaki, Maron, Waffle, Chocolat, Eri Kagurazaka, Atsunobu Hayashimizu, Youko Wakana, Takeshi Aono, Masatami Hugo, Washio, Iori Mizuohoshi, Shintaro Kazama, Kosuge, Ryunosuke Akagi, Nerima Red Dragon Group, Seina, Takuma Kugayama, Seiji Takechi, Grace 'Grey' Wiseman, Bill, Batist, Andy, Jackson, Zaied, Xia Yu Lan, Xia Yu Fan._

**Flame of Recca**

_Recca Hanabishi, Yanagi Sakoshita, Kurei, Joker, Raiha, Neon, Kagero, Domon Ishijima, Fuuko Kirisawa, Tokiya Mikagami, Kaoru Koganei, Fujimaru, Kukai, Saicho, Daikoku, Misora, Ganko Morikawa, Miki, Aki, Menou, Oka/Resshin, Koku, Rui, Nadare, Saiha, Madoka, Homura, Setsuna, the Three Nincompoops : Tsumemaru, Hanemaru, and Kuchibashimaru; Miruku, Kurumi, Mikuru, Tsukeshiro, Kashemnaru, Gashakura, Aoi Kagura, Hiruko, Umi, Inuko, Tatsuko, Amagi, Demi, Enma, Inoko, Yoko, Ushino, Midori, Hisui, Rasen, Kirin, Meno Sakura, Gao, Tatesako Fumio, Katashiro Reiran, Shigeo Hanabishi, Tsukino Mori, Kasumi, Renge, Kirito, Kamui, Marie, J-Keeper, Mifuyu Mikagami, Jisho, Kai, Meguri Kyoza, Genjuro, Shiju, Nagai Mokuren, Mikoto, Kaima, Kouran Mori._

**Basilisk: Koga Ninpoucho**

_Gennosuke Koga, Oboro Iga, Okoi Kisaragi, Kagerou, Jousuke Udono, Jubei Jemishi, Saemon Kisaragi, Hyouma Muroga, Gyoubu Kasumi, Shougen Kazamachi, Tenzen Yakushiji, Hotarubi, Akeginu, Koshiro Chikuma, Yashamaru, Rosai Azuki, Nenki Mino, Jingoro Amayo._

**Ayashi no Ceres**

_Aya Mikage, Aki Mikage, Miku Mikage, Yuhi Aogiri, Tomonori Aogiri, Suzumi Aogiri, Toya Mizuki, Chidori Kuruma, Shota Kuruma, Maya Hirobe, Shuro Tsukasa, Kei Tsukasa, Miori Sahara, Alexander O Howell, Ms. Q/Oda Kyu, Yuki Urukawa,_ _Wei Fei Lee, Asamu Bagte, Ceres, Shiso, Gladys Smithson, Lulik Lebochov, Kurokuza, Akashi, Kagami Mikage. _

**Alice 19th**

_Alice Seno, Mayura Seno, Kyo Wakamiya, Nyozeka, Frey Weilhausen, Christopher William Orson Andrew Roland XIII aka Chris, Mei Lin Pai, Billy McDowell. _

**Agent Aika**

_Aika Sumeragi, Rion Aida, Maypia Alexymetalia, Gust Turbulence, B.A Bandora, Shuntaro Michikusa, Gozo Aida,_ _Rie Petoriakowa, White Leader, Bianca, Toniya, Saniya, Valerie._

**AIKa R-16: Virgin Mission**

_Eri Shinkai, Karen Minamino, Risako Nagisa, Midori, Aki, Kyoko._

**Najica Blitz Tactics**

_Najica Hiragi, Lila, Jin Majima, Gento Kuraku, Kirala Mitsuboshi, Rena Uzuki, Shinobu Misato, Swaney, Asuza Katsuragi, Yoshiki Kamiwazumi, Natsuko Kujo, Lindsey/Cindy, Mrs. Butterfly, Tetsu, Kirika Rindo, Serina, Daniela, Elith, Nyula, Norma, Ai, Koharu, Hua Lan, Triple B 'Giga Vixen/Hunter 7', Dr. Rinka Ren._

**Neon Genesis Evangelion**

_Shinji Ikari, Rei Ayanami, Asuka Langley Sohryu, Touji Suzahara, Mana 'Crimson Jaguar' Kirishima, Kensuke Aida, Hikari Horaki, Kaworu Nagisa, Misato Katsuragi, Ritsuko Akagi, Maya Ibuki, Shigeru Aoba, Makoto Hyuga, Ryoji Kaji, Pen-Pen, Keele Lorenz, Gendou Ikari._

**Real Bout High School**

_Ryoko Mitsururgi, Hitomi Yuuki, Shizuma Kusanagi, Tome Kusanagi, Azumi Kiribayashi, Daisaku Kamiya, Daichi Koga, Takao Toudou, Iwao Saotome, Gentaro Yanaga, Sensei Yabuki, Nanako Hishinuma, Madoka Mitsurugi, Tamaki Nakamura, Natsumi Fujishima, Jun Iida, Tomoya Nagase, Ishiro/Saburo/Isozaki, Aoi Asahina, Xiaoxing Huang Ko, Asuka Kuronari, Midori Misato, Megumi Momoi, Kyoichi Kunugi, Ensui, Kagemitsu, Shirai, Taihoo Hashiba, Shiori Gotoh, Tatsuya Shishikura, Misao Aoki, Sara Himekawa, Keiichiro Nagumo, Ryugen Higashikata, Setsua Kyogoku, Nanase Kuon, Akitaka Fudo, G, Maina, Group Chain of Steel._

**Elfen Lied**

_Lucy/Nyu, Kohta, Yuka, Nana, Mayu, Wanta, Bando, Arakawa, Nozomi, Shirakawa, Nousou, Barbara, Diana, Cynthia, Alicia, Anna 'Risk-Breaker/Hunter 6' Kakuzawa, Kakuzawa._

**GetBackers**

_Ginji Amano, Ban Mido, Hevn, Natsumi Mizuki, Paul Wan, Kazuki Fuuchouin, Shido Fuyuki, Madoka Otawa, Mozart, Masak Kurusu, Kinue Akagawa, Ryudo Hishiki, Kurodo 'Dr. Jackal' Akabane, Gouzou 'Mr. Unstoppable' Maguruma, Himiko 'Lady Poison' Kudou, Haruki Emishi, Juubei Kakei, Sakura Kakei, Toshiki Uryuu, Takeru Teshimine, Gensui Radou, Ren Radou, Maria Noches, Kyoji Kagami, Natsuhiko Miroku, Yukihiko Miroku, Kirara Miroku, Tokisada Miroku, Ukyou Miroku, Tsubaki Miroku, Hikage Miroku, Jorogumo/Birei, Onigumo/Morihito Kurou, Tobigumo, Kagegumo, Kirihito, Suiha Koyonagi, Semimaru Kanade, Ageha, Kaoru Haruki, Ryuuhou Agi, Amon Natsuki, Clayman, Takuma Fudou, Lucifer._

**Mezzo: Danger Service Agency**

_Mikura Suzuki, Kenichi Kurokawa, Asami Igarashi, Harada Tomohisa, Chiyoki Mugiyama, Kazuto, Leon the Rain Maker, Kanako, Mao, Aiko Hasegawa, Mano Asakura, Manon, Mahito._

**Tokyo Underground**

_Rumina Asagi, Ruri Sarasa, Chelsea Rorec, Ginnosuke Isuzu, Teil Ashford, Kashin Seki, Suijen, Shiel Messiah, Sui, Hexa, Shalma Rufis, Raichi, Emilia Runarif, Jilherts Messett, Korin, Rou, Rayon, Pairon, Smoke, Heat, Sound/Ustune, Shadow, Rensho._

**GhostTalker's/Vulgar Ghost DayDream**

_Misaki Saiki, Ai Kunugi, Soichiro Kadotake, Mitsuru Fujiwara, Mikuriya Shizue, Shigeyuki Saiki, Satomi Toudou, Detective Gada, Haru Isa, Lisa, Funakoshi, Yuo Iogi_.

**Detective Conan/Case Closed**

_Shinichi Kudo, Ran Mori, Kogoro Mori, Ai 'Sherry' Haibara/Shiho Miyano, Hiroshi Agasa, Ayumi Yoshida, Mitsuhiko Tsuburaya, Genta Kojima, Heiji Hattori, Kazuha Toyama, Kaito Kuroba/Kaito Kid, Aoko Nakamori, Juzo Megure, Wataru Takagi, Miwako Sato, Ninzaburo Shiratori, Chiba, Yumi Miyamoto, Ginzo Nakamori, Kiyonaga Matsumoto, Heizo Hattori, Shizuka Hattori, Sango Yokomizu, Jugo Yokomizu, Misao Yamamura, Jodie Starling, Shuichi Akai, James Black, Andre Camel, Eisuke Hondou, Rena Mizunashi/Hidemi Hondou, Sonoko Suzuki, Makoto Kyogoku, Tomoaki Araide, Hikaru Yasumoto, Sumiko Kobayashi, Azusa Enomoto, Yoko Okino, Gin, Vodka, Vermouth/Sharon Vineyard, Chianti, Korn._

**Yakushiji Ryoko no Kaiki Jikenbo/Ryoko Yakushiji's Strange Case Files**

_Ryoko Yakushiji, Junichiro Izumida, Monami Yakushiji, Yukiko Muromachi, Akira Kishimoto, Satomi Kaizuka, Mario Abe, Inspector Maruoka, Lucienne, Marianne, Mana, Kinuko Yakushiji, Ruriko Isurugi, Kazuma Nonagase. _

**Black Cat (manga)**

_Train Heartnet, Sven Vollfied, Eve, Rinslet Walker, Sephiria Arks, Belze Rochefort, Jenos Hazard, Lin Shaolee, Baldorias S. Fanghini, Kranz Maduke, Nizer Bruckherimer, Kyoko Kirisaki, Charden Flamberg, River Zastory, Kevin McDougall, Silphy Deacroft, Tearju Lunatique, Creed Diskenth, Echidna Parass, Shiki, Leon Elliot, Maro, Doctor/Kanzaki, Eathes, Toma Fudo, Murdock, Annette Pierce, Woodney, Lugart Won, Durham, Preta Ghoul, Deek Slasky._

**.hack/Sign**

_Tsukasa/An Shouji, Subaru/Mariko Misono, Mimiru, Bear/Ryo Sakuma, B.T./Machiko, Crim, A-20, Silver Knight, Harald Hoerwick._

**.hack/A.I. Buster (novel)**

_Albireo/Kazushi Watarai, Hokuto/W.B. Yeats/Haruka Mizuhara._

**.hack/Another Birth**

_Kazu/Fumikazu Hayami, Kouta Hayami, Yuuko Asaoka, Koura, Risa Hamaoka, Hagiya, NOVA, Chimney._

**.hack/Liminality**

_Mai Minase, Junichiro Tokuoka, Yuki Aihara, Kyoko Tohno, Ichiro Sato/Bith the Black, Masaya Makino, Kaoru Asaba, Miho Aihara._

**.hack/Legend of the Twilight (manga)**

_Shugo Kunisaki, Rena Kunisaki, Zefie, Mireille/Mirei Kurokawa, Ouka, Hotaru, Reki/Satoshi Fujio, Kamui/Saki Shibayama, Magi/Asako Saito, Komiyan III/Komiyama._

**Rozen Maiden**

_Jun Sakurada, Shinku, Suiseiseki, Souseiseki, Hinaichigo, Kanaria, Suigintou, Kirakishou, Barasuishou, Nori Sakurada, Tomoe Kashiwaba, Megu Kakizaki, Mitsu 'Micchan' Kusabue, Motoharu Shibasaki, Matsu Shibasaki, Detective Kun Kun, Laplace no Ma, Enju._

**WitchBlade Takeru**

_Takeru Ibaraki, Kou Minamoto, Ayaka, Seishuu. _

**WitchBlade**

_Masane 'Masamune' Amaha, Rihoko 'Riko' Amaha, Mariko Natsuki, Naomi, Kyoko Sasaki, Yuuki Sasaki, Nanako, Satomi, Miki, Reiji Takiyama, Yusuke Tozawa, Hiroki Tozawa, Cho-san, Michael, Akira Nakata, Masaya Wado, Reina 'Lady' Soho, Shiori Tsuzuki, Nora, Maria, Aoi, Asagi. _

**Scryed**

_Kazuma, Kanami Yuta, Kunihiko Kimishima, Ryuho Ryu, Mimori Kiryu, Scheris Adjani, Straight Cougar, Asuka Tachibana, Urizane, Martin Jigmar, Elian. Ayase Terada, Biff, Unkei, Emergy Maxfell, Sou Kigetsuki, Shoka, Chuka, Banka, George Tatsunami, Dread Red, Kyouji Mujo. _

* * *

_**Game series**_

**Metal Gear Solid**

_Solid Snake, Raiden, Roy Campbell, Naomi Hunter, Mei-Ling, Nastasha Romanenko, Hal 'Otacon' Emmerich, Emma Emmerich, Alice Hazel, Minette Donnel/Constance Flemming, William L. Flemming, Leone/Jeff Jones, Roger McCoy, Venus, Michiko Takiyama, Wiseman, Naked Snake/Big Boss, EVA/Big Mama, Nicholai Stephanovich Sokolov/Ghost, Major Zero, Para-Medic/Dr. Clark, Sigint/Donald Anderson, The Boss/The Joy, The Sorrow, The Pain, The Fury, The End, Drebin, Sunny Gurlukovich, Johnny 'Akiba' Sasaki, Jonathan, Ed, Solidus Snake, Revolver/Liquid Ocelot, Fortune, Vamp, Psycho Mantis, Laughing Octopus, Raging Raven, Crying Wolf, Screaming Mantis. _

**King of Fighters**

_Kyo Kusanagi, Iori Yagami, Shingo Yabuki, Ash Crimson, Duo Lon, Shen Woo, Oswald, K', Maxima, Kula Diamond, Clark Steel, Ralf Jones, Leona, Heidern, Whip, Benimaru Nikado, Goro Daimon, Elizabeth Blanctorche, Athena Asimiya, Sie Kensou, Bao, Chin Gentsai, Momoko, Heavy D, Brian Battler, Lucky Glauber, Saisyu Kusanagi, Cyborg Kusanagi, Mirror Kusanagi, Kyo-1, Kyo-2, Alba Meira, Soiree Meira, Chizuru Kagura, Maki Kagura, Yuki Kushinada, Kaoru, Lien Neville, Mignon Beart, Ninon Beart, Chae Lim, Choi, Chang Boehan, Jhun, Nagase, Luise Meyrink, Hinako Shijou, Malin, Vanessa, Ramon, Seth, Shion, Mukai, Magaki, Adelheid Bernstein, Rose Bernstein, Vice, Mature, K9999, Nameless, Angel, Foxy, Ron, Duke, Hyena, Jivatma._

**Fatal Fury/Garou: Mark of the Wolves**

_Terry Bogard, Joe Higashi, Tizoc, Rock Howard, Duck King, Hotaru Futaba, Freeman, , Kevin Ryan, Mai Shiranaui, Hokotomaru, Kim Kapwhan, Blue Mary, Billy Kane, Lilly Kane, Bob Wilson, Richard Meyer, Li Xiangfeng, Gato, Ryuji Yamazaki, Laurence Blood, Wolfgang Krauser, Geese Howard, Kain R. Heinlein._

**Art of Fighting **

_Ryo Sakazaki/Mr. Karate, Yuri Sakazaki, King, Yuri Sakazaki, Robert Garcia, Takuma Sakazaki, Kasumi Todo, Eiji Kisaragi, Mr. Big._

**Neo-Geo Battle Coliseum**

_Yuki, Ai, Goodman, Mizuchi. _

**Rumble Roses**

_Reiko Hinomoto/Rowdy Reiko, Dixie , Bloody Shadow/Judgement, Muriel Spencer aka Miss Spencer/Mistress Spencer, Candy Cane/Rebecca Welsh, Makoto Aihara/BBQ, Aigle/Killer Khan, Aisha/Showbiz, Evil Rose/Noble Rose, Anesthesia/Dr. Cutter, Lady X_

**Metal Slug Anthology**

_Marco, Tarma, Fio, Eri, Trevor, Nadia._

**Shadow Hearts series**

_Yuri Hyuga, Alice Elliot, Halley Brancket, Zhuzhen Li, Keith Valentine, Marguerete Gertrude Zelle, Karin Koenig, Lucia, Kurando Inugami, Blanca, Joachim Valentine, Gepetto, Cornelia, Roger Bacon, Lenny Curtis, Johnny Garland, Shania, Natan, Frank Goldfinger, Mao, Hildegard Valentine, Ricardo Gomez, Anne Lafitte, Britney, Gerard Magimel, Buigen, Lady, Killer, Veronica, Rasputin, Nicolai, Albert Simon. _

**.hack series**

_Kite, BlackRose/Akira Hayami, Elk/Kaoru Ichinose, Mia/Macha, Balmung, Mistral/Mayumi Kurokawa, Wiseman/Takumi Hino, Aura, Helba, Lios, Orca/Yasuhiko, Natsume/Natsume Oguro, Piros/Hiroshi Matsuyama, Gardenia, Sanjuro, Marlo, Moonstone, Nuke Usagimaru, Rachel, Terajima Ryoko._

* * *

_**Bishoujo Titles**_

**Phantom: Phantom of Inferno **

_Reiji Azuma/Zwei, Elen Azuma/Ein, Cal Devens/Drei, Mio Fujidera, Master Scythe, Vier, Fünf, Sechs, Seiben, Acht, Neun._

**Tsukushite Agechau 4/I'm Gonna Serve You 4 **

_Koji Aoyama, Ryosuke Aoyama, Himeko Koji, Chizuru Tahara, Takano Aoyama, Leo Akasaka, Alice, M._

**Love Potion**

_Yuichi, Hiromi Matsuno,_

**EVE Burst Error**

_Kojiroh Amagi, Marina Hojo, Yayoi Katsuragi, Akane/Kanomi Shibata, Mayako Mido, Kyoko Himuro, Puddin/Patricia Curtis, Ciria/Natasha McLean, Chief Kono, Susumu Nikado, Glen, Misumi Kagawa. _

**EVE The Fatal Attraction**

_Yuka Fuji, Ami Kurusuno, Mika Ando, Miki Ando, Saemon Ando, Adoria Escobait, Blade, Takashi Mimoru, Yui, Preacher, Hirai, David Jones, Warren Hiritsu, Edward Schmidt._

**Desire**

_Albert Macdugl aka Al, Makoto Izumi, Tina, Sylvia Brother, Sheryl Shattlet ,Kazumi Grandchester, Reiko Kusanagi, Elena Fransow, Dr. Stelladovich._

**Chain: The Lost Footprints **

_Takeshi Shinonome, Hitomi Makabe, Ayumu Igarashi, Marie Sawatari, Akira Kusakabe_**,**_ Misako Takahisa, Mayuki Tomita, Yuki Shiraishi, Suguru/Taku, Kanae_**.**

**MinDeaD BlooD**

_Shizuru Nanase, Mayu Sonohara, Mana Sonohara, Yuka Sakaki, Saki Katagiri, Arisa Saeki, Anima/Mina, Annabella Keaton, Yoshie Shinohara, Eri Kotofuki, Natsumi Saitou, Hitomi Orihara, Kyouko Kasai, Ryou Koizumi, Sora, Kyle Whitaker, Ghost, Master, J.J., Shingo Tanoue, Miyuki Tanoue, Marika Ichinose, Koji Azuma, DUST/Seiji Hayama, Daigo Sonohara._

**Gore Screaming Show**

_Kyouji Jinno, Yukari 'Yuka' Otonashi, Yamiko Saitama/Himeko Yumekawa, Akane Kazuyagi, Aoi Namiki, Kiika Misono, Marina Ichinose, Yoshiki Yatsuse, Gore Screaming Show._

**Gun Katana**

_Himena Tokiwara, Hyou Tokiwara, Justine Emma Genevieve delacroix, Satoru Mishiba/Giudecca, Beatrice, Archbolt-awful 'Arc' Haigh, Kureha Kazato, Sakurako, Mitsuruko, Kana Kazuki, Misaki Shizuno, Masayoshi Mito, Okta, Keigo Suyama, Raihou, Miharu Mukai, Yuri, Anes, Blood Eleven, Vergillius, Hepta, Syouhei Mabuchi, Miroku Sakiyada, Christophe Thomas Chavanel._

**Mushitsukai**

_Ren Shidou, Miyaka Jinmu, Shio Kazonomiya, Yui Sasahara, Elna Myer, Eriko Takashina, Lina Curson, Mira Sakaki, Yulea Allecsevna Perya, Ayana, Madoka Honjyo._

**Extravaganza**

_Yumemi Sakurai, Yuto Minami, Mu, Ageha Kujo, Ayaka, Anzu Kagurazaka, Haruka Fusejima, Sayuri, Shiro Kitabatake, Masahito Nishi/Dr. West, Rengo._

**Ageha ~Extravaganza~**

_Syumi__._

**Virgin Roster - Shukketsubo**

_Kiyoka Daimon, Takako Kuga, Yuki Yoshikawa, Shinobu Misono, Saki Yoshikawa, Tomo Sakashita, Ren Hasumi._

**Yume Miru Kusuri: A Drug That Makes You Dream**

_Kouhei Kagami, Aeka Shiraki, Mizuki Kirimiya, Cat Sidhe Nekoko, Aya Kagami, Tsubaki Hirofumi, Misaki Sayama, Takeshi Iogi, Gaito Yakushiji, Kyoka 'Aintoinette' Anjou._

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_**Movies**_

**Kill Bill**

_Beatrix Kiddo, B. B Kiddo, Hanzo Hattori, Elle Driver aka Mountain Snake, Go-Go Yubari._

**The Transporter**

_Frank Martin, Lai, Tarconi Marsielle._

**The Boondock Saints**

_Connor McManus, Murphy McManus, II Duce, Paul Smecker._


	2. No Need for Farewells

Disclaimer: See the Introduction and Characters opening chapter.

Author's Note: This is the improved, revised version of the same story, the only difference is that most of the mistakes I made through the fic and COE will be reprimanded and also, some more notable changes for my OC, Greg Kinezono. As time pass, you will notice and be satisfied with the changes I have planned for this story, but no one says it will be done in soon due time, so just be patient with me, I can only revise the story once I have the time on my hands. Anyway, enjoy the story.

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ShardclawKusanagi presents:

Metal Gear Solid: Soldier X

A Multicrossover Side Story for COE

Chapter 1: No Need for Farewells

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A day had passed after that 14th Angel attacked the city of Toyko-3. At the Katsuragi residence, where Otacon, Raiden and Linn were staying at their apartment next door to Misato's, it was almost business as usual. Snake was at NERV Headquarters with Misato Katsuragi herself, still trying to make sense to what happened to Shinji when Unit-01 came to life.

James Masterson, aka Silent Scorpion, came in wearing a white vest and a pair of dark blue jeans. He had been staying at the Katsuragi apartment with Asuka, the Second Child, tending her wounds she received during the 14th Angel's invasion. He's also having a busy time keeping Pen-Pen's stomach full, which personally he isn't complaining about.

"Hey, guys, what's the word?" Scorpion said after entering the apartment where Linn and Otacon were working.

Otacon, who was hacking away as usual, and eating a stick of Pocky, shook his head. "About Snake? I wouldn't be around him right now if I were you. He's pretty pissed off after what's been happening recently, to Shinji, about Gendou being an ex-Patriot...the stress is starting to get to him, I'm starting to worry."

"And if that's not enough, we're basically still at square one with the investigation with the Patriots, not to mention Dead Cell." Raiden answered, while playing with his son, Charlie. "It's time like these that I wish we were in some other line of work."

Linn chuckled slightly. "Hey, don't let it get to you, Raiden. At least now practically the entire FOXHOUND group is here, and NERV is helping us solve the mystery into the Patriots, but it still shocks me sometimes that the former Commander was one...and now he's dead."

"Somehow, I get the feeling that we should celebrate about that, but whenever I think about that Evangelion Unit 01..." James shuddered. "...I still get the feeling that we are still being left hanging in regards to all of NERV's activities. And I thought this group was messed up as it was."

"Isn't that the cold, hard truth?" Linn replied. She then leaned back against the wall, thinking about her boyfriend, Greg. He's been mostly quiet and keeping to himself since their mission of retrieving Arsenal Gear and now, he's leaving FOXHOUND for something he won't let her know. Otacon noticed her worried look.

"Hey, Linn you okay?" Otacon asked.

"Yeah, just thinking about that dumb recruit of a boyfriend I have." Linn growled. "I was just a bit worried about Greg. His being called back to HQ so suddenly really doesn't make any sense to me, especially at a time like this is just too suspicious."

"Let me guess, this is about what he did when that Angel attacked, huh?" Otacon said. "Come on, Linn. If it wasn't for Greg's powers, that Angel would have pretty much busted up NERV and a lot of innocent people would have died before Unit 01 came in. You should at least be proud of that; after all he did buy us some time with what he did."

"But in a way, she is right; Greg's a walking disaster with all of that power inside of him. Sometimes I wonder what goes on in his head..." James stopped for a while. Then taking up a leather jacket, he headed for the door. "I'm going to see Greg off. He's supposed to be at NERV still, right?"

Raiden nodded. "Yeah, Michael and Garland should be with him, as well as Mana and Kari. Seems everyone's interested in that artificial hand he has too. I tell you, Greg is one surprise after another."

James nodded. "I wonder what other surprises he hasn't told us about yet." With that, James was gone before Linn can speak.

(Greg...sometimes I wonder why I'm still with that guy...) she thought to herself.

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The GeoFront, the new housing bay of Arsenal Gear…

Three of FOXHOUND's recruits were assigned duty to guard Arsenal Gear today, but one of them had his mind set on something else. He was dressed in his custom Sneaking Suit consisting of an urban grey color, it was shaped around the chest area to the form of a vest, which acted at the side as a bulletproof/damage minimizing protective wear, while his arms were protected by black pigments of the advanced nanomachines from the suit. The leg areas were also colored in grey as well and the suit had a snug, tight appearance to suit his slightly muscular, yet thin build.

He stood there facing the metallic behemoth with folded arms and a focused look in his eyes near the custom made dock area NERV made since it landed here. His mind was deep in thought about something important. It was more important than the events that happened the day before. He was so deep in thought that he didn't hear his friend's voices calling to him.

"Greg?" A young female voice called to him from the side, as Greg Kinezono, also known to his comrades as Psychic Panther, stood there contemplating his worries.

"Hey, Greg!" The voice called out louder, as Greg snapped out of his train of thought and saw one of two of the youngest female recruits next to him, Mana 'Crimson Jaguar' Kirishima.

"Hey, you okay, Greg?" Mana placed a hand on his side. "You seem a bit out of there for a while there."

"Oh, Mana." Greg sheepishly rubbed his head and looked at the two girls with a small grin on his face. "Sorry about that, I was thinking about something that has been bugging me since yesterday."

"Really, can this be about you being called back to headquarters?" She asked.

"No, it's something a bit more important." Greg replied to her.

The rest of FOXHOUND was guarding the outer areas of the GeoFront where Arsenal Gear was docked near NERV after Snake was able to take control of it thanks to Emma's help. Just then, Kari 'White Hawk' Mondeau approached the two with drinks in her hands.

"Here you go, guys, just as you said you want them." Kari smiled, handing Mana and Greg their drinks.

"If it's a personal problem then, I can understand a bit why you would be worried." Mana asked. "Does it have to do with family?"

"You can say that…" Greg simply replied, choosing to keep his secret about Team Warrior from the majority of the recruits, especially with the case now arisen regarding his surrogate mother. "It's not like them to have problems of this extent to happen at a time like this, especially when mostly the enemy could be watching our every move."

"Greg, if you let us know what the problem really is, we'll be sure to help in if you let us." Kari said to him.

"You guys would do that?" Greg asked.

"Of course, you're like family to us, you know." Mana said with a smile.

"I'd appreciate the help, you two. Though, it's a bit too early to say if I'll need any kind of back up, not to mention the status of confusion we're in, thanks to the Commander of NERV dead." Greg spoke. "For the moment FOXHOUND is obviously needed here of all places to make sure the enemy, whether it's Dead Cell or the Patriots, doesn't strike when we least expect it."

"That's true, but it won't feel like FOXHOUND without you around for awhile." Mana said.

"I'll probably just be gone for only two, three days tops." Greg replied to her with a confident smile. "Don't worry, I'll be sure to contact you guys as often as I can about developments on my side, as long you keep me posted on your end."

"We certainly will, Greg. You do have a FOXHOUND responsibility, just remember that." Kari said to him.

"I haven't forgotten that, you two." Greg said as he looked at this watch. "Well, I'd love to stay and lengthen this chat further, but I got a schedule to keep and I have to be out of this city before at least nightfall."

"You're leaving already?"

"Not yet. Lt. Maya Ibuki is accessing the MAGI to help find certain links or clues to why Solidus is back and everything else afterwards." Greg said seriously. "Don't worry, now that the Commander is dead, we can look into the most confidential files using NERV's help and won't get anyone in trouble. I already have both Meryl's, Naomi's approval and Dr. Akagi is assisting us with this."

"That reminds me, Michael and Garland need to see you before you go anywhere, and they said it's important." Mana said to Greg as he started to walk.

Greg's smile returned for a brief moment. "Thanks, Red, I'll be sure to visit them before I leave NERV headquarters. See you kids later."

"Do you think he will be alright, Mana?" Kari asked.

"He should be, as long he doesn't run into kind of trouble, which I'm praying won't inconvenience him as he is with his problems already." Mana replied simply.

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Back at the Central Dogma Command Centre where Rose had been working had been working along with Emma, Maya Ibuki, and the rest of the tech bunnies with both work from NERV and Philanthropy as well.

"How's the encryption coming along, Rose?" Maya asked.

"Alright so far. The Commander was sure secure about his secret, that's for sure." Rose replied. "I hope Jack and the others will be able to put this to good use, considering the hell we went through just days ago, from both Dead Cell and the Angels."

"It's still hard to swallow that our own Commander Ikari was participating in the Patriots' activities, much less having a Metal Gear built for his own needs." Hyuga spoke.

"Why would even the Commander have something like Omega RAY built; only to have the people he was plotting against have something that can surpass both the Evangelions and Metal Gear alike?" Shigeru asked.

Just then, Greg entered the room, seeing the group. "Ah, there you are, Maya. You got that disc copied for me?"

Maya smiled and handed the disc to Greg. "All that you need to know about the Patriots location, now and then, is right here. But...are you sure that it was okay that you have to see about this when FOXHOUND wants you for other things?"

Rose then cut in. "Yeah, Greg, Reese needs you back at headquarters to make sure that anything isn't wrong with you."

"As much as I want to return to HQ to see why Reese needs me, I have to see about this emergency regarding family first, all the while avoiding a medical." Greg said as he placed the CD into one of his inventory pouches. "I'm just hoping the Colonel can delay Reese for at least a day or two until I find out what's going on with my family."

"You must treasure your family very much, Kinezono." Ritsuko said to him.

"They aren't my real family, but they are the closest thing to them. It's a rare thing I worry about them this much that I need to visit them at a time like this." Greg said. "Anyway, if you guys ever meet them, you would understand why. Anyway, just where is Snake?"

Maya answered with a sad tone. "He's with Major Katsuragi at the Eva cages. He's been worried about Shinji ever since he lost his ego-border, so he's supporting Misato the best he can until Dr. Akagi and Michael can find a way to get him back."

"I see. I'd better check up on him before I leave the city." Greg nodded. "Well, guys, I wish you the best of luck with this."

As he made his way to the lower levels of NERV, he soon found himself in the cages that housed the Evangelion units, and saw Snake was seated overlooking the cage that held a bandaged Evangelion Unit 01, all the while smoking his favorite brand of cigarettes. The sight of the giant robot sometimes made Snake shiver, but he had to keep a game face for himself and for Misato's sake, who was worried as much as he is about Shinji.

From behind, Greg appeared, as he looked at the Evangelion, then at Snake. "Hey, Snake, you alright?"

"Yeah, just trying to comprehend what the hell the Commander was thinking when he created this thing." Snake replied.

(Guess he's still angry that Shinji was absorbed by that thing...) Greg thought to himself. "Where's the Major?"

"She went to get some work done, but..." Snake stopped, getting up. "This whole situation's getting to her, you know. I'm just supporting her to best I can."

"Of course you are…you've obviously both known each other intimately for awhile now." Greg said rubbing his short, cut thin hair. "Snake...I wish I could have done something to prevent this from happening...but I had no idea that this thing was..."

"No one could, Greg. Don't kick yourself." Snake said. "Meryl said that's there still a lot about your power that you're trying to learn, right? I bet even if you risked yourself to save Shinji when Unit-01 came to life, you would have been in trouble."

"Yeah, that is certainly true..." Greg said in agreement. "But enough about worrying about me, it was a one time risk I was almost glad to take part of. But about Shinji, I know how much the kid means to you, Snake, but you shouldn't forget the main reason why all of us are here. Now that the Commander is dead, that could mean an opportunity for Dead Cell to strike again. You do know that, right?"

"Yeah, I haven't forgotten, kid." Snake said. "So, you're heading out already?"

"Yes. It's just to get my stuff at the apartment and then I'm off. Hopefully, my master should be fine by the time I get there, she's one tough woman, she's been through worse spills in the past and sometimes she still does." Greg replied.

"Well, all I'm asking is that you be careful. There are a lot of strange folk around, now that the world knows of that psychic power you have. Watch your back." Snake said. "And don't you worry about letting us know about the situation you're in, just contact us on the first sign that something is wrong."

"I will do just that, thanks. And I wish you guys the best of luck in getting Shinji back. I know with NERV's help and some of ours, we can bring him back." Greg said.

"He'd better, or else if Gendou were still alive, I'd snap his neck just because he's a sick bastard to do this his own son." Snake said harshly as he got up and began to walk off. "I'm off to see Misato. Take care of yourself, kid."

"Yeah, you too, Snake." Greg replied as shook his head in sadness. (Poor Snake...)

"GREG!" James' shout from behind caught Greg's attention, as the two recruits faced each other. "Finally, I caught you. You were just going ahead without telling me goodbye, aren't you?"

"No, I wasn't going to do such a thing, Scorpion." Greg smiled. "Aren't you supposed to be at home taking care of Asuka?"

James simply shrugged his shoulders with a sigh. "She's acting all weird and stuff, like she doesn't want anyone around her. She even threw a cup at me, but I managed to duck just in time."

"That girl got some issues. Can't really blame her, she's been really upset since that Angel beat her and we know by now the lengths of her pride." Greg said. "Hopefully, Garland can help her deal with this, but I doubt that alone can help..."

"Greg, Meryl said that this matter you're about to see about is personal business of yours and may take awhile. Why can't I come along for the ride?" Scorpion asked.

"James, I know you want to help out, but weren't you assigned to bodyguard duty now? Besides, I don't want to bring too many people into this unless I get a grasp of what's really happening." Greg said as he placed an arm on James' shoulder. "Look, I won't forget about you guys, I'll be sure to contact you on the first sign of trouble, you got my word."

Scorpion can only look at Greg for a while. "Yeah, but not before you raise your hell when it happens."

"Look, I won't be gone too long if that's what's worrying you." Greg patted his friend's shoulder. "And if anything like Dead Cell does something while I'm away, you and the rest of FOXHOUND are capable of dealing with them while I'm gone."

"You sure you'll be okay?" James asked. "With the situation with your powers at the moment?"

"I should be fine for the time being." Greg said as he patted a pouch by his waist area. "I got 'these' to get me through anytime something goes wrong."

"You're as cheerful as ever, even if you're taking that kind of stuff." James grinned.

"I'm leaving the ignition keys to the Harrier with you and Linn. And I've placed a security lock on it so no one but Linn and I can pilot it." Greg said. (Interfere with my Harrier, will you, Kaji? That will teach you...)

"Okay. But Linn's home right now and she's worried about you." James said. "You'd better..."

"I know...I was planning to see her before I go anyway. Thanks anyway, Scorpion." Greg nodded to James. "See you around, kiddo."

Greg left the cages and made his way straight to the training areas of the compound, where he knew Garland 'Berserker Demon' Durev and Michael 'Venom' Hansen would both be. Hoping he wouldn't be faced with a challenge right away, he entered the VR training room to meet the two having a round of what appeared to be virtual chess.

"Greg." Garland noticed Greg, who now stepped in the room. "I see you got Kari's message to see us."

"Just out of curiosity, but I really can't leave without saying goodbye to two of my sparring partners." Greg said as he kept his distance as to prevent from disturbing their game. "Anyway, what is it that you need to see me for?"

"We heard you're stepping out of the city for a few days from Naomi and Meryl." Michael said as he made his move on the chessboard.

"We also know of some vague details about why you're leaving, Greg." Garland said, causing Greg to step back a bit.

"You…you do?" Greg asked, hoping they wouldn't ask for too many details, especially about the female members of WARRIOR. "Look, my family may be in trouble, so I have to see about this little emergency that called me up all of a sudden. Don't get any impressions that I'm using this as an excuse for avoiding my FOXHOUND duties."

"That's not it, but you know, Greg, you don't talk about your adoptive family much around us, I think you're up to something we don't want to know." Garland asked.

"And what would you do if that happens?" Greg replied.

"We won't get into it any further, but you know, after all that's been happening so far, we can't afford to have any more problems caused by the enemy and the worst case scenario is that you could be involved in it in some major way." Michael said to Greg.

"It's not that we don't think you can handle this, but remember that you've got friends and allies on this side willing to give you a hand if things get too hot. Also, try to be extra careful while you're out there." Garland said to him in a hint of warning.

"The most I will be doing is packing some heat, but not too much to start some war." Greg said to them. "Besides, I know when it's the time not to draw attention to myself, I'm going to stay on the down low on this one and sooner than we know it, I'll be back here with you guys."

"We hope so too. We certainly need to finish our sparring matches." Garland said with a grin, causing Greg to worry a bit.

"You just had to say that, didn't you?" Greg noted and decided to change the subject and turned to Michael. "Michael, I heard that you're helping Dr. Akagi with that business about the Third Child and the Eva he's trapped in?"

"That's right. I'd thought I can lend a hand to the situation, though I must admit this is new to me in terms of strangeness." Michael said. "But with her help and our knowledge from FOXHOUND, I'm confident bringing Shinji back can happen."

"You know what?" Greg asked. "I believe the same thing too, knowing your level of intelligence."

"You think so, Greg?" Michael asked in reply.

"I know so. Its going to work out fine, I just know it." Greg said with a grin as he then turned his back. "Anyway, if that's all, I'd better be leaving now. I'll be sure to contact you anytime during tomorrow to report things on my end."

"Be careful, Greg." Garland said to him with a wave as Greg left the room. The two older recruits looked at the door Greg went through and focused back on the game.

"You think he can get through this without the enemy making a move?" Garland asked.

"Oh, they will be doing something about this alright." Michael replied sternly. "Greg should be fine as long he understands the situation he's in and not to draw any more attention to himself from the enemy. If worst comes to worst, we can always have other people outside of FOXHOUND look after him."

"In that case, I suppose you're right; he should be fine for the time being." Garland replied, as he realized that Michael had made a move ahead of him and with that move had won the game.

"Checkmate." Michael said with a grin to his friend.

"Damn, you won again." Garland replied as he face-faulted to his loss.

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The recruit began a five minute ride through the average busy city of Tokyo-3 on his motorcycle as he finally returned to the apartment building where some of the other FOXHOUND recruits were staying. Having one reserved for him and Linn, he entered the room and started to strip as he made his way to the shower. He didn't notice Linn wasn't home then, but at least the peace and quiet can give him time to think ahead of the future.

Stepping into the shower, cold water began falls on the hardened, light brown skin of the soldier, as he pulled back his hair, rinsing it. His body bore various scars across the arms, and chest areas, while his lower right arm was actually covered in black pigments, shaped out like a tattoo crest which stretched to cover his fingers and backhand.

His mind drifted back once more on the thoughts of why he had to leave his comrades for a while. It had started with a Codec call from one of his surrogate aunts, Nanvel Candlestick, a day before.

(Greg...something has happened to Rio...) Nanvel's voice rang inside Greg's head, as he remembered getting the Codec call from her. (She's been hurt badly...I don't think she'll make it. You'd better get over here as soon as possible, Greg.)

Stepping out of the shower, the fact that Rio was hurt worried him. Not that this was some normal hurt that she would probably get into from one of her crazy WARRIOR missions, but a serious concussion to her head? Most likely a wound like that can put her into a coma.

Greg dropped on the bed, towel still wrapped around his waist. (Normally, I would pass this off, but I got this nagging feeling that this is serious than it appears. Why is it I can't ignore this feeling that something's VERY wrong with WARRIOR?)

He turned his head and saw the Agent Aika DVD's. He simply got up to take a case out of the bag, when suddenly a female's hand touched his own. It was Linn's.

"What? So you need fan service to get your worries off your shoulders?" Linn's hairstyle was different, as it had grown out of proportion, letting it appear in a punk rocker style that somehow appealed to Greg.

"Linn! You're here..." Greg said nervously, looking away. He was getting too embarrassed to watch Linn with her wild hairstyle like this...and the fact that she was wearing very sexy purple underwear.

"Greg...you were going to leave without telling me, weren't you?" Linn got up and pressed her body against Greg's.

"No, Linn. I wouldn't leave this place without saying goodbye to someone as extremely beautiful as you." Greg said, holding her hand.

"Oh yes, you were." Linn pouted as she rested her head on his back. Across his back, the marked words, 'No Mercy' was his tattoo.

"Sorry if I made you worry anyway." Greg said. "You were kind of hard to find, that's all."

"So, you got everything you need for traveling?" Linn asked.

"I'm just packing it light for now. Don't need to carry every essential thing with me." Greg said. "The most I will need is the Sneaking Suit though, everything else I can get while I'm staying with Rio and the others."

"You know, this can be a trap set up by either Dead Cell or the Patriots." Linn said.

"I can guess this is a ploy, but my family is in trouble." Greg said solemnly. "If that's the case, I got to be extra careful when threading for clues as to what really happened with them. Right now, I don't think Solidus will challenge the Patriots just yet until he has seized Ultimatum Gear...then with SEELE still under his thumb, he can use it to take on just about anyone."

Linn embraced Greg for a few minutes, as she talked. "I'm kind of worried in case you run out of the nanomachines that keep your powers in check. That's why I need you back here as soon as possible."

"Is this what it's all about?" Greg asked, causing her to glare at him.

"Of course!" Linn shouted. "Do you have any idea how much everyone worries about you?"

"Sorry…, I really am. Sometimes, I wonder if that's true most of the times, because of what I have to deal with from my powers." Greg simply shook his head, as Linn nuzzled her head next to him.

"What am I going to do with you? Sometimes, I wonder if you're capable of knowing how important you are to me." Linn said.

"Don't say that." Greg simply replied. He looked closely at her light brown skin, almost a slighter shade that his own. "You know how much I care. It's just that…."

"Hmmm?"

"It's nothing, really. Don't worry about it." Greg said as he stood up to dress. Before he did, Linn's hand had caught with his right hand.

"Greg…please stay with me, even if it's only for a short while." she asked him.

"Linn, we got neighbors next door. Surely, we don't need to disturb them." Greg said to her. "You sure you want to do this here?"

"You won't miss me too much, but I'll be pretty lonely and with so much edible men both in FOXHOUND and NERV to choose from while you're gone…"

Greg shook his head with a grin and sighed in defeat as he sat down on the bed next to her. "Okay, okay….twenty minutes! I still got to pack for the trip, so you got to help me with it, got it?"

With a gentle smile on her face, Linn only complied to Greg's reaction by pulling him even closer towards her into bed.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

An hour later, the sun was close to setting, Linn was dressed in a simple dress, button shirt after the fooling around she and Greg enjoyed previously in the evening. The FOXHOUND recruit had already changed back into casual clothing, consisting of an official G-Unit t-shirt, a bandana over his head and a cap over it.

Linn had just finished packed his luggage. He was going to need a FOXHOUND issue SOCOM, while Nanvel and Maya always had a weapons cache of some sort for Team Warrior that wasn't even used yet. He also had one of Otacon's laptops, the copy of the disc containing the Patriots names and locations, as well as the hard drive for one of the destroyed RAYs, which also held secrets about the Patriots and GW.

Also with him were some packets of Pocky. For reading material, Greg smiled as he picked up one of his favorite books that Michael had brought for him from FOXHOUND headquarters, 'The Selfish Gene' by Richard Dawkins, and some Ghost in the Shell manga, both the original and Man Machine Interface manga sequel.

Before Greg got up to leave for the door, Linn's hand grabbed his jacket. "Hey, where do you think you're going already?"

"It's almost getting dark. I must get going." Greg replied.

"I can never get you to stay in one place..." Linn said disappointed. Greg knelt beside her and gave her a kiss on her lips.

"Linn...I won't be gone forever. James, Garland, Michael, Mana and everyone else will keep good company with you while I'm gone." Greg smiled.

"I don't know...NERV will get boring without you around." Linn joked.

"I doubt that very much. The place just became more crowded thanks to the recent arrivals."

"I'll miss you, Greg." Linn hugged Greg for a while. "Remember that you have to come back..."

"I will. This is not the first time I have to do something like this." Greg replied.

"Think of me when you're lonely, and not just of Aika, okay?" Linn smiled. "And be sure to call often too."

Greg nervously scratched his head, and replied. "I definitely will do that as long you don't get into any trouble yourself. Well, I'm going."

"Call often. I love you." Linn kissed her love as Greg held her body close to him.

"I will. And I love you too." Greg smiled, as he finally opened the door to leave.

"Don't wipe out!" Linn shouted.

"Come on, you know my bike loves me too much for that to happen." Greg replied with a thumb up.

As Greg left, Linn, still partially dressed in a dress shirt that was left open leaned on the doorway. (Greg...please be careful...), she thought.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Half an hour later, Greg was already back in Neo Tokyo, just meters away from the ramen restaurant where his family were staying, when he stopped the bike near the police's DO NOT CROSS tape that was wrapped around the entrance of the restaurant.

Greg got off; a bag of accessories strapped around his chest, and surveyed the scene. The front door seemed to been rammed in, and the inside was a total mess. Tables were overturned, splinters of glass was seen on the floor, and on the counters. Greg noticed the bullet holes in the walls, and the sight that sent a chill up his spine was a crater in the wall, blood littering the wall and the floor below it.

"What in the hell happened here?" Greg said in shock. "I was here just a few days ago and it was as normal as it was. What happened to Rio and Lilica?"

"Maybe I can answer that question." a woman's voice answered from behind Greg's back. He turned to see a Japanese woman with short blond hair and was wearing a red dress that ended near way over her knees that Greg can see a hint of white panties.

"Aunt Aika!" Greg said in shock.

The woman smiled back "It's good to see you again, Greg." Aika said walking towards him. Greg only kept his composure while she walked towards him.

"What are you doing here anyway?" Greg asked. "Did you follow me here?"

"Of course...have you forgotten already?" Aika smiled. "That was smart of you contacting me earlier using a hidden frequency to send me a message to meet you here."

"Didn't think you'd actually respond by showing up." Greg said. "Anyway, just what is it that happened here?"

"Oh? You should be asking Rio that question. Are you not even interested to know that yourself?" Aika got on one knee to investigate the crater.

"Do pray tell." Greg said.

"Your master Rio and the rest of Team Warrior got a little too curious into what Dead Cell is planning and this is the end result...someone got mad and decided to tear the place up." Aika said.

"Who the hell is even responsible for this?" Greg said in shock. "Dead Cell?"

"No, it can't be them. Not their style." Aika said. "Someone more dangerous wants you and Team Warrior out of the picture permanently."

"Can you pick any suspects?"

"None for the moment, but that's not to say you're anywhere but safe." Aika said. "It's best that you ask your aunts Maya and Nanvel for the answers. You know this place isn't safe. The enemy may be after that disc you're carrying."

"You don't mean...the Patriots?" Greg asked.

"Maybe...I've been hearing stuff going around that they have targeted certain people around the globe for rebelling against them, including Team Warrior, Philanthropy and FOXHOUND." Aika said. "You've gotten yourself in a much direr situation than you could have imagined, Greg."

Greg surveyed the area some more before asking. "Where are Rio and the rest of Team Warrior?"

Aika handed Greg a card which had an address. "You'll find them at this location. But before you go, do take a look around the restaurant one more time. Whoever trashed the place may have left some clues that can be of some use."

As Greg started to walk, Aika began to walk out the door. "Hey, aren't you coming to help?"

"This is something that my little Panther can do by himself. Rion's going to be so happy that you've become such a man." Aika smiled. "Well, it's been fun seeing you again, Greg."

"Yeah, same here...I think." Greg thought as Aika stepped out. (I still wonder why she would be here of all places, though…)

Greg cautiously walked into the room where Nanvel had her computers and gadgets laying about. As usual, it was quite messy and so cluttered with junk that Greg didn't bother to investigate which item was more useful than the other. He made a stop on her giant monitor, surprisingly undamaged by the attackers. He accessed the surveillance file for the past two days to find out what happened here a few days ago.

"Let's see now..." Greg said to himself, as he tapped in a password to enter the confidential files. "I hope it's still there as Yuji said it would…"

The next image Greg saw was in the ladies shower with Rio, Lilica, Maya and Nanvel in their bare skins taking baths. Greg started to hide a trickle of blood that leaked from one of his nostrils.

(Damn it, Yuji! I guess that's one thing that will never change about you…) Greg shook his head before the thoughts got more troublesome and deleted the recording. "Let's see what took place yesterday while I was in Tokyo-3..."

Greg accessed the right file this time, and saw around near five p.m; several armed men wearing tuxedos and body armor around their chest areas, and were wearing helmets, barged into the restaurant. Greg tried to keep his composure as he saw Rio took down at least seven of them before she was thrown back by an invisible force. This caught Greg's attention.

As Rio got up, she was thrown back to the wall even more violently than the first time, before her body dropped against the counter with a loud thud. The mysterious attacker was close to being revealed, until...

Greg stepped to the side suddenly as a bullet shot the monitor, destroying the image. He then turned around and saw several of the same armored dressed suits from the monitor. One of them was carrying a weapon that resembled a heavy machine gun, while the others carried random weapons such as stun batons, and katanas.

"Gregory Kinezono, you are completely surrounded. Give yourself up, and there will be no trouble." One of them spoke.

"What's this? Are you the Patriots flunkies?" Greg asked.

"That is not for you to know, Kinezono." One of the men spoke. "Surrender peacefully, or get taken by force, either way, you belong to us now."

"Sorry, I have no plans to become someone's prisoner anytime soon." Greg said as he raised his arms up.

"Enough of the cowboy talk. Come with us or we'll have to carry your body out of here if we have to." the armored suit talked once more, releasing the safety of his gun.

(So much for settling this peacefully.) Greg thought to himself as he suddenly threw the grey cloak at the attacker as one of the men fired their Beretta's at Greg, but the cloak blocked the view of the attackers and Greg had already rushed the front suit with an instant punch to the helmet, then a high kick that sent him flying back wards to his comrades. Greg turned to let the cloak wrap itself around one of the men's leg's and pull him towards the FOXHOUNDer, who caught him with a punch to the chest, then a rapid flurry of punches, Greg finished the attack with a shot of his psychic energy from his right hand.

Some of the other suits saw this and one of them charged Greg with an overhead attack, using a katana blade. Greg simply held out his arms in split second precision and caught the blade before it reached his head.

"Grrag!" Greg shouted, as he slammed the suit's body down into the floor, thus creating a small crater. Another suit attacked and Greg caught this one from below the belt with one of his hands.

Greg was able to counter the attack as simply turned around before the suit can notice Greg pulling out a fiber wire from the suit's waist pouch and passing the line across the man's neck, thus killing him in an instant.

Before the enemy Greg had just killed had fallen to the ground, Greg had sneaked out a Beretta from the holster of the corpse and pointed it at his right. He fired instantly before the other suit fired his shotgun at Greg.

Greg could actually sense this one; he hasn't got the chance to use his powers since that battle against the 14th Angel. Normally, he wouldn't use his powers like this, but he would make exceptions in case he is outnumbered. His Marine LINE training had prepared him for situations like this.

The enemy's gun went off at Greg, but the FOXHOUNDer had already turned his body slightly and the bullet pierced his right arm. With some grimace, he used his psychic power with a force that slammed back the enemy against the wall.

As the last suit saw this, he started to make a run for it, but heard a click from a gun that came from Greg's direction as he had taken out his SOCOM and aimed it at him.

"Alright, start telling me why you people so interested in me and my family?" Greg asked furiously. "Answer me!"

The suit gulped in fear. "They...they don't want you or anyone else to get in the way of their goals..."

"Are you talking about Dead Cell?" Greg asked.

"No...Dead Cell is also part of their strategy as well." the suit answered. "The Patriots...they want to use your knowledge to..."

Just then, the helmet-wearing suit started to spasm, as he started to scream.

"ARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!" the suit screamed. Greg can see something was wrong.

"Hey, what's happening?" Greg asked.

"My head...he's...he's trying to stop..." the suit spoke, before he let out one more scream.

"Who are you talking about?"

"M...Mantis..." came the last word of the suit wearing man.

Just then, Greg's hand was covered in blood, as Greg witnessed part of the man's skull exploding violently. Instantly Greg stepped back, releasing the bloody corpse, the remains of the man's brains slowly creeping out.

(Did he just say Mantis? But he's supposed dead!) Greg thought in shock. (The Patriots...Psycho Mantis...what the hell's going on here?)

Before Greg can think of any possible leads, he heard police sirens from the outside. Instantly, he grabbed one of the cell phones from one of the corpses. Holding unto his arm, he put back his gun and reached for his pouch, taking out a medicine bottle filled with blue pills. Taking out three, he quickly took them and swallowed them as the bottle was marked 'anti-depressants'.

(Guess the only way to sort out this mess is to ask the only people closer to this investigation than even FOXHOUND is...Team Warrior, my adoptive family. Have to stay out of sight for now from the authorities.) Greg thought as he made his way through a back door of the restaurant and sneaked past the authorities to get to his motorcycle.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Half an hour later, on the outskirts of the sunken areas of old Tokyo, Greg had already jumped out of the motorcycle just outside of an urban neighborhood even before it came to a full stop. The bullet was still lodged in his arm, but he somehow was able to stop the bleeding. The address Aika gave him was a house that certainly looked unsuspicious to the enemy. He ran to the door and started to pound on it furiously. A few seconds passed and it was Nanvel who opened the door, wearing a small and tight pink colored t-shirt that hugged her cleavage.

"Greg! I didn't think you would find us here!" Nanvel said cheerfully as she hugged Greg, just like Rio did before...right on her size 36' chocolate colored skin bust line.

Greg wasn't in the best of moods to say how happy he was to see Nanvel or getting smothered by her. "Alright, Nanvel, I want you and the others to come clean right now."

"What do you mean by that, Greg?" Nanvel asked.

"Come on, you know what I mean." Greg replied. "You were interfering with FOXHOUND business, weren't you?"

Nanvel stayed quiet for awhile as she looked at Greg with a sullen look.

"I'm sorry, Greg. Rio was worried about you, we were all worried too. So we had to take the risks and at least give you a hand." Nanvel said.

"A hand? Was this Rio's idea?" Greg asked. "I need to talk to her, Nanvel, where is she!"

"Greg...Rio's...Rio is in a coma..." Nanvel cried a bit.

Greg's eyes widened to this as the pain in his arm increased. (Rio…in a coma? How can this be?)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

That's all for the revised chapter of SX, more changes like this will come as I got plans to delve deeper into Greg's past and feature more canon interactions as this goes on. If there's any mistake or more changing that needs to be seen here, let me know.

Next Chapter: As Greg faces WARRIOR, some of his past is revealed, while more developments arise from Reese learning of Greg's whereabouts and other factions who are picking interests in the psychic soldier.

Collis aka Shardclaw Kusanagi.


	3. Strictly Business

ShardclawK: Here's the second revised chapter, folks. While I'm going through the revisions, I'll also be editing out only MOST of the unnecessary omakes for the story. Anyway, enjoy as always.

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ShardclawKusanagi presents:

Metal Gear: Soldier X

Chapter 2: Strictly Business

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Location, near the exit of the recreation area inside NERV Headquarters, in the Geofront in Toyko-3...

"Pay up, Mana!" Kari showed a hand to Mana as they were seated at the spectator's seat, meters away from the VR Training room. "I told you...there's no one that can beat Scorpion's kill count in elimination mode under two minutes. He's just too dangerous."

"Awww, shucks, Mana. Again?" Kari complained, as she offered some yen to her friend.

James 'Silent Scorpion' Masterson came out of the hall; his right arm was still fresh with wounds he made from the two hours of training with his knife throwing and sniping expertise. He had an almost dead serious look on his face, even when he approached the girls who were also friends from FOXHOUND.

"That was awesome as usual, Scorpion!" Mana chirped happily. "I'm sure that if Garland saw that, he would be impressed."

"Yeah, sure. But then again, I was just doing it because I'm not in such a good mood." Scorpion replied. He had been trying his best to give the Second Child, Asuka some support for the longest while, but every time he offers a hand, she pushes him and others away.

Mana placed a hand on his shoulder. "Look, James. I'm sure Asuka will come to her senses soon and drop her behavior. I don't know what could be making her so angry like this, but I'm sure it will pass."

"I'm hoping it does. Or else, I don't know what else I'm going to do around someone like that. Normally, Greg would advise me about how he would deal with situations like her." Scorpion said.

"Nah, Greg never had trouble landing a lady with him, Linn in particular." Kari chuckled. "Hey, let's check Michael and see what he up to with that Evangelion thing."

Mana and Scorpion nodded with her and began to walk. Along the way, they met Rei Ayanami, still wearing her plugsuit.

"Excuse me, Scorpion, is it?" Rei asked stoically.

"Yes, what is it, First Child?" Scorpion replied, trying to stay friendly to the albino girl.

"I was wondering what had happened to Kinezono. There was something I needed to ask him."

"Sorry, Rei. Greg left the city some hours ago. He won't be back in a week." Mana replied.

"I see." Rei said, hanging her head a little.

"Hey, would you like to come along with us to Dr. Hunter and Ritsuko's office?" Kari asked, holding unto Rei's arm.

Rei looked at the girl in surprise. "Well, I..."

Without an answer from Rei, she was pulled along with Kari to Ritsuko's office. Scorpion simply shook his head and walked along with the trio of girls.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Michael Hansen, otherwise known in FOXHOUND as Venom, was seated near a computer in Ritsuko's office, as was Naomi Hunter, who was seated behind him, talking to Ritsuko and Misato about the members of the organization. One of them in particular was Greg himself. Some moments later, Scorpion, Rei, Mana and Kari entered the room.

"Meryl mentioned that Greg had an artificial right hand?" Misato asked, while drinking a cup of coffee. "Is it some kind of prosthetic, because shortly after he exposed his joint where the arm was supposed to be, it regenerated!"

"Yes, it was the same nanomachines that are keeping him alive that are responsible for that, Misato." Naomi replied. "The nanomachines are capable of regenerating lost limbs, as well as healing wounds."

"Does this include mortal wounds?" Ritsuko asked.

"Only to a minimum, they won't be able to repair serious decapitations and at most times; they won't work fast enough to heal the wound in time. That's why he needs a re-supply of new colonies to help him cope with his powers before they go out of control." Naomi said.

"Is that why he needs the painkillers most of the time?" James asked.

"That and anti-depressants." Naomi said. "He's had a history of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder for years now and he's trying his hardest not to lose it, especially with his powers on the edge most of the time."

"But…it's hard to think someone that confident and carefree most of the time is actually suffering like that." Ritsuko said. "What also strikes me as well is his choice for a prosthetic."

"There's an explanation for that." Naomi took a deep breath before she spoke. "A year before Second Impact...Greg lost his parents and his younger sister from a detonated C4 explosion which terrorists were responsible. This was while he and his family were on a trip to visit some relatives in the United States. It was terrible, over thirty dead, and several others injured...and Greg was in the between on both those lists."

"How cruel…" Misato shook her head, remembering how she lost her father to a similar fate.

Naomi continued. "When the rescue workers found him under rubble, they thought he was just another lifeless corpse. To everyone surprise, he woke up suddenly, screaming how he wasn't able to protect his parents. He was nine years old at that time. He was too delusional to even see that his own right hand was mangled beyond recognition. They were at the wrong place at the wrong time...or so the authorities and those at FOXHOUND thought at the time..."

"I don't understand..." James asked.

"The terrorists were intentionally sent to kill off the legacy that Greg's father was carrying, namely a special gene to emulate Psycho Mantis' psychic powers." Naomi said. "When Greg's father was still alive, he was head of genetics, and technology. Came from a very prestigious family, I heard, but his mother had suffered a breakdown before the incident and Greg, even at a young age had been taking care of her and his younger sister since then; better than his father had while he was away on trips."

"Okay, but what I don't get is the deal with his powers. Like, how did he get them?" Misato asked.

"As much as I want to go into detail about that, even for me, talking about Greg's past is kind of hard. Especially since he was sought out by Dr. Clark right after he lost his family." Naomi said.

Ritsuko and Misato shook their heads, as Kari and Mana sniffed.

"Before he was sent back to Trinidad, his original homeland, his right hand was amputated for the sake that his whole right arm wouldn't get infected." Naomi continued. "But shortly after he returned home, his family's estate was taken from him by one of his father's colleagues who had been working alongside him in the genetics field. Greg, as a result, was orphaned and abandoned by the time Second Impact hit. Half of the southern area of Trinidad was sunken and Greg had to leave the country shortly afterwards when it became too dangerous to live on."

"But how did he manage to survive after all of that?" Misato asked as Naomi stayed quiet.

"It's a wonder to think that's possible…" Naomi simply said as Michael talked now.

"Naomi, just who is this colleague that took Greg's home away from him?" Michael asked.

"It was my predecessor, and Gregory's father best man for his genetic projects...Dr. Clark." Naomi simply said.

(The man who made Grey Fox into a cyborg ninja!) Michael thought, recognizing the name.

"Greg's father assisted Dr. Clark in creating the gene that possibly gave Greg his psychic talents. Clark had actually been the one who perfected the gene's design, but it was all Greg's father who took the credit into implanting an imperative, or an objective into the gene that would have effect on the host's mind. In a way, Greg is the closest thing you can get to Mantis."

"But...even up to this day...not even I know how originally based this growing power that Greg has is actually sub-conscious based, or genetically strengthened origin, or its point of destination. They all have a mysterious gap." Naomi placed a pen at her lips. "Somewhere along the lines, Greg would probably discover aspects of his power that weren't possible before, since he's still in the learning process of combat, both average and psychic. But even without them, he's had a lot of training to get him this far. He should be okay while he's away from the group."

Misato said, sipping on her cup once more. "You said that he's heading back to FOXHOUND headquarters to see what this Lt. Reese wants with him, Naomi?"

Scorpion growled slightly to the sound of that name.

"Actually, Greg has been excused to head to old Tokyo first to take care of some...personal business with his surrogate mother, Rio Kinezono." Naomi said, taking out a picture of Greg who was looking unfortunate right between the chests of Rio, Nanvel and Maya Jingu and Team Warrior. Scorpion and Michael stepped in closer to see the beauties that were strangely Greg's family. "The blond haired one is Rio alright, while the pink, pony tailed hair girl is Lilica Ebett. This one's Maya Jingu and her friend's Nanvel Candlestick. The male is Yuji Naruo and the other woman with them is Maki Kawasaki. It was Rio who took Greg in after he lost everything and trained him in all he knows, as did Nanvel and Maya."

"That's...Greg's mother!" James exclaimed. "She looks nothing like him! No fair that Greg had even women this good-looking being his 'family'."

Michael simply smiled at Scorpion. "You really can't blame the man, James. I'm pretty certain now that he has his reasons for keeping this from the rest of us, though most of them are unknown to us for now…"

"Anyway, I've known Rio for a long time, and she wanted me to take Greg into FOXHOUND to use his talents, in exchange that I can least help him with dealing with his abilities. Her friends also took part of making Greg into who he is today." Naomi continued. "Col. Campbell and Meryl are the only other persons who know that Greg possess such an ability. But..."

"But what, Naomi?" Michael asked.

"When last I checked with Rio, Greg's condition was stable enough that he didn't need a physical check. But Reese ordered it, suspecting Greg wasn't well." Naomi said. "Now that the world knows that Greg is a psychic soldier with that kind of power inside of him..."

"All I can say is that Greg had better be careful and not to trust Reese." Scorpion cut in. "And Reese better pray for his sake that he doesn't interfere with what's important to Greg, or else..."

Mana and Kari couldn't help but nod in agreement, while Michael leaned back to think. (Hmmm...Lt. Reese...what is it about Greg that has you so interested in him?)

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Meanwhile, in FOXHOUND headquarters, Col. Campbell had been sitting in his seat for the past forty minutes, contemplating about the current situation of the group working with NERV and Philanthropy against the current terrorist threat, Dead Cell. Now to add to the original problems, he had just been briefed by Rose and Meryl that the Commander of NERV, Gendou Ikari, had been returned to NERV as a corpse after Snake and Raiden managed to seize Arsenal Gear from the hostiles.

Just as he was about to pick up the phone to contact Meryl once more, a figure entered the office, also wearing a FOXHOUND military dress uniform and he was holding a dossier. It was Lt. Matthew Reese.

From the audience, a set of boos came from the fans, which were including Misato, Lilica, Rune himself and Iori Yagami of King Of Fighters.

Misato: Booooooooo!

Lilica: What a fag!

Rune: Nobody called you to show up ever, wanker man!

Iori: Pssshh...Waste of semen...

Ahem...Back to the show: (Sorry, Rune! I just had to do that! Some of your influence is responsible for that, you know...)

"Campbell! What is this order from that niece of yours that says that Panther won't come back in a week, when it was my orders that he was to return to HQ since yesterday?" Reese asked angrily.

"Reese..." Campbell tried to assure the Lieutenant that things were stable in the FOXHOUND group for now, but since Scorpion's mission from Cuba and now Greg's revelation, he has been applying pressure to get his own way in the group for as long as he can get it. "...Panther's on his own mission right now."

"What did you just say?" was Reese's reply.

"A little private matter of his came up shortly after the 14th Angel was defeated, and he must tend to it." Campbell said coolly. "He won't be available to assist anything involving FOXHOUND for the time being, so as of now, Panther is on a temporary stay out of FOXHOUND until his personal affairs can be dealt with fully."

"Bullshit! You're just defending him, Campbell! Just like you always do with your other recruits!" Reese spat out. "You can act all cool that only three of our male recruits are capable of handling a mission, but in reality, they are nothing but an unstable and uncontrollable group of loose cannons that are making FOXHOUND a disgrace in the eyes of the general public! I won't put up with having someone as dangerous as Panther being out there in the open public with all of that power he has within him!"

"Listen, Reese...I may not know what is it that you find...unusual...about the current members of FOXHOUND, but you must understand that if it wasn't for someone as powerful as Greg...Snake and Raiden, as well as the other recruits with them in Japan would have perished." Roy explained seriously. "I don't make exceptions about particular recruits that have threatening abilities or powers, as long as they know that the threat must be stopped one way or another...even if it means using whatever specialties they may have attained, whatever they may be."

Reese only glared at Campbell in silence before he turned his face to the door. "Let me make myself clear on this, Campbell, this is far from over. You may have gotten away with what happened with Scorpion...but this time, I'll see to it personally that Panther never sets foot in FOXHOUND again for the recklessness he has caused! And I promise you that you won't be able to cover his ass this time!" Reese stepped out, slamming the door behind him as Campbell sat back, thinking deeply to what he was just told. He came to a decision and picked up his phone.

"Tokyo-3 NERV Headquarters? This is Col. Campbell of FOXHOUND..." Roy spoke to the other end, which was directed to the now general FOXHOUND/NERV/Philanthropy connection. "I just need to speak to Michael Hanson, please. You'll put me through? Thank you."

Just then, Michael's voice was then heard at the other end of the receiver. "Col. Campbell? What is the problem?"

"It's Reese. He knows that Panther has left FOXHOUND to assist Rio and her friends in a personal matter, and he does not like it one bit, to say the least." Campbell said.

"Naomi was just telling me about Greg. I was guessing that Reese would want him for some reason..." Venom said. "Is this what you are calling about, Colonel?"

"Yes. Has Greg left NERV already?"

"Just two hours ago, before sunset." Venom replied. "What's the problem?"

"Listen, I'm worried that Reese is planning something nasty for Greg. I don't want to get you involved, now that you're assisting NERV in the problem with the terrorists, but..."

"You still feel it would be best that I go and back Greg up, or at least keep an eye on him, am I right?"

"You don't have to leave Tokyo-3...just keep in contact with Greg about what Reese is planning and find out what his next COA will be. Greg must be prepared for the worst, even if that comes from one of our very own." Campbell explained.

"I'll see what I can come up with by the meantime here, Colonel." Venom said.

"Wait until the next day or so to contact Greg, and be sure to keep you're monitor off so as not to let the Patriots or Reese listen in while you're on Codec." Campbell spoke. "That is all, Venom."

"Alright, Col. And thanks for the warning." Venom said as he logged off.

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Back in Japan, old Tokyo...

"Rio...is in a coma?" Greg stuttered while seated on the couch inside the living room of Team Warrior's new temporary home. In that room with him, stood Yuji, Maya and Nanvel as she fixed the wound he had got earlier from the gunshot fired by one of the Patriots flunkies.

He found it was a surprise that Lilica wasn't around to be a part of this, but he has no idea that the person he can have the closest to having a little sister has been kidnapped...yet. "How the hell is that even possible?"

"Ummm..." Nanvel looked down to hide the shame that covered her face (and her large breasts) with a shade of red.

"Did something happen while I was in Tokyo-3? What exactly happened to her and where's Lilica?" Greg asked loudly.

"Greg...there's something that you should know about that..." Yuji spoke, as he was still wearing his Police Town uniform. "We think Lilica was kidnapped by the people who attacked Rio and the restaurant."

"What did you just say?" was the reply from Greg's mouth as he ignored the pain from his arm while Nanvel began applying stitches. "Lilica was kidnapped? Where were you guys when this happened?"

"We were investigating that Dead Cell incident at the time. We managed to get some leads on what they could be planning, but at the time, Rio and Lilica stayed at the restaurant to provide us intel about Arsenal being in Japan."

"Rio was worried about you...she was concerned about how your powers would affect the status of your health." Maya confessed.

"Sounds like an obvious excuse to get herself into this mess..." Greg replied. "Guys, why do you insist on putting yourselves, including Lilica in the heat of this situation?"

"But, Greg...we had to. You're practically a walking terror, now that you've revealed those powers to everyone from FOXHOUND and probably the world." Nanvel spoke. "Rio just wanted to make sure that things didn't get out of hand for the nanos that are keeping you alive."

"And were they any problems?" Greg asked.

"Umm...no..." she replied.

"Did Maki even authorize this in the first place? Surely, she of all people would have seen something like this coming if you're going to get involved with Dead Cell's business." Greg said.

"We didn't want you to panic or get the rest of your FOXHOUND friends involved." Nanvel spoke.

Greg simply twitched his right eyebrow. "Rio's seriously hurt, Lilica's kidnapped by someone we have no clue of, the ramen restaurant we worked so hard to create is partially destroyed...and you're telling me not to overreact? It's a little too late to say that my friends and I are in trouble because of the enemy, Nanvel. I thought you were being careful."

"We're sorry, Greg, really we are." Nanvel said, her face lowered. "We messed up big time on this, didn't we?"

"Definitely." Greg simply replied. He placed a hand on his temple to collect his thoughts before he can speak. "Has whoever took Lilica made any demands or calls? Anything?"

Maya shook her head sadly as Yuji spoke. "No, we couldn't get any clues except that Rio was still conscious when we found her."

"She only mentioned that Mantis attacked the restaurant and he took Lilica." Nanvel said. "Oh, I don't think I can carry on with this...it's too much..."

Greg rested his head back, trying to fight back any negative thoughts and the emotions as well. (Lilica...my little lilac...) he thought to himself the nickname he usually called her long ago. He clenched his fists hoping that she'll be alright.

"Greg, the best we can do right now is not to worry of what Mantis will do to Lilica. For all we know, he may be working alongside Ocelot and Dead Cell and that could get very dangerous..." Maya said, who was wearing a tight t- shirt that hugged her cleavage enough that Greg swore she wasn't wearing bra and a short-cut jeans that hugged her behind well enough that part of her tight and firm butt cheeks were showing.

"It already has gotten dangerous, Maya. Tokyo-3 is still under yellow alert even after yesterday, not to mention we've gotten nowhere with the investigation or anything else involving Dead Cell, the Patriots, or how much more complicated this situation can get for the time being." Greg only shook his head.

"I'm sure Lilica is okay. If Mantis is smart, the most he would do with her is just having her as unharmed bait." Yuji said in an attempt at reassurance.

"How can you say something like that, Yuji?" Nanvel said. "Lilica is part of Team Warrior, almost like family. Well, the only family to Greg anyway..."

"No, Yuji's got a point." Greg said, even though he hated to agree with the idea. "Though the enemy is far from done trying to mess with our lives like this. I'm referring, of course, to my visit back to the restaurant where those flunkies attacked me."

"What? You're saying those bastards who attacked Rio came back?" Yuji asked.

Greg simply nodded with his arms folded. "What surprised me is that they were wearing similar suits that almost looked like the Tengus from Arsenal Gear. They weren't as tough, but it was a grave miscalculation on my part for thinking you guys would be safe from the eye of the enemy forever, not to mention how I confronted them…I thought they wouldn't be packing such serious firepower. This is my fault really if I hadn't attracted too much attention."

"Those suits they were wearing are probably a different kind of Special Forces suits, I bet." Nanvel said. "But still, why would they come back to the restaurant?"

"They were probably expecting me." Greg simply replied, which got a shock from the people around him. "After I managed to defend myself from them, I was able to capture and interrogate one of them. He confessed Mantis and the Patriots wanted me to come along with them."

"So Mantis was behind all of this after all!" Yuji shouted, shaking his fists.

"But before I could get more out of him, he died from an explosion in his brain, just like Commander Ikari's symptoms before he died." Greg explained.

"Commander Gendou Ikari is dead?" Maya asked. "How did that happen?"

"It's a long story...I'd rather not talk about it right now after everything..." Greg shook his head. "Listen, guys...the most we can do from here on in, is pray to God that Mantis will leave Lilica safe, while it's up to us to try to figure out where she was taken to and why Mantis is alive, much less doing something like this."

"Oh, Greg...again, we're so sorry about all of this..." Nanvel got up and hugged Greg. "This was all Rio's idea to make sure that you're safe..."

"Don't blame yourselves for what happened. I doubt Mantis would try to harm Lilica to provoke me...at least not yet." Greg said sternly. "Does Maki know what happened?"

Nanvel nodded her head silently.

"Okay, first thing in the morning, we go to Police Town and have a group talk with her. That's probably the safest place to be right now from the Patriots watch, and also to get planned on what we should do about this. Also, I have this..." Greg took out the optic disk he was carrying.

"Is that...?" Maya stopped as she looked at the disc.

"This contains the information concerning the names of the Patriots, and about the new Metal Gear, Ultimatum." Greg said. "I'm telling you guys, this is bigger than even the folks at Philanthropy, FOXHOUND and NERV had thought."

"Greg, if you have any important details about this, save it for the morning. It's getting really late, and you look like hell." Maya said.

"You're right, Maya. Now's not the right time to get ourselves more stressed out than it is." Greg said. "Look, I should apologize as well about how I reacted. It's normal but, you guys are my family. Next time I'll try not to get worked up so easily on you."

"You have your reasons, Greg. We understand that." Yuji smiled.

"Anyway, just where is Rio?" Greg asked.

"She's in her room, recovering. The wound wasn't as serious as it looked." Nanvel said.

"Thank God..." Greg muttered. "I assume that you're using the nanos as always to repair the damage done to her?"

"She only suffered a concussion to the back of her head, nothing serious that it can cause anything like head trauma." Nanvel continued. "But she does have to stay in bed for awhile for the nanomachines to operate well on her body."

"And here I was worrying that she was in critical condition." Greg simply grinned. "Good work, Nanvel."

Nanvel only blushed at Greg for awhile before she spoke. "Hey, Greg, if you want to, you can see Rio. But first..."

"Huh?" Greg replied in stunned mode.

"You deserve a hot bath after what you went through. Maya and I will fix you something to eat by the meantime." Nanvel pushed Greg to the back. "There's a hot springs behind the house, go enjoy yourself and relax."

"Hey, stop teasing me like that...just let me see Rio first, okay?" Greg insisted, feeling a bit flustered.

"Alright, Greg. Try not to wake her, alright?" Maya patted him before she hugged him as well.

Greg took off his jacket, while leaving on his shirt and hung it on the jacket rack. As he started to walk upstairs, Nanvel called out to him.

"Oh by the way, Greg, how did you know just where to find us?" she asked.

"Oh, I had a friend who knew exactly just what trouble you had gotten yourselves into..." Greg simply replied as he headed upstairs.

"Gee, I guess all of that time away from us made you all FOXHOUND on us, Greggie." Maya smirked, making him blush.

"Aww, cut it out, Maya. I'm just looking out for you guys." Greg nervously smiled. "You really think so?"

Maya and Nanvel both nodded at the same time. Greg simply smiled as he turned around to continue to walk upstairs.

It didn't take him Greg to find Rio's room. He actually can sense her presence from inside the room without using his psychic powers. Slowly, he breathed deeply as he opened the door, preparing his heart for the worst sight.

He looked on the bed before him in the dimly lit room and saw Rio, dressed in a white robe, her extremely long, pure blonde hair spilled all over the pillow. Her body was curled up into a ball, her long legs hugging her chest. Greg pulled a chair near the bedside and watched her snore gently. He can see the bandage wrapped around her forehead, as he reached out to touch her soft, smooth face.

(Sensei...) Greg thought, while looking at her. He can feel his eyes begin to water again; he felt he was getting too emotional after all that was happening. The battle against the 14th Angel brought out his true nature, and certainly he felt Rio was just waiting for him to use his powers to protect a place as big as NERV. He knew she would be proud of what he done.

"What did I do wrong to make this happen?" Greg said to himself quietly as his body shook with emotions of sadness and regret. "Why is it that wherever I do and go, it sometimes brings pain to those closest to me?"

He then shuts his eyes for a moment to think for awhile, little he knew that he was too tired keep awake. Instantly, he fell asleep while seated next to Rio and his thoughts went back to that day that changed everything for him...

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Over here! There are more of them here!" shouted an NYPD fire officer, who had just cleared some of the rubble of a crime scene where a bomb had detonated near a shopping mall in one of the busy areas of the city. The date was June 18, 1999, a bright Saturday morning in the district area outside of New York.

Among the victims of the attack, thirty dead, several others injured, laid out in bloody, broken corpses, covered in dirt and rubble, broken glass and debris. The fire that emitted from the gas lines underneath the pavement were finally put out, allowing the rescue workers to enter the almost unrecognizable scenery that was once the crowded with lively people.

"This is terrible." one of the rescue workers said, shaking his head. "Whoever did this, knew just where to strike. Right at the one of the busiest shopping malls in America."

"Hey, can at least one of you give me a hand over here?" the fire officer shouted. The rescue workers saw the officer and ran to assist him. When they came to him, they can only see a group of corpses with the same color.

"Damn...this must be a family that was caught in the blast..." the fire officer said. "Afro-American, judging from the skin tone..."

The rescue worker walked up to the smallest corpse, a young dark colored boy, no younger than ten, was laying near a lager body, which was burnt beyond recognition. His right hand was mangled beyond anyone's guess that the rescue worker almost gave up hope for the victim. His black, short cut hair was covered in dust, while blood was flowing over his shut right eye. He was wearing casual clothing, now tattered and bloodied by the attack.

"Poor kid...even he didn't deserve to die so young." the rescue bent to pick up the body, after checking the vital signs to see if he was still alive. "Weak pulse...but he's going to make it in time if we get him some medical attention..."

Suddenly, the 'corpse' woke up suddenly, surprising everyone around him. The rescue worker nearest him held the startled youngster.

"Hey, take it easy, kid. You're hurt badly..." The rescue worker said to the boy. "Tell me...do you remember what your name is? Can you tell me?"

"G...Greg Matthews..." he stuttered in shock, his pupils were dilated due to the blinding light he had seen before the explosion. He looked around to see if his parents were still alive. "Mom? Dad? Candice? Where's my family?"

"Sorry, kid...you're the only survivor we had seen since we got here."

Greg looked on around him in shock, not seeing the mangled right hand that was still on his wrist. He held onto his head, as if he were getting a serious migraine. "They're...they're dead? I wasn't able to protect them...ahh...AHHHHHHHH! It hurts!"

"Hey, kid..." The rescue worker tried to ease Greg, but Greg continued to agonize himself as his head began to throb with unbearable pain.

"The pain...it's too much!" Greg shouted, holding his head with his left hand. (What is this…everyone's...pain...feelings...what is this I'm feeling? Father...what did you do to me...?)

Greg's memory went cloudy for a moment, with only the last moments of his parents and his younger sister calling for him when the bomb went off. Flashes of seeing his family being blasted, along with Greg flew past his mind. And with each view of the memory, he feels the pain that the other person's around him had endured, both the survivors' and the deceased before their lives had ended. Eventually, it was too much for Greg's mind and tired body that he fell back and was knocked unconscious.

"Get the medics over here now!" the rescue worker said. "He's gotten delirious and unstable from too much shock."

"That will be unnecessary." said a male voice from behind the worker. He turned to see a male dressed in a black dress suit and wearing spectacles. He was holding onto a suitcase, and several other men carrying stretchers were behind him. He held out is I.D card to the rescue worker.

"Dr. Clark? Why would you be here?"

"That boy is the son of a once brilliant colleague and friend I had just lost." Dr. Clark spoke. "I'm here to take him back to his home in Trinidad where he will stay and be taken care of."

"His right hand is too badly damaged to repair. It has to be amputated if his arm isn't to be infected."

"Yes, yes, do not worry don't worry about what happens to Greg. He's in safe hands..." Dr. Clark said with an evil looking smirk. "Take him back to the medical centre. Remove the hand and extract the DNA he's carrying."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Greg suddenly woke up in a cold sweat, seeing himself back inside Rio's room. Surprisingly, she wasn't awake to see him like this. Shaking his head, he got up.

(I can't let Rio see me like this...if she was awake.) Greg slapped himself. (Damn... I thought I had totally forgotten about that memory...)

He stood up, pulling over the sheet fully over Rio's body. He looked at Rio's sleeping face, and saw that she seemed relaxed. Greg smiled a bit; before he reached down to kiss her on her soft cheek. "Tomorrow morning, I'll see to it that this little matter with Mantis is dealt with for you, so you don't have to fight."

"Sleep well, sensei." Greg said to himself. He turned his back to face the door, and as he left, one of Rio's eyelids opened to see Greg step out.

(Tomorrow, Greg...you'll see the surprise I have for you) she thought with a smile.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Twenty minutes and two servings of ramen later, Greg was soaking in the hot springs in the back yard of the house.

(Ahh, this is just exactly how I remember it.) Greg smiled, a wet towel resting on his head.

Greg looked up into the night sky, thinking of what he should do. (Lilica...Angels East, Angels West, North and South, just do your best. Guard and watch her as she rests. Amen.)

Thinking that at least the night would pass without Lilica getting hurt in anyway, he stood up. (Tomorrow...Maki should say what we should do. If anyone has a sensible plan about these situations, it's Maki alright. Rio got lucky that I didn't go mental on her while she was asleep, or else...)

Before he could get up to leave, he felt a sudden and serious throbbing in his right arm, and he looked down to see it was leaking blood and a blue substance. The arm quivered and it felt as if it were falling apart and Greg used his left hand to grab unto it.

(No…it's happening again!) Greg thought to himself as he panicked. His body then got weaker as he dropped to his knees as he clutched his head in pain. The side effects of his powers were already beginning to take their effect.

(I don't need to go there…Not now….not here…) Greg thought to himself as he collapsed on the cold concrete floor, half naked and unconscious.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Somewhere else unknown to anyone, inside a well lit cell, Lilica was seated on the bench that was provided for her. Next to her were a laptop, and some clothes to change into. Her face was smudged in dried tears. But she was grateful that her captors did not carry on with more than just her capture.

She looked outside and saw only a dark, murky hallway. She had dared to call out for anyone, but no one answered back. She was in an empty cell block after all.

(Oh, this is some mess I gotten into now...) she thought, hugging her knees to her chest. She was still wearing her old clothes from the day before. (Author's rant: Blue vest blouse with large blue tie, short leather skirt. Her usual Burn Up outfit.) She looked up to see the light bulb and clenched her hands together. "Oh, Greg...big brother...I do hope you can find me soon..."

Just then, two figures appeared in front of her cell. It was a young girl of Lilica's height, with long pale pink hair, that was tied into a large, single ponytail. She also had a brown symbol on her forehead, a halo covered in red. She was wearing a suit that protruded a large pair of white wings. Lilica gasped at the beautiful sight of the girl, but her eyes were blank as white paper.

(She doesn't look any older than me...) Lilica thought. (Wait...does she have powers like Greg too?)

"That is correct." Psycho Mantis's voice rang from behind the girl. He was dressed in black, with a trench-coat that hung to his feet.

"Isn't she lovely? I believe that you two haven't met..."

"What are you planning to do, Mantis? If you think you can manipulate Greg like this, you're DEAD wrong!" Lilica shouted.

"Silence, young girl." the younger outfitted girl raised her hand at Lilica, who found herself unable to breathe. "You will not address my master like that anymore if you want to live."

Lilica's eyes widened in shock. "No...She has powers like..."

"That will be all, Seraph." Mantis said, coming closer to Lilica's cell. Seraph lowered her hand, and bowed to Mantis. "Young Lilica, I advise you to behave yourself, or else my plan will not work. Once I have Greg, then I will dispose of both you and him."

Lilica didn't want to dare Mantis or else Seraph will hurt her once more. Lilica caught her breath.

"Seraph, give her something to eat. She has to live long enough to be our bait for the catch." Mantis said. "Until we see each other again, Miss Ebett."

Mantis walked out of the room, as the young girl suddenly fell on her knees. Her wings dissipated into the glowing light behind her back and she was holding her head. "Ohhhh...huh? Oh, I'm so sorry about that, really...I would have opposed to Mantis, but he would have harmed me too."

Lilica smiled a bit at the girl, as she can see the young girl's eyes returned to a gentle, and innocent brown color. "It's alright, but please tell me...who are you and why are you here?'

The young girl nodded at Lilica. "My real name is Yuina Hattori. I'm sixteen years old. I was taken from my auntie by Mantis and the Patriots, when they learned about my psychic gifts. Mantis has been able to control my mind for sometime and has been...testing me..."

Lilica growled at this. "So, the Patriots are after your powers...? It seems that they would target anyone outside of FOXHOUND just for their abilities."

Yuina nodded, and then started to cry. "I never did anything to deserve this. Mantis has not been kind to me either...when he attacked our house...he...he killed my auntie when she was hiding me from him and his men..."

"I'm so sorry to hear that. When did this happen?"

"About..." Yuina sniffed before she spoke. "About a week ago…I've been kept here against my will, forced to do Mantis's bidding...for my survival..."

"But why would he do anything like that? What does he want with your powers?" Lilica asked.

Before Yuina can speak, she held her head. "AHHHHHH! No, please, Mantis! I promise to be good! Leave Lilica alone!"

After a while, she turned back to Seraph. Getting up, she coldly stared at Lilica. "It's time for me to depart."

"Wait, Yuina!" Lilica shouted at her newfound friend, but she only turned to look at her with a pair of cold eyes.

"I have no intentions to become friends with a simple human such as you." Seraph said. "Farewell and try not to make so much trouble on yourself."

She exited the hallway, leaving Lilica to sit down and ponder once more. (What the hell's going on here? Are there more than one psychic that the Patriots are after than Greg? If so, why?)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Has the target moved again?" asked a female voice, somewhere on what it appears to be a conference round table.

"No, sir. He has found the desired location and is staying with the enemy." replied another female, wearing a white dress, one that ended way over the knee area. The other women around her were also wearing the same uniform, (and the same color of white panties). "Shall we proceed with the capture?"

"No, we don't want to have the Patriots guessing that we are after him as well. When their pawn known as Psycho Mantis is eliminated, we shall advance to eliminate Rio Kinezono once and for all, and then go after Greg Kinezono."

"What about Aika Sumeragi? She desires to use G9999 for her own priorities as well."

"She'll be swatted just like Rio." the female said.

"Of course, White Leader." the woman next to her cooed. "The Delmo army will not tolerate failure and humiliation from Aika's and Rio's organization."

On the screen in the centre of the room, the faces of Rio, Aika and Greg himself were shown. Under both Rio and Aika, were the words, 'Eliminate on Sight', while Greg's own was 'Capture for Testing.'

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

To be continued...

ShardclawK: That's all for this revised chapter, hope it was to everyone tastes. I also got accustomed making this Greg different and its quite pleasing to know that he has a depressing side to go along with his powers that normally causes these blackouts he gets.

Next chapter: Greg's mindscape makes an early entrance, as well as Maki Kawasaki. More surprise guest stars with appearances of a lot of characters.

Collis aka ShardclawKusanagi.


	4. Never Trust The Blonde Bombshell

ShardclawK: I just want to thank DarkFusion for editing the grammar mistakes I made during the revision of these chapters, not to mention doing some editing of his own, I'd appreciate the help. Here's revised chapter 3 for all to enjoy.

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ShardclawKusanagi proudly presents:

Metal Gear: Soldier X

Chapter 3: Never Trust the Blond Bombshell

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Greg woke up in what appeared to be the darkness within his own conscience. The last thing that he remembered was collapsing just outside the hot springs as his body suddenly weakened. Despite that, Greg obviously knew what was happening to him as of now.

(Tell me…why is it that you still come here?) A voice called out to him from the darkness.

"I…don't know…why I'm here." Greg replied to the darkness.

(Do you wish to be forgiven?) The voice asked suddenly.

(Forgiven? What have I done to be forgiven for?) Greg asked, confused and weak.

(Don't give me that, Greg. You of all people should know about that.) The voice replied. (Go ahead then. Keep on blaming yourself for leaving your family to die all those years ago while you still live on…tell me, isn't that what's keeping you back from accepting who you truly are? That is from accepting your true nature?)

"You know that's not true!" Greg replied.

(But you know for certain that it is. You don't need to deny yourself of the truth.) The voice lamented.

"Was I really responsible for letting them die?" Greg asked himself. "Is this my just punishment for disregarding my own father at such a time?"

(Maybe it is, maybe it's not. Who knows?) The voice said to him. (Then again, that's part of your lovely nature to give certain impressions about people.)

"I don't want to listen to you anymore…let me go back home…" Greg said in a low tone.

(Ahh, but you are home, Greg. It won't be long till you realise that it is. Just give it time.) The voice replied.

"Why do you do this to me every time I go to sleep?" Greg asked.

(Why, you ask? I thought you already knew.) The voice said to him. (In any case, they are waiting for you, so I won't keep you here any while longer. But be assured that I will be seeing you again.)

Before long, Greg began to feel his body move again, but he was still immobile as he felt his body was now lying on a bed. His eyes steadily opened and all he saw was a ceiling above him.

"So, you're finally awake." Nanvel's voice said as Greg turned to see her sitting at his bedside. "You know, Greg…you've got to be more careful if you're relying on the nanos alone just to heal some of your wounds."

"Nanvel? What happened?" Greg asked getting up. He clearly found out now that he was half dressed, but the bed covers were conveniently placed over his body. He also saw his right arm was covered in fresh bandages.

"You must have blacked out again, I guess." Nanvel said with a near sad look in her eyes. "Maya and I found you outside near the springs and found out that the nano colony you had currently had then were dying out and needed replacing."

"I'm surprised you didn't assume it was another 'attack' now, wasn't it?" Greg said as Nanvel's face looked even sadder. "Wait; don't answer that if you don't want to."

"I'm sorry, Greg…I should have asked to check up on those before it happened…" Nanvel apologized, but suddenly felt Greg's right bandaged hand touch her chin and lifted her head up.

"Ah, Nanvel, what would I do without you?" Greg simply replied with a slight grin now. "Even if you had done this thing late, it would be better than never, right?"

"I don't understand, Greg…" Nanvel said as Greg moved to the side to sit on the bed.

"I meant that you were always there to help me cope with this whole nano thing with my arm, while Naomi's the second best person in the field capable enough to give me limbs to use differently than certain average people. I'm thankful, at least, for you being around to pull my chestnuts out of the fire." Greg explained while rubbing his head as Nanvel grinned.

"Well, as long as you're happy with the whole thing, but just remember not to push yourself next time…those nanos aren't really 100 percent reliable for uses in combat, especially if it revolves around the FOXHOUND type." Nanvel advised him.

"That's why I should focus more on certain defence and counter offensive techniques based from my Marine MCMAP training, not to mention from Seishiro's teachings." Greg said as he lit a cigarette close by. He wasn't a serious smoker, but he would often do this to clear his head of the strange dreams he normally has now and again.

"MCMAP?" Nanvel asked, being curious.

"Simply put, the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program. I thought you'd remembered where I trained for that, Nanvel…you were the one who helped me sign up for it, after all." Greg said as he exhaled some of the smoke.

"It really seems like a long way since we've known you, Greg." Nanvel said with a smile. "A lot of things have happened since you came to us."

"Indeed." Greg said as he looked out to the window. "Is it morning already?"

"Yeah, you slept like a baby through the night. And looked quite cute as well, I wouldn't mind babysitting you again if you're not feeling any better." Nanvel joked.

"Stop kidding, Nanvel." Greg said, already putting out the cigarette on a nearby ash tray. "Besides, I say we should use this day to get to the bottom of this whole thing with Lilica missing and Mantis being back on the scene…we have to get some clues to this."

"You're right…I'd say we should start knocking on some doors for answers." Another female voice spoke as Greg and Nanvel turned to see Rio dressed in her Police Town uniform and her extremely long golden hair let down, covering most of her back area.

"Sensei? Shouldn't you be in bed?" Greg asked, noting the few apparent wounds on her head that were covered by a few bandages.

"Oh, these? You got nothing to worry about…most of the serious affects from Mantis's attack are healed, thanks to Nanvel's nanos." Rio said, getting into the room.

"That's not the issue here…you were badly hurt and you really shouldn't be moving about like this." Greg said to her as Rio huffed at him and stood closer to him.

"Now, listen here, Greg! I'm just as worried about Lilica as you are and I won't let some stupid concussion caused by a psychic at least ten times stronger than you stop me from finding out why this happened." Rio said in a stern tone. "This no longer involves your group, but now, its become WARRIOR's business. Mantis was wrong to step into our turf like this."

"Normally, Rio, I would back you up with your opinion, but let's be sensible about this, okay?" Greg said as he stood up and stopped for a moment. "Ahem! Some privacy, please, ladies!"

Greg found out that he was wearing only boxers and was about to dress and he had no time to play model in front of Nanvel and Rio, who turned their backs away from him as he talked.

"In any case, we have to take this one step at a time before we jump into anything major. Anyone of you do anything on your end that helped while I was out of it last night?" Greg asked as he got into his jeans.

"Well, I called Maki last night and told her that you were here." Nanvel answered. "She said that she had arranged a meeting for us with a friend who knows about what could help us find Lilica. This friend of hers is supposed to have arrived in Police Town already."

"Yeah, but I wonder if it would be alright to even trust her friend once she knows of the situation?" Greg asked.

"Maki said she was trustworthy. If there's anything Maki can say to believe and trust her by, I'm going for it." Rio said.

"Well, we have no other options at the moment. We have to listen to Maki's friend then." Greg said as he put on a simple dress shirt and then a pair of shades over his eyes. "Okay, where are Yuji and Maya?"

"They're in the kitchen having breakfast by now. Don't worry; we made sure to get your favourite made as well." Nanvel asked.

"You can't possibly mean…spicy ramen noodles?" Greg's eyes lit up as he suddenly dashed out of the room.

"Damn, I didn't get to see him move at the time!" Rio exclaimed. "If only he'd move that quickly during our sparring matches though…"

"Hey, I heard that!" Greg called out, causing the two women to giggle. As they left his room, Nanvel touched Rio's shoulder.

"Hey, Rio…you think we can get Lilica back safe?" Nanvel asked.

"Why are you asking that? Of course you know we will get her back!" Rio said. "And now that Greggie's here with us, this should be no problem for him to help us out, especially if family is involved."

"I don't know too much about that, Rio." Nanvel said. "We can't get too over our heads with this…I mean, look what happened when we interfered with hacking into Arsenal Gear. You got hurt badly, Lilica gets kidnapped and now Greg is willing to bring himself into this. Is it really worth it?"

Rio stayed quiet for a bit as she thought of what Nanvel had said could be true. What if things don't go according to their plan? What if things went from bad to worse? The thoughts of these things happening started to bother her.

"Hey, Rio…you okay?" Nanvel said to her as Rio smiled at her gently.

"Ah, don't worry yourself, girl. I'm fine." Rio said as she patted her friend's shoulder. "Come on, we should go join Greg and the others for breakfast before we head to Police Town."

"Yeah, I'm starving for ramen myself." Nanvel said as they headed to the kitchen where Greg was having a second bowl of ramen as he sat with Yuji and Maya. Yuji was impressed with Greg's eating skills.

"In record time again." Yuji said as he was still on his first bowl as he saw Rio and Nanvel enter. "Rio, you already discussed to Greg about what's going down today, right?"

"Yep, all we need to do is listen in to what Maki's friend has to say, while I go around and bust open some skulls for clues of my own." Rio said as Greg started to shake his head hopelessly.

"You really sure you want that?" Greg asked as he slurped the contents out of the bowl. "I say we should take this one step at a time and figure out what to do according to who we're dealing with."

Rio stayed quiet as she smiled at her surrogate son before wrapping an arm around his head. "Well, I guess we'll go with your way first, Greg, since you're the calmest about this whole situation."

"I'm not really calm." Greg said as he looked at his empty bowl. "I'm just having trouble trying to express the right emotion for this situation. Should I be worried, or angry? Confused or be high of expectation for the best?"

"You have a weird way of worrying, Greg. Be more like me and take it easy." Rio said as she took the bowl of ramen and started to act strangely. First, she gasped and moaned in ecstasy before she licked her small and soft, glossy lips as she let out a moan. Then, she began to rub her long legs together as her moans kept getting higher, as if she was going to climax. Greg could only shake his head and try his best to shrug off the stiffness between his legs.

"Do you STILL always eat your ramen like that, Rio?" Greg asked really embarrassed.

"Only if you're the one who made it." she licked her lips one more time while looking at Greg.

"You're starting to scare me, Rio." Greg said as he shook his head as he played with his chopsticks. "I hope that Maki's got some kind of plan for all of this."

"Hopefully, that friend of hers can give us the details we need on what we can do to get Lilica back." Rio said seriously. "And..."

"And then?" Greg asked.

"We make our move and attack wherever he's hiding. So far, we have no idea what he's plotting, much less if this kidnapping was for a ransom or something..." Rio replied. "All we can do is wait and hope for a miracle that Lilica isn't in any serious danger. If this is some kind of trap to draw you in, Greg...you have to be careful, especially when the time comes when you face Mantis."

"I know, I know that. This is a crucial moment where everything I learned has to be utilized." Greg said seriously

"Don't you worry, Greg. Everything will work out just fine. Let's just hope for the best, okay?" Maya patted him as she got up.

Greg smiled slightly before he stood up to stretch himself. (I hope the others in Tokyo-3 are alright as well...) he thought to himself.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"So...that's what's been happening with Greg..." Garland said, with a smile on his face. He had been told about the details about Greg's past from Michael as it was told by Naomi the night before. To his surprise, it turned out more interesting that he thought it would.

"Yeah, and now Campbell wants to make sure that nothing happens to him while he's taking care of his personal affairs." Michael said, as they were walking about in the hallways of NERV.

"Roy can't help but worry about it, huh?" Garland said. "But after what Greg went through, you think he needs to be watched?"

"No, but I know Reese would say otherwise." Michael replied. "The Colonel was worried that someone with Greg's talents could be targeted, but Greg's just acting as if it was a normal routine."

Just then, they met Linn in the hallway. She had an extremely happy look on her face, the kind that would seem as if one were intoxicated by a powerful drink. Her time with Greg the night before was one of the best experiences she can ever hope for since she got to Japan.

"Hey, guys, good morning." she smiled happily. Michael and Garland saw the look on her face and chuckled a bit.

"Let me guess...you and Greg went at it again before he left last night, huh?" Garland joked. A red shade covered Linn's face.

"Well, you can say I did kind of bring it on myself." she said. "He does have a weakness for sweetness..."

"Linn, Naomi told me about Rio and her friends last night." Michael said. "And I was wondering...aren't you at least worried about the women that Greg has for a family?"

"Yeah, seemed that he has an unfair advantage if you ask me." Garland asked.

"Why don't you ask him yourself, hmm, Michael?" Linn smirked. "I trust Greg. Even though his surrogate mother's chest size beats mine by only two inches, he would go crazy over me and still want to take advantage of my body the moment he gets his hands on me."

"The way you two are together all the time, it's as if you're trying to help Greg forget his current troubles." Michael spoke.

Linn's face turned serious for a moment. "Well, I guess that's why we're still together after what's been happening, isn't it?" Quickly, her lips curled back into a grin. "Anyway, we have a big day ahead of us. Aren't we supposed to go to Arsenal to recover the corpse of Gendou Ikari?"

Garland nodded. "Yes, it's about high time that happened, though Snake was to oversee that. He's still busy with that Evangelion business. Let's get going, since Scorpion has been put in charge of seeing the body being removed."

Meanwhile in Arsenal Gear...

Scorpion, Kari and Mana were standing near the doorway of the cell where Gendou was killed. They can see the fresh blood spilled across the wall and the floor, some of it was even starting to dry, along pieces of what was left of Gendou's skull and brain that littered the floor. Kari tried her best not to let the breakfast she had just eaten come back up after seeing the gruesome sight. Scorpion calmly examined the room and the corpse once more before he told the coroners to take the body out.

"Damn...that was quite a number on him..." James said. "But still… after learning all that guy did in the past to make everyone's life miserable, I would have gladly put one in his skull."

"Scorpion...what a thing to say." Kari shook her head.

"The kid's right...I should have been right here when it happened." An older male voice said from outside, surprising the youngsters. It was Snake's.

"Snake...why are you here?" Mana asked.

"I came to see for myself just how exactly this would have looked if I was here. The bastard certainly got what was coming to him..." he grunted. "I would have taken greater satisfaction in knowing he got his 'just desserts' by getting a front row seat to see how it happened."

"Gosh, you boys are all alike..." Mana rolled her eyes. "Well, we have the rest of Arsenal Gear to scout, so Kari let's get a move on."

"Give me a minute to catch myself first." she said, catching her breath, as she saw the corpse being wheeled away. Grabbing her mouth, she ran out. "Oh God, that's really gross!"

"Guess she's still has to get used to the more graphic and gross corpses..." Scorpion said with a shrug. "Fine then, Mana, you come along with me."

Mana smiled, taking up her Beretta and walked out with Scorpion. Snake took out a cig and lit over the blood stained floor of the room. His thoughts went back to what he was told about Gendou's involvement with the Patriots and how he had treated his son, Shinji.

As some of the ashes fell on the spot he stood on, Snake muttered to himself. "The Patriots...they would control anything they touch...and they had control of Gendou Ikari to the very end of his life...I wonder what other pawns they will have control of before they get their gain..."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Later that morning, back in Neo Tokyo city in the building called Police Town...

"Hey, it's Greg!" shouted a police officer. "He's come back to Japan!"

Greg happily waved at the officer and his partners, as if practically all of Police Town was popular with Greg. Dressed casually to kill, he walked through the hallway of one the largest police stations in Japan with his surrogate family of Team WARRIOR to his side.

"Yo, Greg, you finally decided to leave FOXHOUND to join us now?" asked another who happily shook his hand. Before he came to the city though, Nanvel made sure to give Greg a modification on the skin regenerating nanomachines for the prosthetic hand, so he would be able to fully conceal the appearance of it while he was among the general public.

"I'm afraid not. I'm just here on business." he smiled nervously. "And to see Maki."

"Maki, eh? Well you can find her as usual in her office." the officer replied. "She'll be happy to see you're back, Greg."

Rio stepped from behind Greg, in her trademark sexy police uniform. "Come on, Greg. We can't keep her waiting." she said. He nodded as Yuji, Nanvel and Maya walked with them. As Greg walked with Rio, he noticed he was just a few feet taller than her. As a matter of fact, he was taller than all the people who were with him. A small smile curled on his lips.

(I'll never forget the day I met you, sensei Rio.) Greg thought. (Not to mention that was the day you saved my life and I was eternally grateful to you since then…)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The date was December 19th 2001. Half of Tokyo had already been under water from the Second Impact. The bustling ports where the ships come in to export and shipping goods was a perfect place for the rowdy and ill mannered street children to gather and make their hustle, it was their way of living.

Some of these children had other approaches for gaining what they need to survive for the day; they would use threats and force to intimidate others.

"Hey, what do we got here?" one of the teenage boys said as he picked up someone by the collar. It young dark skinned boy, wearing a hood over his head and face, his clothes almost tattered and the right sleeve covered in rags, and a stump made of metal was covered over the right hand. He looked nearly malnourished and his pupils were dilated.

"Looks like a foreigner to me." One of the boys said, leering at the young dark skinned boy, who was too confused to understand their language. But there was one thing he clearly understood…the look in their eyes. They were like predators and they've found some fresh meat today.

"Let's see if he has any money!" the boy who was holding Greg said as he stared to frisk him, as did the other boys followed in as well. It was total humiliation as the only clothes he had were torn away from him and he was practically getting stripped by the street children. He was too weak and confused to defend himself.

"What the hell…? He has nothing on him!" the boy said as he threw a punch at Greg's face, suddenly swelling his right cheek. Before he fell, Greg felt a boot kicking into his stomach as he fell to the ground.

"Dammit! Let's beat him up for wasting our time!" the other boy said as three others ganged up on Greg, who balled his body up to absorb the punches and kicks and hid his face from the blows. The boys jeered on as this went on, until…

"Hey, what the hell's going on here?" a young woman's voice said as the boys turned to see an attractive young Japanese woman in her early twenties dressed in a casual outfit, her semi long blond hair hanging behind her neck. She was holding onto a tonfar and the look on her face was dead serious as she saw what was happening. "Wait a second…you're not from Gasoline Town. Why are you doing this to him?"

"Heh, that's none of your business, you bimbo." The boy spoke back to her. "This kind deserves it because he's black as dirt!"

"Lame excuse for beating up a little, defenceless kid." Rio said. "Now, get out of here before I have to get rough with you, even if you are just a bunch of punk kids."

"Oh, we're scared of the busty bimbo cop. What can she do to us?" the leader of the group said.

BANG!

That was the only reply she needed as Rio's superior marksmanship skills had aimed directly just inches near the boy's groin area, causing him to wet his pants out of fright. Anywhere closer and he would have lost his jewels.

"My next shot won't miss. Now, if you value your lives and your freedom, I suggest you get as far away from me now, got it?" Rio said, as she aimed her pistol at him, causing the boys to run away, leaving the battered body as it is. "Dammit…I knew I shouldn't be so rough with them, but I can't stand to see one of their own taken advantages like this."

As she got closer to the boy who was beaten up, she could see those boys had beaten him to unconsciousness. It was too much for her that it nearly broke her heart. Sighing a bit, she threw her coat over his back and took him up as she cradled him in her arms. She looked at his dirty face and saw he was crying in his sleep as tears rolled out his shut eyelids.

"Hey, it's okay now. No one's going to hurt you anymore, I'll make sure of that." Rio Kinezono said as she started to walk out of the port with him.

Later that evening, Rio carried Greg back to her apartment where she had laid Greg to rest on the couch and contacted Maki, the only person she can trust at a time like this. After telling her of the details on how she found Greg, Maki agreed to visit her at once to help her out. However, she wasn't the only one who had came to Rio this evening, a Japanese male in his late twenties with black shoulder length hair and eyes was with her dressed in casual clothing.

"Maki, thank goodness you came as you did." Rio said letting Maki and her male friend in. Rio got a good look at him first before speaking again to her friend. "And this is…?"

"He's an old close friend of mine, Rio. We can trust him." Maki said. "This is Seishiro Takeda. I thought of bringing him along, since you mentioned this boy you found is not from this country. He won't be able to understand our language once he wakes up, but Seishiro here is fluent in some languages and one of them happens to be English, so I figured he can be of great help."

"Please, Maki. I'm only doing this to see for myself what Rio had done to make her bring home someone like she described to her own abode." Seishiro lamented with a light smile. "In any case, Maki has told me much about you, Rio Kinezono. I do hope I can help you to the best of my ability with this child you found."

"Thank you. It's just that…I couldn't bear seeing him live like this…he looks so alone and abandoned, there's something about him that was calling to me to defend him from those street children who were picking on him." Rio said. "Please, we both can't speak his language and I'm sure he will just panic when he sees us."

"I'll assure him that he is among friends." Seishiro said as he and Maki followed Rio into the living room where the young, Greg was still sleeping soundly. Maki and Seishiro have seen that even though Rio did her part to cover most of the bruises he got from the beating, most of his other wounds were still showing.

"Oh my God…this is cruel. He's been asleep since you found him, Rio?" Maki said, seeing the heartbreaking sight.

"Yeah, for about three hours now, but he only started sleeping soundly a short while ago." Rio said. "He kept crying out for his parents in his sleep like he was in a nightmare or something. If only I had an idea of what he's been through…"

"It looks like he's starting to come out of it." Seishiro said as before long, Greg began stirring his body and slowly his eyes opened to see the strangers around him. He suddenly pulled back the covers that was over his body and started to scream in terror.

"Now, now, son…you don't need to be afraid." Seishiro started to speak in fluent, English so that the boy could understand, though his shaking body told otherwise that he was still frightened as to what would happen to him next. "We won't hurt you, you're with friends now."

The boy huddled back as Seishiro extended a hand towards Greg, as Rio and Maki stood behind him. The boy only looked at the two women first who nodded silently at Greg with welcoming smiles on their faces, then back at Seishiro as he opened his arms for Greg.

"It's okay…you're safe now." Seishiro said. "Come, we'll take good care of you from now on."

The boy's response was when he removed the cover and suddenly from the couch leaped at Seishiro, using his left arm to wrap behind his back as he buried his head into his shirt to start crying. Seishiro returned the embrace as Rio and Maki looked on, noting the missing right arm he had.

"You can cry as much as you want, young one, there's no shame in that." Seishiro said to him. "Please, can you tell us your name? Do you remember it?"

"It's…Greg…Matthews." The boy replied stuttering. "Yes, that's my name…"

"Okay, Greg. I'm Seishiro Takeda." The man said. "These two lovely women are Rio Kinezono and Maki Kawasaki and Rio's the one who found you."

"Hi there, we meet again." Rio said as she waved to Greg.

"Can you understand what she's saying, Greg?" Seishiro asked which got the obvious shake from Greg's head. "Well, she and Maki are both Japanese, meaning that you're in Japan. How did you find yourself here?"

"I…really can't remember…" Greg said as his eyes were still wet from tears.

"Its okay, you don't need to force yourself to remember right away." Seishiro said.

"Ask him for me if he's hungry." Rio told Seishiro.

"Okay." Seishiro said as he asked Greg if he was hungry and he replied fervently with several nods of his head.

"Well, that settles it…I'll get something nice and warm for him to eat." Rio said, coming closer to him that she can pat his head before she and Maki went to the kitchen.

"Rio, you're seriously considering taking care of this boy, aren't you?" Maki asked.

"My minds already made up…he is not adjusted to life in this country and whatever he's been through has surely messed him up." Rio said as she started to prepare some ramen noodles.

"If you're set out to help him get back on his feet, you know Seishiro and I are willing to help out and besides, Seishiro seems to have gotten Greg attached to him already." Maki said.

"I know…I want to help out as much as I can. I see some worthy potential in him, we just have to help him cope with his problems if you are to bring that out." Rio said.

"Shall I get arrangements made for adoption papers to be made by tomorrow?" Maki said.

"There's no need to rush things…he has to learn to speak our language among other things." Rio said.

"I was wondering if it would be alright for Seishiro to stay close to him so he can learn Japanese first if you have no problems." Maki said. "You are a police officer after all and after awhile, Greg may be worried about the line of work you're in."

"I guess it wouldn't hurt for Seishiro to stick with Greg for awhile, though I'd better be around with them since Greg may end up trusting me after I rescued him." Rio said. "Also, I can't help but not think that he was hurt for no justification…"

"Well, until he's ready to talk more of himself, we just have to be patient with him and see what we could do to up bring him." Maki said.

"I agree with you on that." Rio said. "He's going to turn out just fine."

The two women looked on as they can see Seishiro still in the process of comforting Greg by consoling him, which was quite the heart-warming sight. Greg looked peaceful and relaxed as he felt safe once more.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Greg...hey, Greg." Nanvel called out to Greg who was distracted for the moment. He turned around as he was being called and saw her.

"Oh, sorry. I was just remembering old times..." Greg replied.

Nanvel smiled slightly and asked Greg. "How long have you been with Rio as her student, Greg?"

"I actually lost count." He answered with a nervous smile. He was obviously lying; Greg knew he had been under Rio's wing for almost fourteen whole years before he left Japan to pursue his goals in America.

"Well, it's strange enough that you are taller than all of us in the Warrior group." Nanvel said cheerfully. "Guess all the training you had with Rio made that build of your body so...dangerous to look at."

"Nanvel, please don't get any weird ideas." Greg addressed her. Just then, they found themselves at the door of the police chief's office. Rio opened the door and she entered along with Greg and the rest of Team Warrior.

"GREG!" an older woman's voice called out to him from behind the desk in front of him. She was tall, and just as good looking as the other women in the room, wearing a green, skin tight uniform, a pair of rounded tinted glasses over her eyes that gleamed sunlight off them and her short blue hair made her more appealing. She also had on skin fitting green stockings that covered her legs well. She stood up from behind the table and embraced Greg in a long hug. Greg felt like his strength went out of him as Maki Kawasaki held onto Greg. "It's been too long, Greg." she said, moving her glasses to wipe a tear from her eye. She then planted a warm kiss from her glossy red lipstick on his cheek.

Greg only blushed at Maki and smiled. "Yeah, it's been a while, aunt Maki."

(If any of the older male friends from FOXHOUND found out that I have women this good looking for a family, they would kick my tail around for holding out on them!) He thought to himself.

"Come on, Greg. You know you don't have to call me that..." Maki said. "And I see that Rio is doing fine as well.

"Well, it will take more than Psycho Mantis's power to try and stop me." she said. "Now, Maki, right to business...who is this person you wanted us to meet?"

"Yeah, just how much does this guy knows about Mantis and what he's up to?" Yuji said.

"Actually, our friend is a 'she', not a he, Yuji." Maki said calmly. One of the reasons Greg respected Maki highly was her approach to panicking or desperate situations. She was always calm and calculating about those things, and during the time he spent with Rio, he learned most of these qualities from Maki herself. It proved useful, especially when he had a slim chance in accomplishing a lot of his missions in FOXHOUND in the past, no matter how damned the chances would look.

"Huh? A woman, you say, Maki?" Maya asked.

"Yes, I'll call her in now. She has been in Japan for about a week now and she heard about what has been happening." Maki explained. "And she has been an old friend of mine since I myself was an active part of Team Warrior, before Rio took over. But time passed, we went our own ways, and now she's here to help us out."

As Maki called to her phone and told her secretary to invite this mysterious woman in, as Maya leaned over to Greg. "Who do you think she's talking about, Greg? Could she be someone from FOXHOUND?"

"No way, practically everyone except Mei-Ling is in Japan by now or on a mission." Greg said. "Maki, the last thing we need is to trust anyone outside of either Philanthropy or FOXHOUND with information like this. Just who is this character anyway?"

Maki stood up and walked to the door. A woman entered, who was about the same height as Maki. She had short blonde hair, but it seemed to be growing quite a bit since anyone who knew her saw her last. She had a cigarette in her mouth, and she had on a casual dress uniform. On her breast pocket, marked the symbols, 'UN".

"Greg...Team Warrior...meet the weapons specialist and nuclear analyst of the original FOXHOUND mission of Shadow Moses..." Maki introduced the woman to the group. "Nastasha Romanenko."

Greg and the rest of the group stared wide eyed at the woman as she simply smiled at them.

"Greetings, Gregory Kinezono." she said in her sultry Russian tone.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Is that Ebett girl still alive?" asked a male voice over a cell phone.

"Yes, she is still unharmed as part of your orders." replied a raspy voice from the other end. It was Psycho Mantis' own.

"Keep it that way, the same goes for that Hattori girl. Until she is strong enough to challenge Panther, keep her under your guard."

"My brainwashing on her personality has done its job, but she tends to regain control of herself when she is around her new friend." Mantis spoke. "I have to make sure that it doesn't happen the next time she is using Seraph's powers."

"Be wary of Seraph as well. She is a separate entity by herself..." the man stopped. "There will be no doubt that 'she' will be searching for her 'host' soon."

"What of Panther?" Mantis asked. "I take it that he hasn't come back to FOXHOUND?"

"Yes...it was just as the Patriots predicted." The man answered. "They knew that he was going to come running to his surrogate mother and her friends once he heard that she had been hurt."

"Heh, he actually puts the lives of the people he cares the most for over everything else. Such logic makes me disgusted in one such as him..." Mantis retorted.

"Just remember that it is because of that, he is able to become more powerful. You on the other hand, were and will always be the most powerful, much more than Panther will ever be. When the time comes for you to confront him, Panther will be easily smashed to dust by your newly increased powers."

"Ha, just thinking of that time makes this little game of ours more enjoyable." Mantis said. "So what is Campbell trying to do about this...or could it be that he has no clue as to what we have in store for Panther?"

"Not a single inkling. Besides, the fun has just begun. Let's keep toying with Kinezono for the time being..."

"Just don't let this get to your head. He is smarter and more dangerous than he appears, and he has support outside of FOXHOUND. I would be wise not to take him too lightly if I were you." Mantis warned before he disconnected.

The phone hung up, and the man smirked to the trap he had set. He turned on the monitor for his laptop and examined the file of Psychic Panther. From the glare of the light the laptop was revealing, it was none other than Matthew Reese himself.

(You just keep playing the goody two shoes Samaritan for as long as you can, Kinezono.) He thought to himself. (Soon, I'll show the world the ugly truth that you've been hiding and then I'll have everyone of your friends turn against you...)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Maki! You never told us that you were friends with THE Nastasha Romanenko!" Greg said in shock.

"It seems that I'm quite famous around the recruits of FOXHOUND." Nastasha smiled at Greg, who shook his hand.

"Are you kidding? Almost every one of my friends has read your book, 'In the Darkness of Shadow Moses' about three times from cover to cover before we joined the group as part of the initiation exercise." Greg said.

"So, you're the famous analyst from Shadow Moses...I didn't think Maki would even have stood near you." Nanvel smiled as she greeted herself to Nastasha.

"Yeah, Maki. Why did you hold out on us?" Rio asked, folding her arms.

"There's an explanation for that..." Nastasha sat down next to Maki behind the table and blew out some smoke. "We had been old friends since we were teenagers. She helped me as volunteer when she was in the cleaning up of the mess made by Chernobyl in the late 20th century. That's when I met her. She swore to payback the favour one day; because she was the one person who helped me coped with the loss of my family."

Greg nodded in agreement. When he had lost his family, he had no one to pour his heart to, and to add to the fact that his right hand was gone forever would have made anyone else go mad. He felt that the world had abandoned him and he had to keep that feeling of resentment and bury it deep in his heart, until that fateful day he met Rio, Team WARRIOR and Seishiro Takeda.

"Shortly after the cleaning up of the nuclear refuse was finished, we separated and went our ways. We didn't hear from each other for a while, and it was only until after the Shadow Moses incident." Nastasha continued. "When Maki was part of Warrior herself, I was assigned to FOXHOUND to assist Snake in that mission."

"I had no idea that Nastasha had been working for the DIA or the Defence Intelligence Agency since she left her country to work in America. At the time, you were still a teenager, Greg." Maki explained.

"Maki has told me a great deal about you, Greg...how special your abilities are. And that you are using them for good is making the Defence department proud." Nastasha smiled. "Harasho, Greg!"

"Please, Miss. Romanenko...I'm not worthy of such praise..." Greg nervously smiled at her. Rio simply got up and squeezed (much to his displeasure) Greg's head to her chest.

"That's my Greggie! He never disappoints me when he's out there kicking ass!" Rio cheerfully said. Greg almost passed out again from being pressed onto Rio's body, if he didn't get himself out of her hold in time.

"Sensei Rio! Cut that out! I'm too old for that!" Greg growled.

Rio and Nanvel chuckled together as Maki spoke on. "Well, ever since then, Nastasha has been elusive from the public, since her story had caught the attention of the Patriots. They have been trying to stop anti Metal Gear activities like Nastasha's for years...but failed. Then things blew over right after the Big Shell."

Greg, Rio and the rest of Team Warrior got silent. The mention of the Patriots and the Big Shell in one sentence would certainly grab everyone's attention. Greg in particular remembered only when he joined the group...just a year after the said incident. The organization was now reformed thanks to Roy Campbell defending the group when it underwent a trial, after the U.S government blamed it for having an agent intercept the Big Shell under FOXHOUND's and Campbell's orders. That agent was the 'White Devil' himself, Raiden. When Raiden explained that the Patriots themselves used Campbell's image to fool him throughout the mission to Campbell himself, Roy could not let the good name of the group get rubbed down, thanks to the Patriots. He and Meryl, and Mei-Ling reformed the group under Snake and Otacon's support and have been welcoming recruits to it ever since.

"I thought after the Big Shell, the Patriots had given up controlling FOXHOUND." Rio said.

"Yes, that is true...but not entirely." Nastasha said. "That is why I must tell this to Greg especially. He must learn the truth...about why Mantis is still alive and why all of this is happening."

"I'm ready for anything, Nastasha…even if the truth would be kind of hard to bear." Greg said seriously.

"I uncovered this information sometime ago while I was doing research back at my home in California." Nastasha said, lighting another cigarette. "Aside from the leaking intelligence about the going-ons in FOXHOUND, and Philanthropy, I ran into something that I thought could prove helpful to all of you."

The Russian woman exhaled from her cigarette before looking at Greg seriously.

"Greg...when Shadow Moses was now under the current FOXHOUND's control after the destruction of REX, didn't they do an excavation of sorts for evidence to prove themselves innocent, even after the disbandment?" Nastasha asked.

"Yeah...it was just about a month after Snake made himself famous there. I read most of the dated records on the events that took place on that island after the incident. My guess is that it was Roy who had several agents comb the area in order to find the corpses of the Genome soldiers. I even found out one of our own, a female recruit was sent there for a reconnaissance mission of sorts around the same time, though it was never revealed to who it was really." Greg said.

"Wait...didn't that part of the island sink after Second Impact?" Nanvel asked.

"No...For some strange reason, the sub zero temperature and climate stayed the same, because the island wasn't a 100 percent affected by the Impact." Greg explained. "Strangely enough, it was the only part of Alaska that wasn't endangered by the effects Second Impact had caused and it was deemed safe for all kinds of nature. I think it took the island several years before it totally went underwater."

"Anyway, I have revealed one name in reference that was in charge of removing the corpses." Nastasha said.

"Who was it then?" Greg asked.

"Lt. Matthew Reese." the Russian replied.

Greg could only stare in disbelief. "What did you say...FOXHOUND's own Reese was part of that? How is that?"

"I'm afraid that's not the worst of it...Reese had discovered Mantis before he was removed from the island. At that time, he was still alive with a weak pulse. So, secretly, Reese returned Mantis to life...under the Patriots orders." Nastasha said.

Everyone in the room gasped in horror to this, as did Greg. This came as a total shock to him to find out there was a Patriot spy in his own group.

"Reese...he's working for the Patriots!" Greg said as he held his head. "I knew he was bad news from the get go, but..."

"And what happened afterwards?" Maya asked, cutting in.

"Mantis...had his last memories erased from his mind, causing him to become corrupt once more as he was when Snake confronted him the first time." Nastasha spoke. "Reese and the Patriots were responsible for this act, stealing the moment of peace and the purpose of his powers that Mantis discovered too late at his death and returning the twisted psychotic and evil behaviour as his current reason for continuing his existence."

"Did you say the Patriots did that?" Yuji muttered.

"This is sick, even to what they did to Mantis!" Nanvel said angrily.

"And what does this have to do with me and Team Warrior?" Greg asked.

"I guess they are after Greg for obvious reasons." Nastasha said. "One of them that would be the most obvious reason is him being the son of the assistant who stood by Dr. Clark's side. Your psychic talents could possibly the thing they are after if they are willing to go so far to track you, or even worse, bringing you out in the open."

"No...You can't be serious..." Greg was in total shock. "But that doesn't explain why I have to be the one whose family has to be targeted, or why Mantis is doing what he did! He's supposed to have at least known how good it feels to help people with his powers! And you're telling me that he has totally forgotten that because of him being manipulated?"

"It seems that Mantis has been a pawn for the Patriots, and also Reese's, for quite some time. He has been seeking out other psychics for their own needs from the corners of the planet." Nastasha said.

"What the hell's going on here?" Greg asked. "Reese managed to do this because he has influence from the Patriots and I didn't see this coming?"

"Greg, you don't have to blame yourself because you couldn't have known this was going to happen…" Maki said sadly.

"I got a good reason to…do you have any idea how many times that man has caused nothing but misery for me and my pals back in FOXHOUND?" Greg asked. "Now that I think about it, the clues and signs were obvious…he was doing this for the same enemy we were chosen to fight against. Our secrets, our weaknesses…this man must have told the Patriots everything he knows about FOXHOUND."

The room became silent as Greg got to sit down and place his hands in front of his chin. Maki started to contemplate for a few seconds as she began to speak again.

"Greg, I know you must feel betrayed right now, but don't go thinking irrationally about taking any actions that you may regret." Maki said. "This man may have done things that we can call horrendous crimes, but you don't deserve to be the one to deliver justice to him in your sense of fashion."

"I know, I know, Maki." Greg said while his hands weren't moving. "But it's not him I'm worried about…Lilica's in the hands of some dangerous people and we should focus on what we can do to get her from Mantis' clutches."

"But, is that even possible?" Rio asked. "We are talking about Psycho Mantis after all…he's not really a pushover when it comes to psychic combat, he has experience."

"More experience in a lifetime and more than I've ever had. This is pretty one-sided considering who we're up against." Greg said. "Maki, we've got to think this over severely…"

"Of course, Greg…we need a more direct and safe approach to rescue Lilica, but at the moment, even I'm at a loss of what we should do right now." Maki said with a sad tone.

"We need more time to make up a plan that should get Lilica back safely, not to mention get to the bottom of this whole Mantis mystery." Greg asked. "I for one want to know just what Reese is trying to gain from out of this."

"We all do, Greg." Rio said as she placed one of her hands on his shoulder. "You're not the only one at loss of answers right now."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Outside the Police Town building, Greg and Team Warrior was waiting at the transport van, taking a breather to relax from the news they were told of. Nastasha had told the group that she will be staying in Neo Tokyo for a while to assist Maki in this matter. Greg himself was now muddled with emotions as he was trying to figure what he should be doing next.

Nanvel and Maya only looked on at Greg as they sat near the open door of the van. Rio and Yuji was paying attention as well. Greg's mind was somewhere else as he had a dead serious look in his eyes as he had his hands covering his mouth still.

"Take it easy, Greg. We will eventually get to the bottom of this." Rio said, drinking from her can of soda. "Just be patient and soon we'll figure out a plan to get this set for when we face Mantis."

"She's right, Greg. Don't take it so seriously." Nanvel said. "We'll eventually find a way."

"I may not know much about Reese, but from what Nastasha said about him, he's bad news. He has been feeding Mantis information about the growing psychics in the world right now, or anyone with superhuman abilities and turning them into tools for the Patriots own uses." Maya said. "I won't be able to forgive them for that. Haven't they ruined enough innocent lives already?"

Greg stopped to think for awhile, before he turned to the group. "Look, we can't let this get to us...the Patriots had planned all of this from the beginning of when I first got these powers to use them for their own needs...no, make that when I lost my family. They must be trying to provoke me into taking action against them, play at their game, but I won't do that. I have to focus on finding a way to get Lilica back of all things."

"That's very heroic of you, Greg. But it's actually harder than it sounds." Nanvel stood up.

"Tell me about it." Greg simply replied. "This really is not going to be so simple…"

"We can use a miracle right about now." Rio said as some silence came over the group.

"AHHHHHH!" They all heard a woman's scream somewhere close by in the area. Greg perked his head behind him and looked back.

"Hey, someone's in trouble!" Rio grabbed her tonfars. "And right around Police Town too! Oh, the nerve...!"

"It came from that alley!" Greg shouted, leaping into action. Rio gave chase after Greg, as did Maya holding unto her handgun.

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"Please...leave me alone..." a young woman's voice was heard at the alley's corner. She had long blonde hair; her black body fitting suit was decorated with crosses on her arms, chest and legs. She was on her knees, cowering back into the wall from three strangers which had on dress uniforms, holding unto small custom handguns.

"Sorry, babe. You brought this on yourself." an Irish accent spoke behind the trio of men. The woman looked up and saw a tall, young man in his early twenties standing on the railing of the fire escape, his skin pale and decorated with scars over his face and body, earrings covered the majority of his ear lobes. With white bleached hair, he had a left eye patch and an evil smirk was on his face. His clothing was a tight vest and long dark jeans and the vest had straps of knives across his chest and stomach as well as a long, thin sword sheathed. On one of the holsters, was a handgun.

"If you hadn't come, we wouldn't have bothered to come after you after all the warnings we sent to you, concerning your little Yuina." the man replied. "But you just had to interfere, didn't you, Seraph?"

"So...it's you! Farfarello!" The woman cried out in shock.

Farfarello smiled as he simply signalled the trio with a raise of his hand. "Correct, madam. Now knowing my identity shall earn you a swift death. Men...make it really bloody."

Before they did anything, they saw a small flash grenade land in front of them, followed by a shout to the woman.

"Cover your eyes!" Rio shouted, as Maya Jingu fired some shots to keep the armed men busy during the bright flash, while Greg dashed in suddenly to take the woman into his arms and carry her away from the danger, as he met back with Rio and Maya.

"Are you alright, ma'am?" Maya asked the somewhat beautiful woman, who was a bit tad nervous from what she had just seen.

"Yes, I am. I'm not hurt, if that's what you're concerned about." The woman replied as she saw Greg and Rio step up to the four armed attackers.

"How dare you interfere with my business?" Farfarello said, snarling at Greg and the women with him, who were more concerned about getting the mysterious woman to safety. Rio stared at them before speaking to Greg who was standing at her side.

"Last time we checked, attempted murder is a crime." Rio said to Farfarello. "Mind telling us why you're so bold to try something like this to a pretty woman, perhaps?"

"Heh, let's just say she's gotten to close to some affairs that lays heavily on the foundation of me and my allies." The Irish knife thrower said.

"So, you're not alone, then?" Rio asked. "Who are you working for?"

"I'm afraid the time for me to give any more answers is over, pretty blonde. You and your friends can die now for getting in my way." Farfarello said as he took out his sword and licked its edge.

Rio threw two spare tonfars that she was carrying to Greg behind her and got into a fighting stance. "Come on, Greg! Use those to defend yourself!"

"Hey, Rio…you sure you really want to fight in your condition?" Greg asked as he caught them and getting into a particular stance of his own once he equipped them. "You're not totally well from what happened just a few days ago, remember that?"

"True, but at least we can fight together like we did in the old days." Rio said. "Use this as a chance to show me how much you've improved in combat."

"For once, I do wish you looked at these kinds of fights more seriously…" Greg said, as his eyes were fixed now on Farfarello. (In any case, I have to be careful around this guy since he's carrying weapons. I'd better focus most of my attacks on the offensive while keeping a distance using my training and evasive manoeuvres. Not to mention keeping the usage of my powers to a minimum.)

"Attack them!" Fafarello shouted as the fight between him and his followers, against Team WARRIOR's point leader and FOXHOUND's guardian psychic begins…

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ShardclawK: Just wanted to say that these revisions are coming out far better and a bit faster than I expected and how I appreciate everyone whose helping me with them are enjoying the rewrites, not to mention the new and different Greg I'm currently portraying. Also, I want to thank GreyWolf4 for helping me with his one of his OC's, Seishiro Takeda for the flashback section of this chapter, I do hope you liked with what I've done with him so far.

Next Chapter: More surprises abound as the crossover with Weiss Kreuz and DarkFusion's story, 'Dragon, Crow and Rabbit' begins with guest appearances abound, not to mention more revelations. Hope you enjoy the next revised chapter.

Collis aka ShardclawKusanagi.


	5. Origins and Endings, Part 1

ShardclawK: Here's a new version of chapter 4 for this story, featuring DarkFusion's Riku Hanabishi and plenty of surprises that will please the lot of you. Enjoy as always.

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ShardclawKusanagi presents

Metal Gear: Soldier X

Chapter 4: Origins and Endings, Part 1

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FOXHOUND Headquarters, Washington D.C...

A young figure stepped out of his quarters after getting changed from his Sneaking Suit into a bright red t-shirt and long black jeans. From his appearance, he looked as if he was in his early adult teens and that he'd had a long sleep after completing a mission. He had shoulder length black hair, blue eyes, and was an average height of six feet. Groggily moving about in the hallway, he pondered as to why Col. Campbell would wake the young FOXHOUND shinobi just after returning back to headquarters from his mission with his other fellow recruits who were also his friends.

(What is it that the Colonel wants with me now? Everyone else is in Tokyo-3 right now...so why am I being called up?) He thought to himself. (I remember submitting my report about the mission before I turned in, so it probably isn't about that…)

After a bit of walking, the young man stepped into Campbell's office, where two other young people were seated in front of him. He looked in surprise at the two, now fully awake, and walked towards the table where Roy was sitting behind it. One of them, a young boy also in his teens spoke up.

"Hey, Riku...looks like you had a rough rest from that mission." The boy said to his partner.

"I hardly got any rest at all, Nagi." Riku Hanabishi aka Drakken spoke with a light yawn, rubbing his head as he looked at Nagi Naoe, also of Japanese descendant with short black hair and of skinny build, also known in FOXHOUND as Mystic Crow, who chuckled to his friend's comment, while his girlfriend, Tot smiled on. Her real name is Nanami Hibino, who had long teal colored hair and quite an innocent face.

"He should know...that last flame he used to destroy that illegal arms factory down in Australia took a lot out from him." Tot aka Usagi Ninja joked while playing with her hair "You should have listened to Nagi about at least not overdoing it, but no way that you did."

"Aw, come on! At least it wasn't that like the last time." Riku tried to defend himself. "Well, at least I didn't go overboard anyway…"

The three began to talk in front of Roy, when he began to speak. "Ahem...if you three aren't so busy discussing the overdoing it of the mission, but still managed to successfully complete it, let's get to discussing why I called you up this soon after a mission."

"Well, let's hear it, Colonel." Riku sat down to listen to what the good Colonel had to say.

With a sigh, Roy got up and turned off the lights, showing a slide on the wall as the only light in the room. He then began to speak. "As you all know by now, currently Dead Cell has taken control of SEELE headquarters, and the rest of FOXHOUND is now in the base defending NERV Headquarters against a possible strike from the terrorists."

"Yeah, that much we do know, Colonel, but what about that Angel that attacked the city just about yesterday?" Nagi asked, remembering from what he heard from the news reports and rumors in FOXHOUND that the most powerful Angel so far was sighted tearing up Tokyo-3 and his partner Riku's closest friends, Greg, Linn and James were probably inside the base at the time it happened. Nagi and Tot had heard a lot of Greg from Riku in the past, but never had the chance to meet him. "Are our friends okay?"

"Yes, the Angel has been confirmed eliminated, so the city and NERV is safe for now." Col. Campbell responded, making the trio breath more easily. "However...I want the three of you to take a look at this footage taken from our satellite..."

Roy activated a screen on the wall of his office, and the image showed the raging battle on the Geofront. It showed the downed Unit-02, and the other two Evangelions, the Fourteenth Angel, and, near the entrance of NERV headquarters, was Greg holding up his grenade gun at the Angel, his cloak floating wildly from the wind. Nagi and Riku looked in shock at the image.

"Hey, isn't that...?" Tot exclaimed.

"Yes, that's our own Greg all right." Campbell explained, as the footage rolled on showing Greg using his offensive and defensive techniques. "He used his powers and utilized his experience to combat the Angel's blast, which could have easily destroyed the base."

"Hold on! This Greg saved NERV with only a grenade gun and his powers!" Nagi asked in shock. "Just exactly what kind of psychic power is that?"

"Colonel...you really should give that guy a raise for what he did when he gets back." Riku smirked. Just then, Roy returned the lights in the room and had a serious look on his face.

"I'm afraid that even though the fact of the matter is that Greg risked his life...and also his secret to protect our friends, I don't think Reese is too pleased with Greg's actions." Campbell talked, causing a reaction from Riku, Nagi, and Tot.

"Uggh...Reese...what is his problem this time?" Riku said, almost disgusted that he had to have a man like Lt. Reese as one of his superiors.

"Well first off, just after the Angel was defeated, a private matter concerning Greg's surrogate family occurred. Greg has had to leave FOXHOUND for a while to help them out. But when Reese heard about it, he wasn't too pleased to say the least."

"So why are we being told about this?" Nagi asked.

"I'm starting to get worried about what Reese is planning for Greg, so I want you three to go to Japan and visit Greg. Keep him company and try not to get involved in his personal affairs...unless I give you the order or you feel it absolutely necessary." Roy ordered, while handing Riku a sheet of paper. "Here is the address where Greg should be staying, according to what Naomi told me before she left for Japan to check on Greg's condition."

"This is one strange command...I was expecting us to head for Tokyo-3 to join the others." Riku said as he looked at the paper Roy had given to him.

"There's a reason for that...the Commander for NERV, Gendou Ikari is now dead, and has left the base unprotected by the Patriots eyes. Snake and Raiden now have control of Arsenal, and now the threat's larger than before. Even with Michael and Garland over there with the rest of FOXHOUND, they will still be one man short because of Greg's time off from the group."

"I still don't understand, sir." Riku said, with a slightly confused expression. "If they need more manpower over there, then shouldn't you send more recruits?"

"First, what I mean is that the Patriots may be watching Greg as well. I will contact Garland and Michael and tell them about what you should do when you find Greg." Campbell said. "The most I can do for Greg is now is prevent him from being hunted by enemies he won't be able to handle by his own. You don't have to get involved in his problems one hundred percent, just give him a hand when he needs it. I have a suspicion that he may need the backup soon." Campbell then paused before continuing. "As for your last question, I'm already making preparations for our remaining recruits to be sent Tokyo-3 as soon as they return from completing their assigned missions."

"Okay, Colonel, I understand fully about the situation now." Riku replied with a nod as he was satisfied with the explanation. He then glanced over at his two partners. "Besides, this will give Tot and Nagi the chance to meet the follow up to Psycho Mantis."

Nagi practically jumped up from his seat in excitement. Now knowing about the power Greg was carrying within him, now more than ever he wanted to meet this psychic. He then turned to Tot. "Well, what are we waiting for? Tot, let's get our things together and wait with Nagu at the heliport."

"Well, I can see that you're more excited about meeting this Panther guy than you are about a mission." Tot shrugged her shoulders as she got up from her seat.

"It's not really that…I'm just a bit worried about how everyone else from FOXHOUND is doing, with all of them being in Japan and considering how the situation is over there right now." Nagi said.

"I'm sure they are all okay, Nagi." Tot smiled at him.

Taking Nagi's arm, the two exited the room. Just before Riku touched the doorknob to exit and follow them, Campbell called out to him.

"Drakken...I know you may find this mission...out of procedure, but I'm also doing this to make sure Reese doesn't get his grubby hands on you, Nagi, or Tot. He knows by now about the abilities each FOXHOUND member is special in, but by far, Greg's have proven the be one of the most dangerous, along with the fact that at least some of his medical history records are bound to make some heads scratch. Keep a close eye on them at all times until I give the okay for you to head to Tokyo-3 to assist Snake, Raiden and the others. Understood?"

"Yes, sir. Don't you worry, they are in good hands." Riku saluted to his superior. "Should I contact Greg to tell him about we're coming over?"

"No need to. I'll contact our men in Japan to deliver the message." Roy replied to him. "Just be careful out there…the Patriots have eyes everywhere."

Riku saluted to Roy. He then left the Colonel alone in the room to think to himself.

(I'd better tell Michael and Garland about this change in plans. They should tell Greg what is going on, or else more confusion could arise. All in all, it should work out fine...for now...) Roy thought.

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Back in Japan, Farfarello dropped one of his arms and sent the trio of attackers at Greg and Rio as they stood side by side, covering each others backs with tonfars equipped.

"Tell me just how we're going to do this, sensei?" Greg asked in a low tone. "Without causing too much of a ruckus that is."

"We have to render these guys of their weapons first." Rio lamented. "They look pretty formidable, especially for our scarred friend over there with his sights on you."

"I see him and the weapons he's carrying…I'll be careful, since I plan to only use defensive moves on him." Greg said as he set up his stance as he stared at one of the men for a second. "That way, I won't have to depend too much on my psychic powers for a fight like this."

"Okay, then lets show these boys how crazy this part will get." Rio licked her lips as she started to charge towards the trio of men, while Greg focused on Farfarello.

"Alright, boys, who wants to dance with me first?" Rio taunted her foes as they looked at each other and nodded to charge at the same time at her.

"So, you boys want to dance, huh?" Rio taunted the enemies before her before one of them charged at her with one of his katana blades. Side stepping the swipe he made, Rio made her mark by attacking fiercely using her tonfars.

"Eat this…Spin Strike!" Rio shouted as she thrust her left tonfar and switching it to her right fist as she spun it. As she did this, she turned her body to give her enemy a thrust below the belt, sending him reeling.

"I'm only getting started." She said as she moved onto the next enemy before her, as she dived with a sweeping kick, then a cross angle scissors kick that sent her enemy airborne. During this, she used her Foreplay attack, clubbing him with an upward strike and used a downward blow, followed by a somersault kick.

"How did you like my Foreplay move?" Rio asked. "Neat, isn't it?"

The two other flunkies following Farfarello came at her and Rio was prepared for them as well. She got into her stance and used leapt back with a backward cartwheel kick, before she used a spinning backhand attack that instantly knocker her opponent unconscious wit a double hit attack.

"Debt Collector!" Rio shouted as she executed the move. When she was done, she took out her handgun and fired three shots at the remaining flunky and intentionally missed the first two, only to throw the gun at his head while she bum rushed him with a melee attack of punches.

"Debt Collector!" The blonde policewoman used her critical attack once more, before she followed up with a one legged, standing kick to juggle the opponent.

"I'm not done yet! Cost of Living!" Rio then grabs the flunky's head as she got into an upside down handstand and used a double footed kick to his chest which knocked him back.

As this was going on, Greg and Farfarello were still standing off as they watched Rio was having a ball beating up on Farfarello's men.

(She seems to be holding her own against those guys, and to think that just last night she was in a coma.) Greg thought to himself, still amazed at seeing Rio like this to this day.

"My, my…she's quite good, I must say." Farfarello said, breaking the silence between him and Greg as he got into a stance.

"What did you say?" Greg answered. "You've got another thing coming if you think you can get that close to her, because I won't let you."

"So, I see that woman and you are pretty close." Farfarello said as he faced Greg.

"Don't get any ideas…she's my training master and nothing more than that. She can handle herself pretty well against your boys." Greg said.

"Yes, but they are nowhere near my level of fighting, as I will prove to you now!" Farfarello said as he dived above Greg over his head and plunged his sword at him. However, Greg reacted and rolled out of the way in time before getting hurt by the Irishman's attack. Farfarello pressed on and continued swinging his sword while chanting loudly like a madman who was enjoying this.

"There's no escape for you now!" Farfarello said as his attacks got to Greg closer and closer. Once he felt he had Greg pressed onto the wall, he made a straight forward dash at Greg's chest area, but the psychic combatant was ready to counter the move as he used a perfectly timed guard stance that recoiled Farfarello's attack, by crossing his arms in front of his body. Farfarello almost lost his balance and stepped back.

"Guard!" Greg shouted as a bright spark was seen on the impact of Farfarello's sword and Greg's arms.

"How did you…?" Farfarello said, seeing Greg barely flinched by his attack, it was as if the attack didn't hurt him at all. "I swore I slashed you."

"What you hit was this." Greg simply replied as one of tonfar he was holding fell to pieces. "You've only hit the protective side of my stance with your attack because I was using my Guard move."

"I see…looks like this will be entertaining since you know how to protect yourself. But how long can you keep that up?" Farfarello smirked.

(Even if one dual weapon is lost, it would be convenient for me to use the other tonfar as a shield, while using my combat training on this guy.) Greg thought to himself. (In any case, this guy's definitely dangerous in the close quarter department, especially if he surpasses James' level…)

The Irishman continued his attacks as Greg contemplated what to use next. Before he noticed, Farfarello leaped up and threw two knives at Greg. The psychic saw this and gained some leverage on the wall to leap at Farfarello and used his Aerial Guard to deflect the knife, while using the tonfar to knock away the other knife.

As he landed, Greg almost met his end when Farfarello dashed at Greg again with his sword attack, forcing Greg to use his defensive Counter Release attack, suddenly pushing Farfarello back. The Irish man simply grinned at Greg as he saw where this was going.

"My, my…those are quite some impressive techniques. You're no ordinary civie." Farfarello said. "Just who are you?"

Greg simply stayed in his stance and stared at him with no reply as the Irish man simply grinned.

"Well, it doesn't matter, I'll find out eventually one way or the other." Farfarello said. "The power of Schwartz goes quite the distance in the area of finding the information we need to attain power."

"Schwartz?" Greg asked, having heard of the word for the first time.

"Seems like you don't know who we are." Farfarello said to him. "But even if you cared to find out, I don't like giving out too much about my associate's plans, especially for that woman you rescued."

"You obviously have something planned for her… just who is she to you?" Greg asked.

"I'm afraid that is quite confidential. Now enough talking, I'll kill you for getting in the way." Farfarello said as he dashed at Greg.

"Sorry, but today's not the chosen day for me to leave this world as it is." Greg said as he used an Aerial Counter Release on Farfarello's head, as he then leaped over him using his psychic platform, one of his limited, yet useful access uses of his powers to get to the other side to ambush him from behind with a string of his tonfar attacks.

Farfarello however didn't seem to feel any pain at all from Greg's attack and only smiled at him as he pressed on his attack once more. Greg leaped back as he charged at Farfarello, spinning the tonfar at his enemy, only to have him deflect it with each strike.

"That can't be possible…I attacked you with most of my strength then and you should have at least gotten weak from the blow of the tonfar alone." Greg said as Farfarello smiled.

"You're not the only one with secrets…that trick back there was quite impressive, psychic." Farfarello said. "You know, there was someone from my group with powers like that, he had powers almost the same as yours."

(So, I'm really not the only living psychic on the planet…) Greg thought to himself. "And what happened to him?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Farfarello asked. "Enough talk…it's time to finish this fight with your death!"

Greg clenched his teeth and got into a stance once more, until they heard a cell phone ring. It was from Farfarello's pocket, which caused the Irishman to suddenly leap away from Greg, out of attack range, and with some hesitation he took it out to answer it.

"What is it, Crawford? I'm in the middle of something here!" Farfarello said to the other line. After some silence, Farfarello spoke again. "No…I've encountered some problems…the target somehow escaped before she was executed. Yes, I know…if that's what you want. Right, I'll be there shortly."

Farfarello placed the phone back and stood upright. "It seems that due to circumstances, I have to put your death on hold, foreigner. But I did enjoy the time we shared. Let's do this again sometime when we can finish this. Tell me, what's your name?"

"Since you asked nicely, I'm Greg Kinezono." Greg replied seriously. "And yours?"

"Farfarello, at your service." He replied with a serious grin.

"Then until we do meet again, Farfarello of Schwartz." Greg said to him. "Though I guarantee that I won't go so easy on you then."

"And the same goes for me as well, Kinezono." Farfarello said as he dashed off as he leapt back away from Greg and Rio, who was done rounding up the men she had taken on.

"Hey, Greg, are you okay?" Rio asked, as she rubbed her hands before putting on back the white gloves she always wears.

"Yeah, I'm not hurt." Greg replied.

"I was watching the fight after I beat those guys up. You certainly do rely on evasive and defensive maneuvers to get through, do you?" Rio asked, nudging her surrogate son.

"I only chose to do it since I wasn't in the mood to pick a fight today, not to mention a woman was also in trouble and I needed some answers." Greg replied as he started to look concerned. "Also, I didn't feel like using my powers that much today, I'm only putting myself and you at risk if I go overboard using them."

"That look in your eyes…something's bothering you, isn't it?" Rio asked.

"That guy said he was from Schwartz…while I have no idea what that is at the moment, I have a strong feeling this is probably going to lead to something bigger than the crisis we are facing." Greg said.

"Could it be possible that Reese sent that guy to kill you? He looked pretty skilled to me." Rio said. "Also Reese probably has the money to hire someone like that."

"I doubt it…that guy seemed to have a different agenda." Greg replied. "Not to mention this is totally different from Reese's dubious course of action."

"Then it's probably unrelated to what's happening now…still, I think we can get some clues off from these other guys that we can use." Rio said. "We can start by asking that woman we rescued some questions as to why that guy would be after her."

"Okay, I'll help you bring in the losers you apprehended." Greg said, before smiling. "You know, for someone in the middle of a recovery, you still can kick serious ass, sensei."

"Aw, come on, Greg. I can say the same for you…and you barely even damaged the guy too." Rio said with a smile as she rounded the three of Farfarello's flunkies and started to walk back to the station, until she took a glance and saw Greg staggering a bit, only to hold his head and a nearby wall. She started to worry instantly at the sight.

"Greg!" Rio called out to him. "You okay?"

"Yeah…I swore I used only a minimal set of power. And I'm still getting the pain and dizzy spells." Greg replied as he reached for his back pocket and taking out a set of his painkiller and antidepressant pills. With two of each kind, he pulled his head back and swallowed them, all the while Rio having to bear the pain of seeing this.

"Greggie…you'll be fine once you have those, right?" Rio asked.

"I'll be fine." Greg stood upright now. "Nanvel's new nano colonies should take care of any other problem about my powers that should arise, but that won't happen for a couple of days or so. Anyway, let's get back to Police Town where everyone else is waiting."

Rio smiled lightly after seeing Greg was okay for the time being and nodded. "Yeah, its time we interrogate these guys and get some answers to what is going on."

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A few moments after the trio of Farfarello's followers were put in jail, Greg and Rio headed to Maki's office, where the remainder of WARRIOR was waiting and seated in front of Maki and Nastasha was the beautiful woman, with long blonde hair that ended at the hips and was wearing a tight black outfit with large crosses on her arms and in the middle of her chest area. She had the most mysterious, yet intriguing eyes as well, as when one took a glimpse of her, he could sense a strange gentleness, mystery and curiosity within her. She happened to be drinking coffee to calm herself while she talked to the people in the room.

"Hey, are you okay, ma'am?" Rio asked her.

"Um……yes, I'm well. I want to thank you all for rescuing me from that assassin..." the woman replied at Greg, Rio and Maya. Rio walked closer and listened to her talk.

"Wait a minute…Are you saying that freak with the knives was an assassin?" Rio asked. "Greg...are you sure you got his name before you dealt with him?"

"Farfarello, am I right?" Greg replied simply. "That guy was anything but average in the field of bladed weapons combat even comparing to what I've seen this side of FOXHOUND. He's definitely skilled, but the fight ended in a stalemate when someone who I guess was his superior contacted him."

"You were lucky that he didn't get far with you...he has the ability not to feel any physical pain..." the woman spoke.

(That explains why he wasn't weakened immediately after that ambush earlier.) Greg thought to himself. (Is it some kind of physical condition or a trance that may have numbed his body's sensations to pain?)

"Start talking to us. Who are you and why is this Farfarello and his group, Schwartz, after you?" Maki asked.

"Schwartz?" Yuji asked.

"An assassination group based in Japan..." Nastasha spoke. "There were supposed to be four known members, but now it seems that there are only three of them. Each one is said to have abilities that some would call supernatural. They happen to be famous in the underworld, and have been involved in many numerous cases in Japan alone that involve crime syndicates, drug groups, corrupt politicians, and most of all the assassinations that they are believed to have been involved in."

"So this Schwartz is an authentic group made of assassins with special abilities? Are we talking something like Dead Cell?" Greg asked.

"That's the case. Maybe the Patriots had been covering their trails, since their leader, Brad Crawford, is known to be a rival for Revolver Ocelot."

"Ocelot has a rival?" Nanvel asked.

"That's right. I really can't determine if Crawford himself has direct connections to the Patriots themselves, but it's probably known that they may have hidden their covers well." Nastasha spoke.

(This gets more and more confusing by the second…) Greg thought to himself with his arms folded.

"My name is Seraph..." she replied.

"Seraph? That's not really a name, isn't it?" Rio asked.

"No...It's more of a hierarchy code." she calmly replied, causing several question marks to appear above everyone's heads.

"A code, you say?" Greg asked clueless.

"I'm...I happen to be a biodroid called an 'emulate'. I'm not human." Seraph said. Rio started to scratch her hair.

"Okay...I think she may have had too much coffee." Rio said.

"No, Rio, this may get interesting." Nanvel licked her lips, starting to examine Seraph with magnifying glasses. Greg simply shook his head as he wanted to find out more about this mysterious woman.

"A biodroid? Is that some kind of robot or something?" Greg asked.

"Yes, if you want to call it that, but I am more sophisticated than I appear." Seraph explained. "I had descended onto this planet from my own which is from another galaxy. We emulates have been existing for a long period of time now. Emulates are biodroids that were created in the form of the humans in our planet."

Greg, for some reason, sat next to her and listened. Rio bent over with a confused look on her face. "Greg...are you sure that you can believe her and what she's saying?"

"For now, let's just make sense of her situation." he replied seriously to Rio before looking back at Seraph. "Please, Seraph, do continue."

"To this end, a system of fighting for entertainment was developed and after the introduction of biodroids, dramatic improvements were made in the system. It was our longstanding challenge to develop a way to control the human instinct for war." Seraph said.

Greg only nodded his head. Just then, by using a specific aspect of his powers, he could see into Seraph's words and put it into vision. He can see individuals wearing colored amour and on their backs, a large pair of wings can be seen causing them to become airborne.

"And before long, it evolved into the 'hierarchy' system. The system allowed humans to experience combat almost as if they possessed special abilities." Seraph spoke. "Thus the 'emulate' was born. Moreover, the consciousness of humans and biodroids were combined. The emulates occupy the highest rank in the hierarchy system because of their ability to integrate with humans at the atomic level."

"Whoa." Nanvel simply said. Even for her, she found this intriguing to hear.

"Emulates are designed to fly. In terms of appearance, in most cases they are either obviously male or female because of the gender of their master, which affects how they look." Seraph said. "The latent abilities of the emulates' masters are complemented and revealed."

"Okay, we can grasp most of this, but what does that have to do with that Farfarello trying to kill you?" Maya spoke.

"My master, a young sixteen year old sophomore from high school, was taken away about a week ago." Seraph said, with a hint of sadness in her voice. "Yuina Hattori...that's her name."

She took out a photograph of a young girl with large round glasses on, and long pale pink hair that was tied up into a single ponytail. She was dressed in a school uniform, a large red ribbon with the trademark short skirt and long black stockings.

"Taken? By Schwartz?" Rio asked.

"No...I was there when it happened. It was done by one man and a group of heavily armed soldiers." Seraph looked at everyone with sadness in her eyes. "He was tall and dressed in black and had a skinny built. He had on a mask over his face as well..."

Greg's eyes widened at the details. He knew instantly who it was. "It couldn't be Psycho Mantis!"

"You know of him?" Seraph asked.

"Psycho Mantis, he is THE most powerful practitioner of telepathy and psychic abilities on the planet, not to mention one of the most evil of beings alive. One of our friends was kidnapped by him just some days ago when that Angel was invading Tokyo-3. He almost killed Rio with his psychic powers and he snatched Lilica from the place she was staying with Rio." Maki said.

"She was lucky to have survived Mantis's powers. Yuina's aunt died trying to protect Yuina because of Mantis." Seraph said seriously.

"Oh, my God..." Rio covered her mouth with her cotton gloves. Greg noticed the sad look in Seraph's eyes and did his best not to let his anger cloud his judgment at the moment. It still bothered him that this was a coincidence that both Lilica and Yuina are held captive by Psycho Mantis.

"When I entered the contract with Yuina, it was revealed that she had powerful psychic powers. I was in the process of teaching her to control her abilities, but they were too overbearing for even me to maintain. Soon, her aunt found out about this, but wanted to keep Yuina safe from whoever wanted her powers. We couldn't have predicted Mantis' arrival and his attack, and then we were overwhelmed. I had managed to integrate my powers to hers to defend ourselves, but Mantis overpowered us with ease. He managed to separate the entities between me and Yuina, allowing her to gain part if my personality and abilities, while I was powerless to save her or her aunt."

The room became silent as Seraph continued.

"I had to run for my life, as Yuina was taken away by Mantis, with some of my integrated personality and powers within her." Seraph shook her head. "I still can't understand how Mantis is able to manage to separate personalities such as mine and Yuina's and still have her keep her powers, plus mine without the individual biodroid to complete the full integration of becoming an emulate."

"It still bothers us as to why Schwartz would be after you. Do you have any idea why?" Greg asked.

"They must have been observing me and Yuina for the longest time now, at least since her powers were brought out." Seraph said. "I do not know if they were working under Mantis orders, or if they have their own agenda, but I was targeted more than once by them. I came to Police Town seeking protection from them and that was where they caught me."

"Well, we were grateful to be there at the time before that Farfie guy could do anything, but now that just leaves us with more questions than answers." Rio said. "Why would Mantis kidnap an innocent civilian like Yuina?"

"They must be after her emulate powers." Maya said. "What Seraph said about biodroids and them existing longer than us, not to mention the distance they traveled just to get to our worlds…it would be obvious that the knowledge they have would be useful to people like Reese and the Patriots."

"The Patriots?" Seraph asked.

"In short, they are a group of very powerful shadow leaders capable of controlling the world's events to their liking." Maki said. "The real mystery about them lies to the point of their existence up to this point…from the stories what Greg has told us, they have been around for over two hundred years."

Rio noticed the serious look on her student's face and spoke. "Hey, Greg, you've been pretty quiet all the time, is something bothering you?"

Greg was facing towards the looking window of Maki's office, listening all the while to the conversation and how things were revealing one after another. With a sigh, he turned around and faced everyone.

"Yeah, it's just that how this can be a connection to what's happened to Lilica. That's a possibility which we can look at, or the most likely one being a trap set up by the Patriots." Greg said.

"And if that is the case, are you willing to take a risk to rescue her and now Yuina?" Maki asked.

"Don't get me wrong…while this is a very dangerous situation, we both have close ones in captive by the worst set of enemies ever known in the planet." Greg said as he looked at Seraph. "Besides, I can't ignore someone's plea for help, no matter how bad things look."

"Then…are you saying you'll help?" Seraph asked, her eyes lighting up.

"Since we are all involved with the same enemy, we might as well do it for the sake of both Lilica and Yuina." Rio said. "Not to mention the side bonus about finding out Mantis's intention."

"Don't make it sound easy, Rio." Maki warned her. "We have to carefully plan for this, we are up against some very powerful foes. The Patriots have access to resources even we can't touch."

"She's right, we have to play the cards right." Greg said, but started to smile at Seraph. "Don't you worry, Seraph. We will make sure that while we find a way to get Yuina back, we'll watch over you until this thing blows over, you have the guarantee of Team WARRIOR and as a recruit of FOXHOUND."

Seraph bowed to Greg and the others. "Thank you, all...you have no idea how much this means to me. How can I ever repay you?"

"Please, you don't owe us a thing. We're just that kind of people." Maya said, as she eyed Yuji starting to drool over Seraph. "Well, you should watch this guy though. Knowing him, he'll probably be lusting over you for awhile."

"Hey, you don't mean that, Maya!" Yuji replied. "Just because she has a longer set of legs than Rio's doesn't mean…uh-oh!"

"Yuji! What's that suppose to mean?" Rio instantly took out her tonfars.

"Here we go again." Nanvel said shaking her head

Greg simply chuckled nervously at the sight of Rio trying to beat the living life out of Yuji for that comment, until he felt his Codec tone ring. He now remembered that he was to contact his comrades for letting them know what is happening on his end.

"Can you guys excuse me? I need to take this call…" Greg said as he excused himself and left the office. While he did, he contemplated what he should tell them about what has happened, even though it is quite confusing now involving Seraph.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Are you saying that there's someone just as powerful as Nagi that was protecting Seraph?" Brad Crawford asked Farfarello. He was wearing tinted glasses over his deep, dark eyes, and looked dapper (there's that word again!) in a light gray business suit, as he was seated on a high chair at the end of a dinner table, with wine glasses in front of him.

Next to him was another male with long red hair and a bandana on his forehead, in his twenties as well, chewing on a leg of a turkey. In front of him, was Farfarello, who was playing with one of his knives, cutting his own skin in anger.

"Yes, he even managed to deflect an attack cut I had personally and accurately made." Farfarello gritted his teeth, not from the wounds he was causing himself, but to the almost near defeat of his own end if he had carried the fight more with Greg.

"Maybe you slashed at the wrong place, Farfarello." the red haired man smirked, biting on a toothpick. Farfarello glared at his partner and took out two knives. He flung them at the man as they simply passed his head by mere inches, only to be end up at the wall behind him. The red haired man simply chuckled. "My, my, touchy today, aren't we?"

"Schuldich, your little mind games with Farfarello are amusing to look at, but are just a waste of time, especially concerning the major business at hand..." Crawford warned his partner, Schuldich. He simply shook his head ad Crawford stood up. "Farfarello, are you certain this man had powers like our former comrade in arms?"

"Only his seem to be a bit stronger, though I'd have had to have continued the fight to know by how much." Farfarello replied. "He also knew how to defend himself...it's was as if he was part of that FOXHOUND that's in Japan now. He was certainly formidable."

"Surely they couldn't have known about Seraph and Yuina, unless our new foe is just a Good Samaritan..." Crawford said. "If he's another member of FOXHOUND which we haven't heard about in years, not since we heard of the one called Scorpion, and especially that other fellow that was able to sweet talk Nagi into joining them in the first place, Riku Hanabishi...this could lead to problems."

"By now Seraph has found some protection, hasn't she?" Schuldich said. "Crawford, maybe we should rethink this. If this man is part of FOXHOUND, even if he may not look it, we should probably stop underestimating the people Nagi has been with for this long period of time."

"I'm afraid you're dead right on with that point. If this man was able to easily take on three of our soldiers and survive Farfarello's encounter, we may have to think over our strategy. Seraph is in no doubt under his and the local police's protection, and that will cause more problems for us than the other way around. Also, Dead Cell still has SEELE under their control, leaving the safety of Tokyo-3 uncertain. We can occupy ourselves with the information concerning what Ocelot and Solidus are plotting for the organization."

"That can work, but will we just leave Seraph alone for now?" Farfarello spoke.

"It seems so, but just for now." Brad nodded. "Don't be discouraged, though. We'll meet up with Seraph and her new friend soon eventually. Just use this chance to learn about whom this Psycho Mantis wannabe is and kill him for interfering with our affairs."

"I won't forget that face of his..." Farfarello growled, thinking of Greg's words before he faced him.

"By the way, Farfarello…did you get his name?" Schuldich asked.

"He said it to me before I left, since he had the courtesy to ask for mine before I retreated." Farfarello said. "It was Greg Kinezono."

"Greg Kinezono…how interesting." Crawford said. "He does sound like an interesting fellow; I'll look forward to meeting him someday."

Farfarello growled in reply and took out one of his largest knives to cut himself across his right arm, as blood streamed out from the gashing wound. A gasp of ecstasy came out from his lips.

(This knife...I have marked with your death written all over it...!) Farfarello thought, thinking of Greg as he left the room.

"It seems that Farfarello has issues with the one he couldn't kill…" Schuldich said. "Should I...?"

"Let him wallow in his humiliation for the time being. Once in a while, it's rather amusing to see Farfarello act as if he was vulnerable to such emotions." Crawford smiled as he sipped on his glass of wine. (I'm sure that man is FOXHOUND property, or else he couldn't have known about Seraph. When I meet him, it will be interesting just how strong he is against me and Schwartz.)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Once Greg was on the fire escape staircase of the Police Town building, he took a seat on one of the stairs and pressed the 'Call' button. When the device came on, the face that appeared on the other end was Garland Durev's.

"Hey, Greg. What's up?" Garland smiled at Greg, as the black soldier forced a smile, despite the situation on his end.

"Garland…" Greg replied. "Hey, I wanted to call first, but things on my end kind of got…caught up at the moment."

"Caught up? What do you mean, Greg?" Michael's Hansen's voice said from another monitor.

"What? You too, Michael?" Greg asked surprise.

"Greg, what's going on?" Garland asked. "You may be trying to show us that everything is okay with you, but we've known that look on your face for a long time. We can tell how you're feeling about certain things and now, something's obviously troubling you."

Greg hugged his legs and buried his head between them. "You're right. Something's not normal on my end. But what boggles me is why you called up before I could."

"To check up on you, of course." Michael said.

"You're…you were worried about me?" Greg asked, looking up.

"Geez, Greg. You should know how much lengths we go to find out our comrade's problems and help them out." Garland said.

"Sorry if I made you think otherwise… "Greg apologized in reply.

"Greg...what's eating you? You look as if you've been going through some serious problems." Michael said.

"Are Scorpion and Linn, or any of the other kids listening in?" Greg asked.

"Scorpion's scouting the base, while Linn is training some of Section 2 NERV security on weapons handling." Garland responded. "I was assisting her some minutes before, but Kari and Mana are taking over for me until I was done here."

"Okay, I need you two to turn off your monitors for a while." Greg said, surprising Garland and Michael.

"You're kidding, right Greg?" Michael asked.

"No, I'm not. I'm being really serious here." Greg responded. "I don't want Linn, or the kids overhearing this. If they did, I know it would trouble them deeply. Just trust me on this."

"Okay, Greg..." Michael said, switching the monitor of the Codec off. Garland did the same as well. "Alright, only the three of us can hear each other in Codec. What's happening over there with your family, Greg?"

"How did you know about...?" Greg was stunned for a moment, when Michael explained.

"Dr. Hunter told me all about Rio and Team Warrior, Greg and how they took you in." Michael said. "And it was just this morning I told Garland about them and about everything that happened before and after the Impact."

"Greg, how could you? Keeping such lovely women to yourself from your best buddies?" Garland joked.

"Just who else knows about this?" Greg replied, nearly shaking in his boots.

"Oh, just Scorpion, the First Child, Major Katsuragi, Ritsuko, Kari and Mana..." Michael said. "Hey, it was Misato who asked about you, so you were mostly the point of conversation, Greg."

"Oh, jeez. So much for my secret, or at least one of the best kept ones." Greg said. "Anyway, I'm sure that's not the reason why you're calling me out of concern, right?"

"You're right; we're calling about other matters." Michael said to him. "But next time you're away on business, let us know more about your private affairs that could be in trouble, okay?"

"You're like a brother to us." Garland said. "All we want is for you to be front with us and tell us your problem."

"'Friends don't keep secrets and secrets don't keep friends', huh?" Greg answered. "Thanks a bunch, guys. I'd really appreciate that."

A small laughter can be heard from the two older men, as Greg only smirked. For some strange reason, he felt he belonged with people like them, even though they may share similar aspects that made them FOXHOUNDers.

"Alright, here's what's going down on my side. You guys were told about Lilica Ebett from Naomi, right?" Greg asked.

"You're talking about that cute young girl with the long pink ponytail that is part of Team Warrior?" Michael asked.

"That's the one." Greg replied. "Lilica's not just a close friend to me; we've known each other long enough that we've become like siblings. To her, I'm a big brother to her; she likes to see it that way because she looks up to me a lot. She happens to be the youngest of the Warrior group who knows her way around computers. She's a real wizard when it comes to hacking and for surveillances and security measures. It's more of a game to her than a job, because she likes what she does a lot. Put her in front of a computer, and she'll do things that will surprise even Otacon. "

"Did something happen to her, Greg?" Michael asked.

"...she was kidnapped...on that day the Angel was attacking Tokyo-3 and we managed to seize Arsenal." Greg confessed. "My sensei and also my surrogate mom, Rio, got injured badly trying to save Lilica from the attackers. She could have died that day, if her friends didn't return in time to save her."

"Oh, Greg...we don't know what to say..." Garland said with a tone of apology in his voice.

"Look, don't fret too much about it. Rio's a tough woman; she was even up and about this morning." Greg smiled a bit. "Just pray not get her too excited as I did if you ever meet her. She tends to let things get outta hand for the fun of it. Considering she survived a serious concussion that could have killed her from head trauma..."

"So you guys found out who was responsible for what happened? Do you know if she's being held for ransom?" Michael asked.

Greg breathed a little before he pulled his head back to reply

"We already know who's behind this, but if I tell you guys, it must stay within the three of us until I can clarify this as the truth." Greg spoke. "Can I trust you guys with what I have to say?"

"Of course, Greg. You know you can trust us." Garland said.

"The one who kidnapped Lilica is Psycho Mantis." Greg said seriously, causing the two older men to gasp.

"THE Mantis from the FOXHOUND that took over Shadow Moses? But I thought..." Michael spoke in shock.

"He was revived somehow...I don't know how or for what, but it's more than likely that the Patriots are playing a big part behind all of this." Greg replied, making sure to omit anything that was Reese related, namely this particular event.

"Greg, this is really serious. Maybe you should let Campbell know about this." Garland said.

"Look, the last thing I need is to cause a panic because of Mantis' resurfacing. It could lead to some serious trouble for the rest of us as well." Greg replied. "And I'm sure that Snake and Commander Silverburgh will flip when they hear that he is alive."

"But, Greg...if you know Mantis is doing all of this as a trap, you're going to get yourself killed because you acted alone in this." Michael explained. "A soldier should know when to retreat, while a good strategist should plan ahead of his enemies to gain the upper hand."

"I know that very clearly…I'm not planning to go rushing for answers, but I am desperate for some kind of help." Greg replied, thinking of Seraph. He'd better not tell them about her and Yuina as well or else he'll make more heads scratch.

"Greg, like it or not, we were given orders from Campbell to give you support from the shadows." Garland said.

"Is that why you guys called me up?" Greg asked.

"Yes, now and in good timing too." Michael said.

"I know you guys said that you are willing to help me out, but what I want to know is how?" Greg simply replied. "As much as the help is appreciated right now, you guys are probably swarmed over with problems on your end right now and I don't want to be a burden to you if this goes overboard."

"We know, but that doesn't mean we're going to be abandoning one of our own, especially in something this important." Michael said to him. "Why don't you let us look in from our ends and dig up something we may have overlooked that can help you in this as to make more sense."

"Just what can you do from Tokyo-3 that can help me out here?" Greg asked.

"Greg, if anything suspicious about Reese turns up, I'll contact you. And Garland will provide you with whatever information, and also some assistance, that may be of some use to you." Michael said.

"He's right, Greg. From here, we can support you. Just give us a ring and ask for it." Garland said.

"You guys..." Greg looked down, shaking his head. "No matter what I say, you'll just want to lend a hand, huh?"

"Of course. Anything to help a fellow FOXHOUNDer and friend like you." Garland smiled.

"Thanks. I really needed that. I feel a little better that at least I have you two to turn to for help." Greg smiled back for a little.

"Oh, Greg...there's something else the Colonel wanted you to know." Michael said. "Riku's coming over to where you're staying."

"What, really?" Greg said, now remembering an old friend of his, but then he started to wonder if it was wise to let him know of the troubles that he's going through. "Did the Colonel tell Riku where I am right now?"

"That he did. One of the reasons Riku is coming to you is that Roy was worried about you." Garland said.

(At least I'll be in good company of a close FOXHOUND buddy through this mess…) Greg thought to himself before speaking. "Well, that's very considerate of him."

"Also, his other two partners are also coming over with him; they seemed to have heard quite a bit about you and are really looking forward to meeting you." Michael said.

"His two partners? What are their roles in this?" Greg asked. (Could they be the other recruits that Riku told me about two years ago and chose not to tell anymore about them?)

"They are not coming to assist you, just to stay with you until Campbell finds out just the right timing to send them to Tokyo-3." Garland said.

"Fine…if its Riku coming to visit me, I'm sure he can brighten my day somehow. He is a friend of my family, after all." Greg said. "Not to mention it's been a while since I've seen Riku, or talked to him, for that matter."

"True, things have been busy for us FOXHOUNDers lately." Garland nodded in agreement. "Anyway, I'm certain you'll get along well with Riku's two partners. I'm sure you've at least heard of them, right Greg?"

"You're mean Usagi Ninja and Mystic Crow? I've only heard of rumors about them, that, plus Riku hardly talks about them." Greg said. "Did the Colonel know exactly where to send them?"

"Yes, he gave Riku the correct address. Nagu is flying them over to Japan as we speak." Michael said.

"Tell them to take their time." Greg replied. He remembered the name Riku after meeting him about the second year after recently joining FOXHOUND. He was in the organization as long as Greg and Scorpion were. Just at the time, names like 'Berserker Demon' and 'Venom' were now getting popularity in FOXHOUND. He was also the first he met within the group who had superhuman abilities.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The date was June, 13th 2011, inside the FOXHOUND VR Training room...a young Japanese youth with long black hair was intently staring at a tall, and skinny dark skinned man wearing a red Skull Suit, with a dark cloak flowing behind him and his right arm exposed from the over head view of the VR Training room. He had short cut black hair at the time. It was Greg standing in a recreation of the snowfield where the M1 tank driven by Vulcan Raven is suppose to arrive.

From the side door, a sweat covered Linn Aramaki appeared holding unto a towel. She was wearing a bright yellow vest that was tightly folded into the bright white color gym tights that hugged her hips and legs. When Riku turned to see her, he noticed that most of the sweat had unfortunately covered most of her chest area, revealing her 'god-given gifts'. He gulped at the sight at the beautiful woman before as she smiled her trademark innocent smile.

"Oh, hello...I don't think we've met before." Linn opened out her hand to Riku, who nervously shook it.

(Man, she's beautiful, but she looks older than me...) Riku thought to himself. "Um...hello..."

"Judging from the color of that Sneaking Suit, you must be Drakken." Linn simply said. "Roy has told me and Greg all about you."

"He has? You mean you know about...?"

"Yeah, I know about that power you have. The ability to control fire." Linn said. "Don't you worry, your secret's safe with me and Greg, almost everyone with special powers are now permitted to join FOXHOUND. I'm just one of the few who doesn't have any, but just have special agility. Greg on the other hand..."

She turned to look at the snowfield, as Greg walked cautiously past the mines, collecting them as he proceed, before the tank's rumbling shook the ground making it's appearance. Greg saw the tank turning to it side to stop.

"What level is this is training on?" Linn asked.

"On Extreme, I think. Why did you ask?" Riku asked.

"On, nothing. I just want to see how much kicks he can get from that difficulty." Linn said.

Riku had little idea what she meant, but focused on what was happening before him. Greg was actually charging the tank, when normally it would fire an opening shot at the target. The tank fired a round, but Greg kept running, as he simply waved his cloak in front of him.

"Tsuki...!" Greg shouted, as a crescent shaped force field surrounded his body, as the round impacted the field and exploded. Greg quickly recovered and dropped a Chaff Grenade, then a Stun Grenade. He then ran to the tank, placing a Claymore to where it would turn, and when it did, it caused to damage the wheels moderately. At that time, Greg was already armed with a frag grenade, as both of the former two grenades went off. The Chaff released its contents, and soon after the Stun went off. The blinding light allowed Greg to circle around the tank, as he threw the grenade he had been holding for than four seconds, since he placed the Claymore on the ground.

'BOOM!' A loud explosion was heard from the cockpit of the tank, and a gunner was sent flying from the inside of the tank and outside to the ground. Greg hadn't had time to wait for another gunner; he had already climbed on top and was aimed with his grenade launcher into the open hatch.

A serious faced Greg leaped back as he fired a grenade from the gun into the tank. Leaping back off from it, he leaped back in a cartwheel fashion to a safe distance, to land on one knee, as he faced the exploding tank. Hs stood up and checked his watch.

"I even brought the exact number of grenades I needed for this battle today and still I don't get enough from destroying this tank in a quicker time. I may have to use more evasive style movements if I ever have to catch up in battle."

Moments later, the environment around him flickered, causing the room to change back into the VR cel-shaded room, (like the rooms in Substance) and started to walk towards the exit. Right after he stepped through, he met Linn and the young man she was talking to before. He looked at Greg with a stunned look on his face which was still on his face after his performance and extended his hand. It was Linn then who spoke.

"Gregory, this is Riku Hanabishi, or Drakken on the field." Linn said, as she introduced Drakken to Greg. Greg simply smirked and shook his hand.

"Drakken...German for 'dragon'..." Greg replied. "I heard much about you from Col. Campbell, though not to the fullest details. I'd never thought that there would actually be a living human who can control fire. You kind of remind me of one of my favorite participants in the King of Fighters tournament, Kyo Kusanagi."

"So says the one who I've seen dresses like him, but can't do the exact thing." Linn smirked, embarrassing him. "He's more of a Shingo Yabuki, than a Kyo."

"Linn! That really hurt, you know." Greg flustered as Riku simply started to chuckle.

"And I never thought there would be a person with psychic powers in FOXHOUND." Riku replied. "What you did out there was cool. It reminded me of what I saw of an old anime that made me get into it..."

"If you're talking about Akira, you're right." Greg smiled. "I'm a big Tetsuo fan, so you can say he's more of an inspiration to me at times. Even to the likes of NESTS' own K9999."

"Oh, you mean that guy with the drill move?" Riku said. "Sounds to me that you've met him before."

"We've had some…nasty encounters in the past." Greg simply replied. "The guy's very anti social to say the least, so I'd advise not to be anywhere around him, especially if you don't want to end up picking an unnecessary, and probably nasty, fight."

"I'll be sure to remember that." Riku said to him. "You know, you sound like an okay person, Greg. I do hope we can get to spar sometime soon, aside from working together."

"Same here, Hanabishi. It's good for me to get to know the younger blood in this group, makes it easier to get along with." Greg said to him. "And about the sparring, I'll let you know that I'm much more serious on the field than what you just saw. It's just a warning for now."

"You just made it all the more enticing for the match to come, Greg." Riku smiled at him.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Alright, we'll contact him soon afterwards." Michael said.

"Also, I was wondering if you guys knew anything about the assassination group known as Schwartz..." Greg asked.

"Did you just say Schwartz?" Garland asked.

"Yes, Schwartz...I had a run in with one of them just moments ago." Greg replied. "This one in particular with a left eye patch, a skinny built and his skin is covered in scars."

"That must have been Farfarello." Garland answered.

"You saying you've met guy before?" Greg asked.

"No, not really. One of the other members tried to recruit me just before I joined FOXHOUND while I was still a mercenary." Garland said.

"I had, though." Michael said. "He's of Irish decent and is supposed to be good with swords and knives. Also, I heard that he has inhuman agility and the ability not to feel pain."

"So I was told." Greg replied.

"Don't underestimate this guy or anyone else of Schwartz, Greg. As feeble they may appear, they are trouble." Michael said. "There are at least three psychics in Schwartz; one of them is the leader, an American businessman named Brad Crawford. He is a precognitive, able to see into the future brief flashes at a time. He does, however, have the understanding that the future is still malleable, and prone to change. Plus, he's a good boxer, and a martial artist."

"The other's name is Schuldich, who happens to be a telepath, he was a test subject at Rosenkreuz Laboratories before Crawford chose him for Schwartz." Garland spoke. "He isn't anything too threatening, at least from what I've heard and remember, but he can easily take over people's minds if you are not too careful..."

"And the third psychic?" Greg asked.

"Hmmm...He seems to be the most powerful out of all of them, he was even Crawford's protégée, but about the time I heard about them, he had...well..." Garland stopped for a moment to think. "...he's been on the killed in action list for as long as I can remember Schwartz."

"In other words, you have no idea who he is, or if he is still alive, am I right?" Greg asked seriously.

"That's just about the right thing to say." Garland replied.

"Okay, eventually you guys can find out more about who's the last psychic in that group is, because Farfarello mentioned he has powers like mine." Greg said. "But that is not the main worry...you guys can just sit back and just wait for me to call back and you can fill me in with more important intel, okay?"

"Sure, Greg, You can count on us." Michael said.

"Remember, not a word about this to Linn, or Scorpion. Until I can find out for myself with hard evidence that Mantis is alive and to what really is going on here. I have practically the police force helping me on this, so you won't have to worry about me getting stumped." Greg said.

"Alright...we make sure to keep this secret until you say so, even if we don't like it..." Garland said.

"I know we can't afford closure, but I don't want Linn and the other kids to worry. Until I uncover the truth about this, this stays between the three of us." Greg spoke. "If need be, leave it to me to tell them everything that's happened."

"Fine. Watch your back out there, Greg." Garland said.

"We'll try to come up with a plan on our end to help out as well." Michael said. "In any case, try to support your family through this, Greg. If they seem that important to you, you'd do best to give them the help they need."

"Sure, you guys. I appreciate the help. I'll call again as soon as things develop here." Greg said. He then shut off the Codec, and stood up to look at the city. "If you're through listening, Rio, you can speak now."

Rio almost fell over from the spot she was standing on behind Greg on the staircase, and caught her breath. "Okay, okay...so you got me, Greg...I couldn't help it, but it seems you really are hoping in your own friends to help us through this. That's so sweet of them."

"They are professionals and that kind of help is what we can get right now." Greg said, as he placed his hands on his hips. "Though it pains me that I wasn't able to tell them right away about Reese being involved…"

"They will find out sooner or later, you know?" Rio asked.

"I know. It's only a matter of time till everyone else does know what Reese has been up to. But for now, our role is to try and give Seraph the help she needs." Greg said. "And besides, if I did tell them about Reese, there would be panic. We only were told about how Reese took part in bringing Mantis back to life, but we have to dive deeper...there's a reason why even someone like Seraph must be targeted if not by the Patriots, but by Schwartz...and to find where he is hiding. All in all, we have to take this one piece at a time."

"So, where do we start? Nastasha said she can give us more intel about how Mantis has gotten powerful, but then again...you can always ask me, I survived a psychic blast to the brains and I'm still alive." Rio folded her arms.

Greg simply stared at her in silence and spoke. "If someone's going to do the tracking of the enemy in place of Lilica, Nanvel will have to be left in charge of that. Maybe we can find Mantis through her magic somehow, but I doubt it will be enough." Greg said.

"Okay, that covers intel and finding clues, also your buddies from FOXHOUND that will give us a hand with this." Rio took out a handkerchief and used it to clean around Greg's mouth. He simply looked at her smiling face as she talked. "That leaves us with...you."

"Me?" Greg was confused. "You got something in mind?"

"I think a visit with 'him' should be arranged at a time like this." Rio said, surprising Greg.

"The way you say that, I think you got to be kidding…of all the people we have to look for help at a time like this, we have to go to 'that' guy?" Greg asked. "Why can't it be someone like Aika or Seishiro?"

"Because I'm sure they are busy with problems of their own." Rio said.

"That's really cold, sensei. You know they are family and would help us, especially Seishiro. I've known him since I was a kid and trusted him all my life with problems like this." Greg said to her. "Or are you just desperate for information that you chose this option?"

Rio stayed quiet and sighed. "That may be it. I really can't sit around and do nothing while our friend and now another young girl are in Mantis's clutches."

Greg simply stood up as he started to walk to the door. "If that's what you think, then why are we still sitting around here?"

"Huh?" Rio looked at her student with a quizzed look.

"If we stay any longer, getting to Geese will only keep us a day back." Greg said. "We'd even have to get preparations ready, so we can't afford to lag behind time if we want assistance from him."

Rio nodded at Greg as she walked to his side. "Okay, Greg. I just happened to know where he is…he was probably expecting something like this to happen anyway."

"The words of the incident must have reached him by now…" Greg said as they started to walk down the passageway. Along the way, they met Seraph, Maki and Nanvel together.

"So, what's going to happen to Seraph?" Rio stopped to ask her friends.

"She decided to stay with us until we get Yuina back." Nanvel said. "Also, her talks about biodroids have taken a certain interest in my quest for scientifically knowledge."

"Planning to use her as a guinea pig or something?" Maya said.

"No way! The only guinea pig around here is Greg!" Nanvel said, causing Greg to fall over.

"Geez, Nanvel…words like that do tend to scare me." Greg rubbed his head as he looked at Seraph. "Hey, you'll be just fine. They are a bit of an odd bunch, but very good people. I'd trust them with your life if I were you."

"I know and I will." Seraph said. "Will I be seeing you again, Greg Kinezono?"

"It depends." Greg simply replied as he and Rio left the Police Town building together.

"Where is he going in such a hurry?" Seraph asked.

"It must be the time for him to go and visit a couple of his old KOF buddies, though one of them I do not approve of that much, even though he is one of his trainers." Maya said.

"Trainers?" Seraph asked.

"Yes, the most fearful crime lord alive to rule the city of South Town to this day." Maya replied. "The man known as…Geese Howard."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

To Be Continued...

ShardclawK: This revised chapter ended a bit different than before, as I have big plans to really focus more the developments involving WARRIOR and the other characters. Be expecting some more pleasing changes in store later on in the next coming chapters.

Collis, aka ShardclawKusanagi.


	6. Origins and Endings, Part 2

ShardclawK: Well, it's been awhile since I posted any new or revised stuff all because I've been busy with lots of work recently, but here's the fifth revised chapter where things should be really interesting from here on in so I hope everyone enjoys this offering I have. Thanks to Undead Apostle for commenting kindly on the revised chapters so far, my mission is to make this and COE among the best crossovers around once the revisions are complete and everyone's satisfied with them.

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ShardclawKusanagi presents:

Metal Gear Solid: Soldier X

Chapter 5: Origins and Endings, Part 2

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Inside FOXHOUND Headquarters, Washington D.C, 7:57am...

Lt. Matthew Reese was not having a good morning. His attempt to keep Scorpion from going to Japan failed, thanks to Col. Roy Campbell's earlier intervention. Not too long ago, he had learned that Greg had ignored the order to return to America in order to look after important details that concerned his surrogate family, Team WARRIOR. And to add to that, FOXHOUNDers Riku Hanabishi, Nagi Naoe and Tot had recently left HQ for Japan on Campbell's orders, which were no doubt part of a plan to keep Reese's distance from them because of Nagi and Riku's abilities, not to mention the possibility of him knowing about Nagi's past with Schwartz.

Reese knew that they were not heading straight to Tokyo-3, but instead to the home of Maki Kawasaki where Greg is currently staying. Knowing what kind of person Riku is, Reese knew that the ninja and his partners would soon end up learning of Greg's problems and help him out along the way. However, Reese was not to allow something like those three or Team WARRIOR get in his way of orchestrating the Patriots' plans.

"Wiseman's Committee...it is me." Reese said, as he communicated through his telephone in his office. "I have called to make a report concerning Kinezono."

"We already have information about him getting involved with Team WARRIOR, but it seems that new problems have arisen." One of the voices of the Patriots replied. "He has already met the biodroid, Seraph."

"You're saying that Schwartz has failed in stopping her?" Reese asked.

"Correct. Kinezono himself confronted one of the members and managed to keep her safe for the time being, but by now he probably knows about her situation concerning the capture of Yuina Hattori." Another of the Patriots answered him.

Reese clenched his fists in frustration at the news, but continued as best he could to remain composed.

"In any case, even if he eventually does know about our plans for the biodroid, the plans will remain unchanged." The voice said. "Once Mantis has fully drawn out that emulate's true potential, we will no longer need him and that girl."

"Will that apply for the WARRIOR girl as well?" Reese asked.

"Yes, she too will be punished for getting too curious into our affairs, no one defies our existence." The voice replied to him in a stern tone. "But this does not mean that Kinezono will give up easily as to finding out what our plans for him will be."

"Yes, our sources have just confirmed him moving once more around the regions of old Tokyo in the country areas." Another of the voices spoke. "It appears he is going for assistance to aid him in finding answers."

"He and whoever is sided with him must be stopped at any cost. The time is ripe for you to take a course of action that will surely put him in his place." Another of the Patriots spoke.

"That is why we're assigning to you an experienced mercenary who can handle the job more than efficiently." The original voice spoke once more. "He has served our purposes quite well for over the years and you should certainly have heard of him and his reputation."

"We will assign to you the one known as…Shade." The third voice bellowed out as one of the screens in front of him showed a tall, muscular built man who appeared to be in his thirties and was 6' feet tall. He had dark hair and piercing black eyes as one of his recognizable features was that he had scars that covered the entire upper right side of his face. He was wearing a black trench-coat and a simple bowler's hat.

"Shade has been notified of the situation and has accepted to take the mission of stopping Gregory Kinezono and his allies. We even went so far as to get the 'Death Squad' ready and awaiting for him and Team Warrior." One of the Patriots said.

"The Death Squad…?" Reese asked, this news having spiked some curiosity at the mention of the name.

"They are best trained and skilled soldiers this side of FOXHOUND, programmed efficiently by the S3 program to follow no other orders but ours."

"You are free to use them to your disposal, Reese. As a safety measure in case Kinezono succeeds."

"But see to it that he doesn't." The first voice said warningly.

"I will see to it immediately, you have my word as a dedicated follower of the Committee that you will see it happen as you have requested." Reese spoke as the screens by which the Patriots communicated were turned off, leaving Shade's monitor on. Shade's face had a piercing and cold look to it, as if it was to intimidate Reese to an extent.

So far, it seemed he was doing quite a good job at it, but Reese knew that he could not afford to show his fear right now to anyone, especially a mercenary of this caliber who he would be commanding. Coughing loudly, he composed himself as he spoke to the mercenary.

"Shade...I have an assignment for you." Reese spoke.

"What is it that you want, Reese?" Shade growled at Reese. Shade had heard a great deal about Reese's reputation as a commander and his piss poor job at it. He still couldn't believe that he would have to work below one such as this. Shade himself would have been pleased to do this assignment for his own twisted pleasure without being bothered by anyone leading the operation, especially one such as Reese. Shade knew had all the experience and more than Reese to be qualified for doing the job solo anyway, but in pretence for displaying his duty to the Patriots, he decided to play it out until the job was completed.

"There is a rebel within FOXHOUND named Gregory Kinezono that seeks to interfere with my plans. He needs to be stopped, permanently." Reese said. "Knowing your skills and abilities, you can surely live up to your name and not disappoint me."

"I have heard of him and his power. He is also a friend of Michael Hansen, am I correct?" Shade asked.

"Actually, he's one of his closest." Reese replied, knowing each FOXHOUNDer's value of friendship and comradeship amongst one another, another reason why he despised them all so much.

"Then, I'll take this on the condition that afterwards I get to trail Michael and finish the job." Shade smiled, as he began to think to himself. (Taking that into account, this will serve as a considerable bonus for accepting this troublesome job from this lousy general Reese...at least I will get some fun out of tormenting Michael when I eventually kill this Kinezono and whoever's with him before I can go ahead and when I'm through with them, I'll have my fun disposing of Mantis as well. And of course having some 'personal time' with those two girls he is holding captive afterwards…)

"Of course, and I assure you this will be worth your time, Shade." Reese said to him. "Your experience and strength will certainly outdo Kinezono and his current abilities at the moment…I'm certain he will not be any trouble for you at all when you get to him."

"Hmph, and here I was thinking he would at least entertain me in a fight. Oh, well…this just only makes my job easier." Shade grinned at the comment.

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"We're closing in the drop site." Nagu Masaki said over his com unit to Riku Hanabishi, who nodded at him. From behind him, Nagi Naoe and his girlfriend, Tot, were seated and were waiting to meet Gregory Kinezono. Nagi especially wanted to meet him soon enough after joining FOXHOUND, because of the many rumors surrounding him.

"Man, the moment is finally here." Nagi could barely sit still. "I'm going to meet the another psychic soldier of FOXHOUND like myself."

"You've been like that since we got into the helicopter, Nagi. You must really want to meet this Greg really bad, huh?" Tot asked.

"I'm just curious to know about him, that's all." Nagi replied, shrugging his shoulders. "Especially after all that Riku has told me about him. Wouldn't you be curious to meet another psychic if you were like me, Nanami?"

"I guess so. Besides, I don't mind meeting someone new and making new friends, especially if it's someone from our group who we haven't met yet." Tot replied, before looking at Riku. "So why not tell us a bit about your friend, Riku?"

Riku sighed with a grin as he sat back down on his seat besides the couple to explain as much as he knew about Greg.

"As far as I can tell, Greg could fool almost anyone by his appearance alone into thinking that he's no psychic, let alone being a recruit for FOXHOUND." Riku explained. "From what I've heard from some people like his girlfriend Linn Aramaki and Naomi, before he joined FOXHOUND, he spent his training years with the Marines under their Martial Arts Program. But most of the time he was in Japan in his earlier years, he eventually was able to learn some things from Seishiro-san."

"Wait a second, you mean Seishiro Takeda who's the current field commander of the Wolf Pack?" Nagi asked, a bit surprised that someone else that he already knew was that familiar with Greg.

"The one and only, it seems he has a past with the people who took Greg in." Riku replied with a smile. "Actually, I think he and Greg have been pretty close for a long time. In fact some might say those two are practically like father and son."

"Wow, it's really a small world, huh?" Tot asked with an amused smile. "To think our good friend from the Wolf Pack is that close to someone else from our unit...it's amazing, really."

"Yeah, I admit that I was a bit surprised about that myself when I found that out." Riku admitted.

"So I take it that thanks to Seishiro-san, Greg must be really experienced in the fields of combat, huh?" Nagi asked.

"You bet. He's one of those people not to be taken lightly, considering the amount of influences he's had." Riku said. "Aside from him being ranked a Grenadier from the Marines, he's also had some pretty extensive Harrier piloting training. Not to mention that he has some considerably dangerous CQC skills too, though they're not as dangerous as to be on Garland's level. After all he's one of the few in FOXHOUND to give Greg pressure in a sparring match."

"You're saying Greg is just as skilled at Garland at his age?" Tot asked in amazement.

"No, I wouldn't go so far as to say that…especially since I can recall the large amount of times Greg has lost to Garland in sparring matches. Garland's strength and experience still far outclasses Greg. Even just before Dead Cell attacked Japan, I was there the last time they sparred; it was a truly unbelievable fight. From what I heard, he has trained under some people whose fighting arts I swore I've seen somewhere before, but I really can't connect the styles at the moment." Riku explained.

"And to think he's the second psychic of FOXHOUND to boot…this Greg must really be something." Nagi spoke as he was impressed from what he had just heard. "His powers sure sound like they'd be something to see."

"Actually, while Greg may be a psychic, you rarely see him use his powers on the battlefield. It's an especially rare case to see him use more advanced techniques. Greg tends to keep his powers in reserve for an emergency situation, but all the while, he can be serious and calculating, it's as if he's trying to make up for mistakes he may have done in the past." Riku said. "All in all, he really is a nice person to be with and depend on, but…he also has this sad and depressing nature about him that most people can't place their finger on…it's as if he thinks of his powers as a curse more than a blessing."

Nagi suddenly looked serious at Riku's last comment, which for a moment had given his friend an almost somber expression, as he pondered what Riku had meant. Finally he spoke.

"You know if you think about it, that really isn't uncommon among psychics." Nagi spoke. "Or any others with paranormal abilities, for that matter…"

"Yeah…too true, I'm sorry to say." Riku replied in agreement, as all three knew quite a few people who could attest to that.

For a moment none of the three said anything until Riku, noticing his friends' troubled expressions decided to speak.

"Here now, don't let what I said get to you two. Nothing's physically wrong with our Greg. He may have some issues, but he never lets them bother him too much." Riku assured him. "Besides, he has control of his powers to an extent and I'm certain that's all thanks to his sensei, Rio Kinezono and all the attention she's given him.

"Rio Kinezono?" Tot asked.

"She's Greg's surrogate mother and teacher of his martial arts skills. She's also the point leader of an anti-terrorist group, named Team WARRIOR. They are like FOXHOUND, but they move more like a strike force." Riku explained.

"Is that the group we are going to meet soon, Riku?" Nagi asked. "From what you told us, they sound like an interesting group."

"That's what I thought the first time I met them." Riku said, as he leaned back so he could get comfortable while he could tell the two about this. "Greg, Linn, and I were doing a mission outside of the sunken areas of Japan where a terrorist faction had seized a touring group of important businessmen. Everyone else, such as Garland, Michael, and James were on their own missions, so we were sent to handle it."

"What was the name of this group?" Tot asked.

"They called themselves, the V.D.S. or the Virtual Drug Syndicate." Riku replied.

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The date was November 22nd, 2012, outside of Japan's waters on a newly launched international cruise liner that had temporarily set dock on Neo Tokyo's waters and was ready to set sail when a group of terrorists have hijacked the liner and have held several important government officials hostage. Greg, Linn, and Riku had split up in order to cover more ground.

Currently, Riku was being pursued by a patrol of heavily armed troopers of the V.D.S. Normally, the young ninja would not have been spotted so easily, but shortly beforehand, he had managed to locate, rescue, and secure a few of the hostages as they were being transported to another part of the ship. Riku had then been able to find a place where the people he rescued could hide and wait things out until this was over. However, just as he was leaving to back up Greg and Linn, Riku noticed a patrol heading in the direction of where he had hid the hostages, so the young ninja had no choice but to act as a decoy to ensure their safety, which led up to his current position. After he was sure that he had led the patrol far enough away, Riku then put in an extra burst of speed into his running and after a few minutes stopped for a moment on the deck so that he could count the number of approaching men that were after him. That way he could contemplate what he should do now against the number.

"Hmm...So there are only seven of you, right?" Riku smirked as the men came towards him and then his face turned serious. "Okay, then that means I have to use...Nadare!"

He placed his hands together, and summoned one of his 'dragons', which emerged from his body and fired multiple fireballs at the group. The fireballs attacked each of the troopers, the effect was that five of them were knocked out by the impact, plus being burned by the flames, while two of them attempted to put the flames out by fanning it from the burning area.

Riku saw his opening and drew out his M9. He was about to fire it at the remaining two troops who were still aflame, when the two suddenly went down from a couple of sniper shots. He placed his gun down in surprise.

(Was that Scorpion?) He thought, as he stepped closer to the troops. He saw for himself that the shooter had a frighteningly good aim, as the exposed area of the armor was hit on the mark by a tranquilizer dart for each troop. Riku immediately knew Scorpion wasn't capable of this, since he knew that the sniper would have killed the troops instead.

Riku then sensed the sniper's presence nearby and looked up to see a really ravishing looking woman with short, green hair and wearing a yellow bandana in it. She had on a black, tight outfit with a green color that was displayed on the edge of her bust-line of the suit and other places, while on her shoulders were armor pads. Riku gulped at the sight of her massive cleavage that jiggled in front of him, and the large sniper gun that she was holding. It seem to be one that she custom made herself, and that it was even bigger than a normal PSG-1.

"Who the hell are you?" Maya Jingu snapped, quickly switching to her handgun. Riku simply took out for one his throwing star shuriken and made ready to throw it if necessary, carefully aiming at her neck.

"That's my line." Riku asked, his expression serious. "Are you one of the terrorists?"

"Do I look like one?" Maya replied, pointing her gun at his head. "Just how the hell were you able to do that thing with the flames?"

"Would you like a first hand experience and see how it's done?" Riku said, getting into a fighting position, making ready to call on his flames using his free hand to wield them. There was a standoff for a few seconds, until Greg's voice called out from behind Maya.

"Maya! What the...?" Greg came running towards Maya as he saw the position she was in and prepared to back her up, when he saw Riku. "Oh, I see that you've met my buddy, Riku."

"You know this woman, Greg?" Riku asked, as he relaxed and then lowered his guard since he could obviously see this woman was not an enemy.

"Yeah, this is one of the women who raised me when I was still a kid." Greg said, looking at Maya with a smile. "Cool it, will you, Maya? He's FOXHOUND too."

"You're Riku? This is the kid you were telling me about?" Maya simply replied with a sigh, she returned the gun back into the holster. "Sorry about that. I kind of got itchy to shoot something else besides the terrorists when I saw you do that flame thing. Greg told me a little about you...I'm Maya Jingu."

"No hard feelings at all, ma'am." Riku with a polite smile, but his face reddened slightly as he got a chance to glance at Maya's breasts. Greg only stared at Riku from the side, before he shook his head and faced forward.

"Eyes front, Riku. You've forgotten that we're on a mission already?" Greg asked, clutching to his grenade gun.

"Uh, right." Riku replied nervously as Greg simply shook his head.

"It's cool, man. Like you in your age, I've been there myself. But right now, we don't have the time for this, especially on a mission." Greg said to him.

"Sorry about that." Riku replied with a sheepish grin.

With that Riku, Greg and Maya went back into the interior of the carrier, where they went downstairs into the mess hall area as several of the troops were being laid to waste under Rio's mad CQC skills. She spun around with her batons, as she knocked down two of the hostiles, then stopping her spin with an aerial diving kick. Rio landed on one of her knees, as she took out a handgun and fired at her front, stunning her next target. She stood up and slightly opened her Team Warrior suit to let some air in.

"Ohhhh..." Rio simply sighed as she fanned herself. "What a bunch of lightweights. I hope Greggie isn't having too much trouble with the others."

Just then, Greg entered with Maya and Riku. He looked around as he saw the rampage of Rio Kinezono had taken place.

"Sensei Rio, are you alright?" Greg asked, suddenly looking around to see the defeated group of V.D.S troops. "Forget I asked."

Rio had now saw Greg, before she suddenly hugged him between her breasts. "Oh, Greggie! I do hope these nasty terrorists haven't managed to harm you!"

"That's my question! And will you please not do that, I'm getting too old for this!" Greg tried to fight his way out of Rio's hold. "Not in front of my friend, please?"

Rio noticed Riku had stepped in. "Oh? Is this handsome young man your friend from FOXHOUND?"

Riku tried his best not to get a nosebleed while his sights were set on the attractive Rio Kinezono, pressing her breasts on Greg's face. Just then, Nanvel and Lilica entered from the other door, also wearing Warrior outfits. Nanvel's was a light purple that covered her only her chest area, while Lilica's was a green. Just behind them, was Linn who was holding unto her crossbow gun. She saw Rio and her face went into a fit.

"Rio!" Linn shouted at Rio, who simply let go of Greg and faced Linn. She and Linn have a sort of 'rivalry' going over Greg. Rio has always had a jealous fit over Linn who has Greg to herself. She still believes that she can take better care of him than Linn ever could. "Take your hands off of Greg now...we're still on a mission."

Rio only glared at Linn. "Yeah, yeah…I know. Fine, I'll leave him alone for now."

"That's more like it." Greg lamented, fixing his Sneaking Suit after Rio released him. "In any case, how were things on your end, Linn and Lilica?"

"There wasn't too much trouble, but it never hurts to be careful." Lilica smiled, as she returned a large Beretta bigger than her hand into her holster.

"All taken care of, it was a cakewalk." Linn replied. "Those guys were really nothing special."

"Be careful how you rate our enemies these days, Linn. You have no idea of how capably dangerous or skilled they are." Greg replied to her sternly. "At least the two of you got through alright."

Linn nodded silent as she then noticed Riku was staring at the women in black outfits.

"Excuse me, but who are you guys? And how did you know about this operation?" Riku asked.

"This is the family that raised me since I was very young. Riku, this is Team WARRIOR and the woman you have just met is my surrogate mother, Rio Kinezono." Greg explained. "She taught me everything I needed to know to fight."

"I see. I was wondering how you ended up with a Japanese surname." Riku asked.

"Well, now you know." Greg replied.

"And I'm Nanvel Candlestick. Think of me as Greg's aunt." Nanvel said cheerily.

"Well, I was almost fooled there. I could have sworn that you were Greg's mother when I first met you, since you've got such nice dark skin." Riku said with a bashful smile.

"Oh, Greg! Riku's so cute!" Nanvel said, pinching Riku's cheek gently. Greg only sighed at this and smiled a bit.

"And I'm Lilica Ebett." Lilica smiled at Riku as she shook his hand. "I'm the famed hacker of WARRIOR, so nothing's too hard for me to get into digitally."

"You said it, Lilica. I don't think there's anyone just as good as you in the hacking field." Greg simply replied.

"Just why are you guys are here anyway?" Riku asked.

"We thought the V.D.S had more manpower than we were informed. Also there was no way the three of us could get the hostages safely out of here without causing trouble. So, I contacted Campbell before the mission and requested Team Warrior to be here to lend a hand." Greg said.

"We also have personal reasons for being here." Rio lamented seriously. "They caused a massacre back at our Police Town station…some of our good friends died because of them."

"I see…" Riku nodded as he had heard about that in the news just before this mission, and he could tell from Rio's expression that she obviously knew one or more of the victims very well. "You have my sincerest condolences."

Greg remained silent as he noted Rio's saddened expression. It was Linn who started to break the silence in the group.

"Anyway Riku, you should be grateful that you're getting a chance like this." Linn said. "You're the only person out of FOXHOUND so far to meet Team WARRIOR."

"So you've got to swear on your word of honor as a ninja that you won't tell anyone else about them…I want to avoid as much questions from people like Reese if he ever bothers me about my private life." Greg said to him. "Its just I'm not prepared just yet to give everyone the facts about me, okay?"

"You got it, Greg. You know your secrets are safe with me, you can count on me." Riku replied to him sincerely. "Ninja's honor."

"Of course I do, especially since you're one member from this group who I know is very good at keeping vital secrets, even from someone like myself." Greg said with a light grin.

"If there's anything you need to ask us when you want intel, you can have my frequency." Nanvel said. "It's 146.90"

"You guys have access to Codec as well?" Riku asked.

"Our version of the Codec could only tune into the frequency of the other person that is communicating. I made Greg's with a few mods in it." Nanvel smiled. "It's an MP3 player with all of his favorite songs varying from video games, some gangster rap, and even some rock. Also, like in that game, Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner, one of Greg's favorite games, he can use a different Codec screen and see himself in the area at the same time."

(Greg listens to rock?) Riku looked at Greg. He simply stared at his friend who returned a silent, yet puzzled look.

"What is it? I don't look like the type to be into that sort of thing, is that it?" Greg simply asked.

"Well, yeah." Riku replied nervously. "I know many people have their many tastes in music, but I'd never thought you'd be into that sort of thing, Greg."

Greg simply shrugged with a sigh as he talked. "Anyway, let's round up these perps and let the local authorities deal with them. Our job here is done anyway."

"Yeah, there's no way they will get away for the genocide act they were responsible for at Police Town just weeks ago." Rio said, taking out a pair of handcuffs.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"So, this Team WARRIOR is like a team of FOXHOUND as well?" Nagi asked.

"Yeah, but the difference is that a majority of the members are women. The only male in the group is Yuji Naruo, who serves as their helicopter pilot and can even ride a motorcycle in the tightest of spots." Riku replied. "However, it still escapes me how a guy like him can manage being with those girls when they know what kind of person he is sometimes…"

"What do you mean by that, Riku?" Tot asked.

"You'll see when you meet them." Riku replied with a grin. "Anyway, trust me, you guys are going to get along great."

"We're nearing the drop site." Nagu said to the youngsters behind him. The helicopter landed a few meters away on the street from Maki's home, letting the three FOXHOUNDer's exit the helicopter with the belongings they brought with them. They then waved to Nagu who waved back to them and started to ascend once more in the helicopter as it left. Afterwards, the three began to trek towards the outside yard of the house when suddenly a sniper's scope could be seen from the rooftop from the house. And it was aimed at Nagi.

Riku stopped suddenly as he immediately sensed danger nearby. Nagi and Tot did the same as they noticed this.

"Hey, what's up, Riku?" Tot asked, stopping behind him.

"Someone's aiming at us." He said calmly looked up at the roof and there, Riku could see the glare from a sniper rifle's scope, and Maya wearing a yellow vest holding it. Maya smiled at Riku from on top and came down from the roof using a hoister strapped around her chest which was attached to the edge of the roof. "...Maya, put that thing down. It's me, Riku."

"Heh, you saw right through me as usual, Riku." Maya smiled at Riku. "How's it going with you?"

"Just fine so far, thanks for asking." Riku answered, as Nagi and Tot stared at Maya with wide-eyed looks on their faces, especially Nagi who couldn't keep his eyes of Maya's jiggling chest. Tot only tapped behind his head lightly with a harisen to make him come back to his senses.

"What do you think you're staring at?" Tot asked with an obviously jealous expression on her face.

"Heh, sorry, Tot." Nagi nervously said, rubbing his head.

"Who are your friends?" Maya asked, looking at Nagi and Tot.

"This is Nagi Naoe and his girlfriend, Tot, my two good friends and FOXHOUND partners otherwise known as Mystic Crow and Usagi Ninja." Riku introduced the two. Maya shook their hands and got into a serious look.

"Sorry about that. Lately, things haven't been going well for us." She said in a sad tone. "I was just making sure that no more suspicious looking characters showed up to give our lives hell."

Just then, Maki, Yuji, and Nastasha stepped outside. Maki instantly noticed Riku and walked towards him to greet him and his partners.

"Riku, this is a real surprise. I didn't expect you to show up now, but Greg did mention that you'd be coming anyway. It's been awhile." Maki said to him.

"Sorry to come in unannounced like this, but it sounded pretty urgent since even the Colonel told us to be here ASAP." Riku said, causing Maki to think a bit as he said this.

"Roy sent you?" Maki asked a bit surprised as she started to think to herself. (Now if even his superior has found out what has happened, it must be really serious if he'd send Riku and his partners here. He probably knows what Reese could plan for them as well sooner or later.)

"And by the looks of things, he must have some good reasons." Riku assumed seriously. "Did something happen here that I should know about, Maki?"

Maki sighed a bit before she spoke to the FOXHOUND ninja. "Riku...something has happened to Lilica...she's been kidnapped."

"What?" Riku shouted suddenly, alarming his friends. He had a feeling something had happened, but he wasn't expecting this.

"Lilica's the girl you told us about before we landed just now, right?" Nagi asked as he got a silent nod from Riku.

"She's been gone for a day now." Maya mused sadly. "Along with that, Rio got hurt pretty badly by the people who captured Lilica around the time."

(So, this is why Greg is here. Looks like the Colonel was right about something big happening around here.) Riku thought seriously. "Do you have any idea who did this, Maki?"

"It's a pretty long and creepy story, but I think we all have time to get to why this is happening." Maki said. "Since this mostly involves not just Greg, but your own group as well."

"Involves us as well?" Riku said, and gave a light sigh. "Man oh man, I'm already getting bad feelings as to where this is heading."

"All of us do, man." Yuji said. "This is tough for us to take in by the hour. In any case, we think you guys need to hear everything we found out just recently."

"Maki, is it wise that they should know what happened? They will learn about Reese in the long run too." Nastasha said as she leaned closer to her friend.

"They have to know. Riku's a friend of Greg's and he is also part of FOXHOUND. The most we can do is to tell him and his partners about Reese." Maki replied quietly before she turned to Riku and his friends. "Okay...Riku, you guys can come on in. We have a lot of details that you should know that are important."

Riku nodded and looked at Nagi. "Well, Nagi, it seems that Greg stepped out for awhile. You'll just have to wait it out until he returns."

"Oh, well, I don't mind the waiting." Nagi replied. "But even if this is Greg's family, the atmosphere's so…well, not lively."

"You know, I feel the same too…I have a bad feeling about this visit we're making, Riku." Tot said.

"I know that it's bad enough knowing one of my good friends has been kidnapped, I just hope I can brace myself for the details. But until Greg gets back, we should listen to what Maki and the rest of Team Warrior have to say." Riku beckoned his friends to come in.

As the three went inside the house, Riku noticed another of Team Warrior was missing.

"Hey, where's Nanvel anyway?" Riku asked.

"Oh, she's in with another guest on our temporary base of operations." Maya answered. "It's in one of these rooms, actually."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Somewhere else in the house, Nanvel Candlestick was seated in front of several flat screen monitors that were focused on the criminal records of certain individuals. Even if they had to go into hiding for the time being because of the situation they were in, WARRIOR could still access the Police Town's records from where they were currently staying, all thanks to Nanvel's advanced technology. This would prove useful to connect any crimes that were either unsolved or were left in the open to become a suspicious mystery to, especially since they could provide hints as to what was going on with Lilica's and Yuina's kidnapping by Psycho Mantis, who was being controlled by Matthew Reese and the Patriots. Most of the time, they could do this undetected without alerting any trouble.

Nanvel wasn't alone, though. In the same room, seated in front of her was the biodroid, Seraph. She was listening to Nanvel explain to her just what she knew about Geese Howard. Seraph was very curious as to how a man like him could be connected to Greg at all.

"Geese Howard, he's the ruler of all organized crime for the city of South Town, located in the United States." Nanvel explained to her as a picture of Geese, dressed in a white overcoat, was displayed. "Student of kung fu master, Tung Fu Rue, it was from him he learned most of the basic arts of fighting. But, Tung Fu favored fellow training student, Jeff Bogard over Geese to teach him the secrets of the Hakkyokuseiken fighting style. Let's just say he's really not the type of living as second best."

"So this Geese wanted revenge for this, am I correct?" Seraph asked.

"That's right…he started out as a kingpin of crime, then slowly but surely, he began to rise to the top by making threats to the Sakazaki clan, by trying to make Takuma Sakazaki kill Jeff Bogard." Nanvel said. "When Takuma refused being a henchman for Geese, his daughter, Yuri was kidnapped. Geese then used Takuma for his own gains by blackmailing him for the safety of his daughter."

"That man is surely evil to have done such a thing…" Seraph said.

"Takuma almost killed his own son, Ryo, one of the clan's successors as a result." Nanvel said. "This was because of Mr. Big, one of the nefarious kingpins of Southtown, but he was defeated by Geese and is now working under him. We've had him under Police Town watch for some time now. Mr. Big forced Takuma and Ryo to fight one another. Thankfully, Yuri stopped the fight before anyone of them was killed."

A picture of a tall and dark, bald man, wearing dark shades and a fur coat over his business suit, was seen alongside the picture of Geese.

"Takuma then trained Yuri after leaving Geese's ranks, and the clan managed to defeat him." Nanvel said. "However, as luck would be on his side, he survived the famous deathblow move Ryo had mastered and went into hiding. One of his infamous acts in his entire career is finally exacting revenge on Jeff by killing him in front of his two sons' eyes."

"That man sounds horrible indeed." Seraph shook her head as she spoke.

"That's the half of it…many thought he was killed by Terry Bogard, champion of the first King of Fighters tournament which Geese had constructed to satisfy his boredom." Nanvel said. "But he actually got hold of the Sacred Scrolls of Immortality, or the scrolls of Jin and has been gaining greater strength than before."

"So, he's been alive ever since?" Seraph asked.

"Yup, the old bastard's still ticking and still trying to compete as the king of organized crime of both the old and Second Southtown." Nanvel said. "He's got several rivals to compete with. One of them is Don Duke, the leader of Mephistopheles. He took charge of the few recent KOF tournaments some years back. Most of the history of this man is unknown."

A picture of Duke, a tall, burly man with white and black streaks of hair can be shown. He had a wide scar across his neck area.

"Then we've got international arms dealer, Rugal Bernstein. Most of the stuff about him is crazy, but true." Nanvel said, showing a picture of a tall, German male with long, pale hair, wearing a netted vest and long, red jeans. One of his eyes was glowing red.

"Most of the things he did would make Duke and Geese together look puny, especially if you'd consider his habit of dipping his fallen foes into liquid metal to make a trophy." Nanvel said. "He has arts similar to both Geese and his stepbrother, Wolfgang Krauser, another one of Geese's longtime enemies. Throw in the fact he's one of the possessors of the forbidden Orochi power and you've got one hell of a powerhouse. This guy is so fearful, not even the international constitutions can stand up to his power…he is that powerful, both financially and physically."

"And here I thought the only evils that existed were the ones like Reese." Seraph said.

"That's to show you that the Patriots aren't the only enemies we should be keeping an eye out for." Nanvel said. "These guys are in on each other's terror ties and I won't be surprised if there are more people we don't know about who also want a piece of the action. This is why we have to be cautious from now on if we have to get Yuina back, Seraph."

"Okay, I now know about what kind of man Geese truly is, but what does all this have to do with Greg?" Seraph said.

"You did see the expression on Greg's face when he left the station after he talked to us last, right?" Nanvel said, as Seraph nodded her head.

"I can tell Greg does not enjoy spending time with that man." Seraph said.

"That is so true. I guess I can tell you that Geese have seen some potential in Greg after he heard about him a long time ago in a tournament that Geese himself was overseeing." Nanvel said. "But Greg's not really the type to get himself affiliated with the bad elements…he must have had his reasons to be part of Geese's crew to ease the pain within him."

While Seraph hardly understood why Greg would ally himself with someone like Geese, she knew that she would have to find out herself why he had to do it, even if it was against his will.

"Maybe if I got the answer directly from him, he would surely tell me." Seraph said to herself, as then, Maya, Yuji, and Maki came into the room with their guests.

"Yo, Nanvel, you got a special visitor." Maya said as Riku, Nagi and Tot entered the room. Nanvel jumped out of her seat in a fit of happiness.

"Riku! Long time no see!" Nanvel said as she hugged Riku out of excitement. Tot couldn't believe that this woman's chest size wasn't even weighing her down and was beginning to be a little envious.

(I wonder if those are real. I must learn her secret...) She thought to herself.

"Yeah, it's been awhile, Nanvel." Riku replied nervously. "Good to see you too."

"Who are your friends?" She asked as she looked at Nagi and Tot.

"Oh, they're my two FOXHOUND comrades. They are Nagi Naoe aka'Mystic Crow' and Tot aka 'Usagi Ninja'." Riku introduced the two of them to Nanvel. "Say hello to Nanvel Candlestick, guys."

"Ahh…hi, ma'am." Nagi nervously said as he couldn't help but eye Nanvel's cute and somewhat sexy and near revealing attire. He swallowed heard as he felt Tot's presence looking over him.

"Nagi…" Tot said as she held her harisen.

"Oh, there's no need to be shy, you two. You're quite welcome here." Nanvel said.

"Nanvel, they came to on account of Roy's orders to stay with us." Maki said suddenly, causing the seriousness of the situation to return immediately.

"I can guess why." Nanvel said as she saw Riku and his partners were now looking at Seraph. Then she returned her gaze to Maki. "You think we should tell them everything from now?"

"It's for the best, Nanvel." Maki said. "Riku, the woman you see before you is Seraph. She will be staying with us until this matter is resolved."

"Hello to you all." Seraph bowed as she spoke to Riku and his partners as Riku, Nagi and Tot returned the greeting.

"She's actually more related to this than you think." Maya said. "Someone very important to her is also in the same situation Lilica is."

(This is a strange coincidence…still; I wonder how this can relate to FOXHOUND?) Riku thought to himself. (Guess I'd better listen to the story of what's happening.)

"Okay, now that everyone's here, I'd better start telling you three about what's going on." Nastasha said. "I do hope you can brace yourselves for the truth I have to share with you."

"We're ready for anything, Nastasha." Riku nodded seriously at her. "My partners and I want every detail we should know about."

Nastasha gave a silent nod as she sat back and started to talk to them. The Russian had some shocking tales to share with those three FOXHOUNDers.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Guardian Dogs Temple, outside Neo Tokyo forest, 6:57pm...

"Man, how much longer do we have to wait?" Rio asked as she leaned against one of the pillars outside the temple, while Greg leaned to another pillar to the side, taking in the sunset as he listened to his Codec as it played on its MP3 mode. He was listening to one of his favorite game soundtracks from _Castlevania: Symphony of the Night_. The track currently that was playing was titled, '**_Final Toccata'_**. He seemed to be at peace whenever he listened to it.

"If we stay out here any longer, it's just going to keep us back even more. Why did Geese have to choose now for a meeting here for Christ's sake?" Rio complained.

"It will be over soon, Rio, so you shouldn't make too much noise about it." Greg replied with his arms folded. "In any case, remind me again, why do we have to be here of all places?"

"First off, I wanted to see if there was something Geese knew that can help us." Rio replied, which got a puzzled look from her student.

"Hey, since when did you start to trust Geese with information?" Greg asked to her. "Do you think that is even alright?"

"Well, we're stuck with no other options, Greg. We might as well start depending on him for sources in times like these" Rio lamented. "Besides, he's supposed to be one of your bosses and I'm sure he's curious to see how your training's been going recently."

Greg remained silent as Rio commented on that, until he shook his head. "Maybe so, but still…I feel like I owe that man a lot more than just my services to him, both as a student and one of the combatants for the KOF."

"In ways, I feel the same too. But we can't let it bother us, since we did do favors for him before and I'm sure he will help us out now at a time like this." Rio said.

"For a price, I bet." Greg simply replied as he looked at her direction now. "But enough about Geese for the moment, if he can do what he can in his power to aid us, we might as well hope for the best results. In any case, let's change the subject and focus on something lighter…like when you borrowed my Codec earlier to pass some of the time by listening to some music. You never told me that you were a Shuro Tsukasa fan, Rio."

Rio's eyes widened as she heard this. "Hey, how did you know about that?"

Greg shrugged his shoulders with a grin as he spoke. "Hey, anyone who listens to J-pop music these days must know her. Even after GESANG, she's still just as big as Athena Asamiya nowadays. But for as long as I've known you, you've only recently started to listen to Shuro, even up to her latest releases, haven't you?"

"For someone who's into rap, game soundtracks, and other weird types of music, you sure know a lot of the music scene." Rio said, impressed at her surrogate son's level of perception.

"I may not know the full details myself, I only heard a bit about her since the time her singing partner, and cousin Kei died." Greg said. "When this country and the music industry went into mourning for his death, not to mention the revelation that Shuro was a woman masquerading as a man all this time…I guess that must have spiked her popularity a lot."

"You said it. Now she's idolized more than ever by the majority of Japan's female majority, as well as males since she started to sing again." Rio nodded her head.

"But you still haven't answered my question, Rio." Greg asked seriously now. "I'm just really curious, on just how you were able to get a hold of her new releases before the official publication date, hmm?"

"Uh, do you really want to know that badly, Greg?" Rio nervously replied. Because she promised Riku during his mission regarding the infamous C-Project some years back that she wouldn't tell her student everything about being involved in the mission, so she was trying her best to duck the question Greg asked her. Soon enough, he simply raised a hand in front of her.

"Hey, if you don't want to answer it right away, I can understand that, Rio. But eventually, you really should tell me, got it?" Greg asked, causing Rio to sigh heavily in relief. "You can't be hogging all the good music to yourself now, can you?"

"Sure thing, Greg, you can bet I will let you know eventually." Rio nodded with smile, thinking that she will have to tell Greg what she knew about her and WARRIOR's involvement in Riku's mission some years ago. It was a secret that may eventually be uncovered in due time. For now, it was time to focus on the seriousness of the current situation.

Rio's face turned serious as she saw someone stepped outside the temple's doors. She instantly recognized the man that approached them.

"Well, well…it's quite the sight to see the two of you getting along at a time like this." An American male's voice spoke from the side of their direction. He had short, pulled back dirty blond hair, a broad face, and was dressed in a dark blue business suit, but his body size defined his true nature as he was a tall and foreboding man. The look on his face told everything about the type of man he was.

"Good evening…Howard-sensei. It seems like you've been busy." Greg said with a serious tone. "Been busy getting business done for KOF as usual?"

"Well, a businessman such as I does have to keep the activities for the competition running these days. Who knows what kinds of incidents that weren't planned among the organizers could happen and then afterwards who do you think the fault falls on?" Geese spoke in a near aggravated tone.

"Seems like the deal didn't go down too well…" Rio said.

"Not really, I just had a tough day. Being a crime lord isn't an easy task, you know." Geese said as he fixed his tie. "In any case, you'd better come on inside where we shall talk about your situation, Greg, and what we should do about it."

"I have no other choice in this, do I?" Greg lamented to himself.

"Under the circumstances, it seems that way." Geese replied.

With a depressed sigh, Greg placed his hands in his pockets and started to walk alongside Rio into the temple. Passing the main hall area, the trio then entered a back room of sorts where they were greeted by a strange atmosphere for a temple. It had a long conference table, seats and ashtrays were placed conveniently for those in attendance. The room was lit in traditional Japanese lamps, but the lighting was sufficient for the room.

This was a substitute meeting and training place for Geese Howard and those who worked under him, namely Greg or any of the subordinates who have been in service with Geese's organization. It also served as one of the elusive training grounds Greg uses for training his psychic and survival training.

"Any of you want a drink?" Geese asked, offering some Johnny Black whiskey.

"Let's cut to the chase, Geese. We didn't come here to get drunk." Greg said seriously.

"Ah, that's why I missed having you around, Greg. You're always eager to get to the point." Geese said as he took the glass full of ice and whiskey and sipped it.

"Sensei, this is no time to joke around!" Greg shouted suddenly, clenching his fists. "Tell us what we should do about Reese and Mantis? How are we going to get Lilica back?"

"Really, Greg…there's no reason to be fired." Geese replied to him. "After hearing what the rumors in the crime world said about Reese, not to mention your mentioning about the past history you've had with him, I'd say we're up against some major enemies."

"Major is an understatement." Rio said behind Greg's back. "We're dealing with the Patriots here...all we want is to get Lilica back."

"But you also want to avoid getting the Patriots too upset?" Geese said as he shook his head. "Unavoidable…those guys have resources even my empire can't touch. Do you seriously think you can get away clean without causing a commotion?"

"Geese…all that we're asking for some kind of help that you have which can at least even the odds when I face Mantis." Greg said to him. "Just tell us what we should do."

The almost immortal crime lord of South Town simply said nothing as he stood up and faced Greg seriously before asking him a question Greg didn't expect to come from Geese's mouth.

"Tell me, Greg…how much do you know about that curse you have?" Geese asked, causing the psychic to stare at him in shock.

"Why the hell are you bringing that up?" Greg muttered. "You do know why I called it a curse in the first place, don't you!"

"I have my reasons, Greg. Maybe this is the only way you can see yourself facing Mantis at a time like this." Geese replied.

"But this is suicide!" Greg replied. "Are you saying its best to put my own life in danger because of I have to get stronger to face Mantis, is that it?"

Rio stayed silent as Greg brought that up. She knew all to well what Greg was referring to…the fact that his powers can take over his state of mind anytime and bring out a side of him that revealed a somewhat, dark brooding side of himself.

'Why did it happened and is Greg still able to control it after all this time?' These are among the questions that plagued Rio's mind on occasion when she looked at Greg. She could rest more peacefully if she knew her student wasn't in any danger from his own powers. But that wasn't the case as she knew his reasons for not having to bring the subject of that fateful day up in a very long time. Her heart ached every time she thought of that time.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Since she could remember, after signing Greg up to be her surrogate son soon after rescuing him, Rio had hardly any trouble tutoring him in the ways only she knew of. First it was a challenge just to get him to trust her fully, but with Seishiro's dedication and help, Greg grew to trust her and her comrades. Her friends at Team WARRIOR were rather surprised to know that their point leader was going to start being an adoptive mother the next day.

"What? You're kidding, right, Rio?" Nanvel asked suddenly as she was fixing an invention that recently broke. "You've made up your mind to take care of this kid?"

"That's right…I tell you, guys. I see a shining star in that boy's eyes." Rio replied confidentially. "If I train him right, he may end up being a useful part of Team WARRIOR when he grows up."

"Whoa, Rio…don't you think that you're jumping the gun here?" Maya asked, as she cleaned her sniper rifle. "I mean, sure…he's a foreign orphan that can't speak our language and from what I can tell, didn't have much of a good past. You can obviously see that from the right arm that he's missing."

"Yeah, Maya's right, Rio." Lilica spoke as she typed away on a report for Team WARRIOR on a recent mission. "Don't you think that's he's a little…suspicious?"

"Not every day you get a black, half starved kid with little recollection of his past to rescue and then keep as your son." Yuji said as he recorded Rio's long, slender and panty hose covered legs. The police woman kicked him upside his head as she sighed.

"Well, it does sound like it's a one in a million chance that it happened…but I still can't afford to turn him away." Rio said. "He's a total stranger in a strange land…of course he would be confused about everything around him. I couldn't have just abandoned him, you know."

Nanvel simply looked at her friend as she stood closer to pat her. "Well, whatever the reason you have for taking him in, it must be good. I think you made a wise choice in helping that kid, Rio. And I think I will do what I can to help you raise him to be a promising man. You got my word on it."

"You really mean that, Nanvel?" Rio asked happily.

"Sure, you know I've got your back in this one." Nanvel replied with a wink at her.

"Well, if Nanvel is going to help, I should pitch in too." Maya said as she cocked her rifle. "No way are you two going to go soft on that guy when raising him, I should give him some of my trade secrets as well."

"Maya…" Rio muttered as she nodded at her. "You two are the best. Thanks, you guys."

"Hey, now…can I get a shot at this as well?" Lilica asked. "Maybe this Greg you told us about doesn't sound to be bad at all. I'm eager to lend a hand in raising him too, you know. Also, I'm hoping he's cute for a foreigner at his age."

"Ah, you don't need to worry…he's really adorable when you get him to sleep." Rio said. "Not to mention around bath time as well."

"What? How could you, Rio?" Yuji whimpered. "Having another young man bath with you…? Can't you be any more indecent?"

"Hey, what business of yours does my bathing have to do with you?" Rio said, almost throwing a baton strike at Yuji, who dodged it and stroke a pose with a determined look on his face.

"In any case, after hearing all of you getting together to lend Rio a hand in raising her surrogate son, I, Yuji Naruo, will do my utmost best as well to contribute in molding that boy into a true ladies man." The only male WARRIOR member said, but quickly ducked under the cover of his arm as Rio clubbed him one.

"Greg will not benefit learning anything useful from your perverted ways, Yuji." Rio lamented angrily. "Anyway, Greg is with Seishiro until I get off from duty. You all are welcomed to meet him."

"We're all looking forward to it." Maya grinned at her friend as they all hugged together with Rio. Soon after, Rio and her friends have gathered back at her apartment to meet Greg. Since Rio was busy with her police and WARRIOR work, she and Maki let Seishiro take charge of watching over Greg in the times she wasn't home. Today, he was helping Greg with homework, learning to speak in Japanese as he has always been doing sine Rio took him in.

"Greg, I'm home!" Rio called out as she entered the room with the rest of WARRIOR behind her, all dressed in casual and form fitting clothing.

"Rio!" Greg muttered as he suddenly ran off to meet her, her name was one of the easiest for him to understand in Japanese, though he still have plenty to learn about speaking Japanese. He went to the living room, but was in for a surprise as he suddenly saw Nanvel, Maya, Lilica, and Yuji standing beside her.

"Greg, has Rio come in yet?" Seishiro said as he entered now and noticed almost all of WARRIOR in the room. "Oh, Rio, good evening, I see you've brought your friends with you. Have they come to see Greg?"

"That's right, Seishiro. And they also want to help in the upbringing of Greg as well." Rio spoke. "Come on, you guys. He's practically harmless, go on and introduce yourselves to him."

"Well, he does look cute as Rio says…" Nanvel said as she placed her hand under her chin with a smile. "I can imagine him in his adult years how's he going to be like."

"Oh, yeah, I can see a shining star from this guy already, Rio." Maya said, placing her hands on her chin. "Hello there."

Greg only responded by simply hiding himself behind Seishiro from the ladies' view, almost embarrassed being seen by a group of lovely women like Team WARRIOR.

"Aw, quite the shy one, isn't he?" Lilica giggled as she saw this.

"Come on now, Greg. You don't have to be afraid." Seishiro spoke, placing a hand on Greg's head. "These people here will soon be part of your family as well, just as Maki and I are."

"R-really?" Greg muttered, finding it almost hard to believe that Rio is associated with characters like these females.

"Greg, these are my working buddies. Come on, they want to meet you so badly." Rio showed Greg in order the guests she brought with her. "This is Lilica, Nanvel, Maya and Yuji. They all wanted to meet you after I told them about you."

"Um, it's very nice to meet you all…" Greg said with a flushed face as Nanvel suddenly reached for him and started to nudge him in an embrace.

"Now, now…you don't need to be shy, Greg." Nanvel said, ensuring him that he had nothing to be afraid of. "We're all here for you, so you can grow up to be strong."

"Looks like Rio did right this time." Maya said, patting Greg's head. "We'll make sure to take good care of you."

"Rio, you got to let us have a turn every time he's with us." Lilica mused, smiling at Greg now. The young boy only felt flustered and timid as he now found himself being admired by Rio's female friends soon after meeting him. Seishiro placed his hand on Greg's shoulder.

"Greg has been studying all evening and right now, he needs a warm bath and something to eat." Seishiro said. "Rio, if it's no trouble, can you get the water ready for him?"

Rio nodded at Seishiro with a smile and left the room to prepare dinner for Greg, however, the remainder of Warrior followed her afterwards.

"Let us help too, Rio." Nanvel said cheerfully as the remainder of the female group followed after. Greg still had a hard time understanding the personalities of these girls.

"I think you will be in good hands with them as well, Greg." Seishiro said. "You can trust them as much as you have faith in me and Rio."

Greg, still unsure how to react to the situation, only gave a silent nod, approving that Seishiro was right of one thing about them.

"I'm going to finish up my homework before dinner." Greg said as he faced his schoolwork once more as Seishiro looked on at him with a light smile.

(He sure is diligent.) Seishiro thought to himself as he saw Greg get focused back on his studies. Under his guidance and tutelage since Rio took him in, Greg was raised to be dedicated to an extent to his studies, since he was curious about the new world around him.

In a way, this was probably a good way for Greg to try and forget the past he had before coming to Japan. Seishiro and certain other people who have raised Greg never asked about it, but they sometimes wonder what kind of life the youngster must have had during his younger years. By the looks on his face, Seishiro thought Greg obviously didn't want to recall it.

As the time passed, Greg also grew confidence and trust in Rio's comrades, who in turn, were kind enough to pass certain experiences of their battles towards him. Already Rio's and Seishiro's martial arts student, Greg also learned a few basic pointers from the various WARRIOR members. Also, his time with Maki gave him a calm sense of thinking straight in situations that required some tactic, though he claimed to himself often he could never be smart as her or Seishiro.

He learned the various ways about guns from Maya Jingu thanks to her basic instructions which gave Greg an early feel about weapons as he grew into his teenage years.

His mind expanded when he learned of technology and computers from Nanvel Candlestick and Lilica Ebett.

His time with Yuji Naruo showed Greg an interest in vehicles and piloting certain aircrafts.

With his stay with Seishiro and Team WARRIOR, life was good for Greg and those around him. That is until the day of August 12th, 2005. It happened at Maki's home on a training ground. Greg was around 15 at the time.

"Okay, that will be all for now, Greg." A sweating Rio took out a towel to wipe off the sweat of her body, while a young Greg, wearing a white vest and a pair of colored blue shorts, was shadowboxing at a wooden dummy with his left hand. His right arm was covered with a metallic substance that acted as a stump over the amputated right hand he lost years ago. He looked at Rio with a sad look on his face.

"Alright, sensei Rio. There's no sense overworking myself, anyway." Greg said, complying at his surrogate mother's call.

Rio smiled at Greg, and threw the towel at him, which landed on his face. "Very encouraging of you to be going through all this trouble to just impress me, but even in training, we have breaks. Lilica would be disappointed if you're not around the kitchen to help prepare for supper."

"Sure, I haven't forgotten about that, sensei." Greg replied as he wiped the sweat of his head. "Let me get freshened up first."

Just then, Maya, Maki, Yuji, Nanvel and Lilica stepped outside from the house as Greg was about to enter. Seishiro was just with them as well.

"Greg! You're looking tough as usual. You must really enjoy training, don't you?" Nanvel cheerily said, as she was wearing a loose blouse and a blue miniskirt. Greg simply blushed as he still had trouble getting used to being friends with girls and couldn't find the right words to say to her, but gave a silent nod.

"Geez, Greg…it's not like Nanvel's going to bite you." Rio lamented from behind. "You got some kind of girl phobia going on with you?"

"No, it's not like that!" Greg suddenly replied nervously, causing his face to redden a bit. "Why did you have to say that now?"

"But since we've known each other, you act differently to us. You do know we won't hurt you, or have you yet to learn how to talk to girls?" Rio asked.

"You're teasing me again because of that, aren't you, sensei?" Greg asked, flustered.

"Well, you are already at THAT age, Greg." Rio suggested with a grin. "Maybe you will eventually grow out of it."

"Geez, sensei…you're relentless, aren't you?" Greg said, as the girls started to laugh a bit like this.

"In any case, Greg, since Lilica is here, you'd better get freshened up so you can come back to help her prepare." Maki said.

"Yes, ma'am." Greg said as he left the training ground to the bathing area where the bath was ready for him. Wearing only a towel around his lower half, Greg then began to soak in the water as he leaned back to think about his training and the people who took him in.

(They actually think of me as part of a family…this is something I missed for so long.) Greg thought to himself as he closed his eyes. (Yes, this is better than being ignored by 'him' before it happened…)

Greg was tired from all the training he had done and somehow felt himself lofted into a sleep. However, when he opened his eyes, he found himself in a very lonely and desolate area. It was a wide and barren grey field, empty of life.

"What is…this place?" Greg asked himself as he looked around his surroundings.

"You're home, of course. Where you rightly deserved to be." A voice spoke from behind him, but as Greg looked around, he saw no-one.

"Who are you?" Greg shouted around him, confused.

"I'm the side of you that you've been trying for years to forget." The voice said to him as suddenly a figure dressed in a dark cloak appeared behind Greg. "I'm the one thing that links you to your past, Greg. It really is a shock to see how you've treated me for all these years."

"What do you want with me?" Greg asked.

"Nothing big, just to let you know that this so-called peace you think you found with these people will not last forever." The figure said to him. "Did you really think you can hide under them for so long without anything going wrong?"

"I don't understand…why are you telling me this?" Greg asked.

"Because, sooner or later, you will see yourself for whom you truly are, Greg. And the consequences for that will be grave indeed." The figure said approaching the boy closer, as he stepped back in fear that he didn't see his step and fell back. "And I will be right there to make sure that happens to you and to witness everything."

"No! Wait!" Greg pleaded for the figure not to get any closer to him, but suddenly, he felt the joint for his missing right arm being grabbed by the cloaked figure. The figure's right hand was scarred and charred and his touch was cold to the bone. Greg felt his body paralyzed and unable to fight back to this mysterious figure's strength.

"Why are you doing this?" Greg shouted as the figure stepped closer to make sure Greg can see into his eyes. His eyes were darkened as if there was no life in them.

"You deserve this, Greg, that's why." The figure said. "You think you may not have done anything wrong in the past, but the truth of the matter is the only thing wrong here is you existing as you are. Besides, did you really think Rio and her friends actually care about you?"

"That's a lie! They do care about me!" Greg shouted back at the cloaked figure, as he felt his body began to hurt by the figure's touch.

"You're just deluding yourself as usual. But, don't you worry, when I get you to know me better, you won't need to be feeling sorry for yourself as you're so accustomed to." The figure said as the pain in Greg's body increased.

"Leave me alone! Noooo!" He didn't know what was happening to him, his mind and body felt as it was being swallowed by the pain within him. The pain was too much for him that he began to feel weak once more, only to lose consciousness once more.

When he woke up, he was back in the bathroom, looking up into the ceiling. Half of his body was soaked in water and he suddenly felt more tired than before. Silently, he rose out of the bath-tub and dried himself, still dazed over what he just saw. Placing his left hand over his eye, he surely felt different than before.

"Greg! Are you okay?" Rio's voice called out to him from the other side of the door.

"Yes…I'm fine, sensei." Greg simply replied to her call.

"Just wanted to let you know everyone's waiting at the back, so hurry up and join us, unless you want me to come in there for you." Rio said cheerfully.

"There's…no need for it. I'll be out soon." Greg said as he suddenly felt an emotion overwhelming his senses. It was indescribable, but Greg felt it was part of him being stronger. He started to walk outside the room and towards his room, when he felt his insides clamp together with pain, he started to clutch his chest as he felt the emotion getting stronger and stronger.

(What's happening to me?) Greg wondered as he felt dizzy and without knowing where to go, he ended up walking back outside to the training grounds, where Team WARRIOR and Seishiro were waiting to prepare a gathering dinner. Seishiro and Rio noticed the change in Greg's appearance as he still had a towel on.

"Greg? What's the matter?" Seishiro said, sensing something wasn't right with Greg.

"Greggie?" Rio called to him, walking closer to him. "Look at you; you're practically naked out here. Come on, I'll take you inside to clean you up…"

"Traitors…you're just using me, aren't you?" Greg's words shocked Rio and the others as his head hung low.

"What?" Rio asked. "Greg, what did you just say?"

It was then Rio and everyone else found out for themselves that Greg was serious when they saw the half possessed look in his eyes. He used his left had to grab Rio suddenly by the wrist and started to grip on it.

"I won't be needing any of you to pamper me any further." A serious toned Greg said.

"Greg, stop this! You're really hurting me!" Rio protested, grabbing his left arm. But the she can't get away from the sudden grip Greg placed on her and now she was having trouble to get out of it.

"I bet this is something you've never felt, huh, sensei?" Greg's taunting tone said. "Then how about this for size?" Out of nowhere, a force suddenly slammed her backwards towards a tree. The force was powerful enough that she spat out blood, knocking her out instantly.

"Rio!" Maya shouted, facing Greg now, who was looking at his own left hand as if he was amazed by it.

"This truly is…power. Something I've never had during the time of my pitiful father's time." Greg's contoured face was on the sights of the remainder of WARRIOR and Seishiro now. "Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about the rest of you."

"Seishiro…" Maki stood up in fear as Seishiro thought of the worse.

"This isn't good. He seems to be remembering things of his past." Seishiro said, looking at Greg, who slowly started to walk towards them. Everytime he did, small patters of winds can be seen rising from his body. It was then Seishiro noticed it.

(My God, can he be a psychic?) Seishiro thought to himself. (Is this his powers now coming into fruition?)

"Do something, Maki!" Nanvel cried out to her leader.

"But what can we do? He's still our Greg." Maki said, not wanting to take any action which could lead to hurting him.

"I doubt talking to him would stop him…it's as if he's possessed by something." Lilica assumed.

Greg suddenly stopped in front of them as a silence between them was the only thing separating them from each other. Greg's face was etched with pain and confusion, but managed to show hardly any other emotion to prove that he can bear what was happening to him.

"Maki, he's in pain!" Yuji shouted. "I don't think he wants to hurt us…"

"He's just confused about what's happening. But I don't know how long it will last." Maya said.

(Someone has to get through to him before someone else is hurt…) Seishiro thought to himself as he really cared for Greg as a father should for his son. It was then he saw Greg held his head together in agony.

"Guuuuaaaahhhh!" Greg shouted as a gust of wind passed the backyard of Maki's home, and then suddenly, a small circle of fire surrounded his body, which grew wilder by the second. When Greg cried out, his voice shrilled with pain while his eyes were pupil-less from the effect.

"What is it now?" Nanvel cried out.

"My worst fear was right. It seems Greg is indeed a psychic." Seishiro spoke. "I've only heard vague reports about them from all over the world while I was in the French Foreign Legion thirteen years ago. But I'd never suspect after all this time that he was one."

"We should have seen this coming, but there's no real way we could have known, right Seishiro?" Maki asked.

"I'm afraid that is so…" Seishiro replied sadly to her as he looked at Greg, still surrounded by the small bonfire he created.

After a short while, the fire around Greg died out soon after as the he was now standing on his feet and was panting heavily. He had his sights on Maki as he held up his quivering left hand.

"Help me…Maki. The pain…it's too much…please… help me." Greg stretched his hand towards her, as if he was asking for her help, which made Maki stood up and ran towards him.

"Greg!" Maki said as she approached him; however Seishiro saw this may lead to danger and tried to stop her.

"Maki, don't!" Seishiro cried out as he now saw Greg suddenly lunge himself at them like a feral animal. Seishiro turned his body to Greg's position, so Maki would be out of harm's way, but Greg had already knocked Seishiro flat on his back with a clenched fist over his face.

"Greg! Get a hold of yourself!" Seishiro cried out to him. "It's me, for Christ's sake!"

"Seishiro!" Maki cried out to him as she was close by, just inches from the two. But Seishiro called back to her.

"Stay where you are, Maki!" Seishiro said as he struggled against Greg, who was somehow overpowering Seishiro with his newly birthed psychic power. "Greg, I don't know what's gotten into you, but please, we are all family. Why would you think otherwise? Why have you become like this?"

Greg's clenched teeth as he struggled against Seishiro turned into a grin of sorts as he simply pulled back his arm and flung Seishiro back with his power. However, Seishiro maintained his ground and stood firm on his feet.

"Greg, don't make me do this." Seishiro said as he put up his fists. "Please, come to your senses before I do something we both regret…don't you trust me to help you?"

"Rrrraaagggghhh!" Greg's cry somehow echoed in the training ground and he started to charge relentlessly at Seishiro once more, who was been standing in front of a shocked Maki to protect her from Greg himself.

"Seishiro! Greg! No!" Maki cried out as Greg leapt at Seishiro and landed his clenched left hand into Seishiro's left eye, injuring it severely. A spray of blood can be seen from where Seishiro's eye was, covering his face in blood now.

However, Seishiro couldn't afford to scream out in pain, he still has to get Greg back to normal somehow. Taking Greg's bloodied left hand, he then used the momentum of Greg's light body and slammed him down on his back. Even with that knockdown, Greg still had the fight in him.

"Greg! Stop this now!" Seishiro shouted to him, bloodied face and all.

PFFT! PFFT!

They heard two shots fired, as they turned to see Rio, now stumbling from where she got knocked out, put down her tranq gun. It was apparent that Greg was shot with sleeping darts that made him got weak, thus enabling Seishiro to get a firm grip on him. As he was losing consciousness, he started to look around the other members who were staring at him confused, then at Seishiro, who was injured in his left eye.

"Sensei, Seishiro, I'm sorry..." were the only words Greg managed to emit before he passed out into blackness, falling into Rio's arms. Soon after, Seishiro fell back from the loss of blood sustained by Greg.

"Quick! We have to get them to the hospital as soon as possible!" Rio shouted, holding Greg up, while Maki and Yuji held Seishiro up for them to be taken to the nearest hospital.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Ugghh…" Greg groggily woke up and now found himself in a hospital bed, as Rio was seated next to him with a sad and concerned look on her face. His body felt quite weak as he was unable to move his legs for some strange reason. "Where am I? What's going on?"

Rio now saw Greg was conscious and suddenly got close enough to touch his left hand. "Greggie! Thank God, you're okay!"

"Sensei…why am I here?" Greg asked, as he suddenly remembered what happened in sudden flashes. He looked at his left hand and he suddenly remembered what he had done to Rio and then to Seishiro. "No…sensei, don't tell me it actually happened…is that why I'm here?"

"So, you do remember it, huh?" Rio asked sadly and almost angrily.

"I don't know…what came over me." Greg felt his body ran cold and started to cry. "Someone…or something entered my mind…I felt myself consumed with pain and I tried my best to fight it, but it only grew."

"Greg…I'm certain this wasn't your fault. There must be a good reason for this. This power you have must have a real purpose for choosing you to wield it." Rio said, trying her best to console her surrogate son…and probably herself.

"But, sensei, I almost tried to kill you and everyone else with it!" Greg cried out. "I actually saw myself attacking those who cared about me since I was abandoned all those years ago and I couldn't do anything about it. And worst yet, I hurt Seishiro, of all the people who tried to help me the most. I'm just too weak, too unreliable…"

Rio stood up and slapped Greg's left cheek, stunning the young boy as tears welled up in her eyes as well.

"So what if that's the case, huh? You're going to feel guilty because of that for the rest of your existence?" Rio asked, as she shut her eyes and started to stroke Greg's head. "Greg, what happened to you was merely an accident, you didn't know this was going to happen, none of us did. You're not totally responsible for what happened and you shouldn't think we would hate you for that. And you can't go on hating yourself either because that is the case too."

Greg sniffed a bit as Rio lightly touched his cheek. "Besides, Seishiro's a tough case to crack; I've got to give him that. He managed to keep you in place while I knocked you unconscious even with that injury you gave him. He's doing a lot better than we all thought, but…"

"I told you, I saw everything, Rio, even if I wasn't in control that time. It was if my body was moving on its own and all I could do was just watch helplessly while I tried to hurt all of you and at the end, I hurt Seishiro badly." Greg said, looking at his surrogate mother. "I know by now that was no normal blow, it was filled with murderous intent!"

"I guess it was the doing of your powers." Rio lamented as Greg hung his head. "This is not your fault."

"Where is Seishiro?" Greg tugged at her shirt. "I need to see him! I want to say how sorry I am for what I've done! And the same for everyone else as well! Where are they?"

"They are outside waiting for you to wake up." Rio said. "Let me get the doctor and he'll take us to Seishiro's room with everyone else."

As Rio left the room, Greg lay back and silently started to cry to himself, feeling great regret for what happened. He felt the heavy guilt starting to weigh on his conscience as he reflected back to the horrid memory he himself had created. Shutting his eyes, he tried his best not to fall back into slumber, as thankfully for him, Rio and a tall male doctor with long black hair entered the room.

"Greg, it's good to see you're awake at last. I'm Shin Murakami, an experienced doctor in special cases relating to your situation." The doctor said sternly, but his tone was calming and reassuring nothing bad was going to happen to either Greg or Seishiro as he told him his report. "While you were asleep, I was asked to perform an MRI on you on Rio Kinezono's request."

Greg looked in silence at Rio and turned to face the doctor once more as the doctor spoke once more.

"Normally, these cases are rare, but it is confirmed that there's a slight growth in your brain. It's not a tumor, but somehow it's only of an expanded part of your mental senses." Shin said. "While the causes of the growth still need further analyzing, Miss Rio told me about the events before. Now, tell me something, Greg…is it true that you hardly remember anything before meeting her and her friends?"

"I…I really don't recall much." Greg said lowly. (I don't even want to remember that life…)

"Then it must be the cause of why you're prone to the pseudo behavior of a savage animal, which is hardly an uncommon case for psychics who are now learning about their gifts." Shin said. "You must have regressed enough of those past memories in order to cause this to happen."

"Surely, Greg didn't do this intentionally…he must have had good reasons for why he would do this." Rio said, as Shin stopped her from speaking more.

"I know you care for the boy, Rio, but if he is to have better manipulation of his powers in the coming future, you both will have to follow several specific instructions if you want to prevent a situation like this from happening ever again." Shin said sternly.

Rio swallowed hard as she heard the words from the doctor as she nodded to him, heeding the advice.

"I understand fully, doctor. Whatever it will take to see that Greg can live normally amongst us." Rio said.

"Now, Greg, I heard you want to see Seishiro, right?" Shin asked Greg, getting a silent nod. "Well, allow me to take you to him, but I'm afraid the news I have for you isn't too well."

"I don't care…just let me see him, please?" Greg begged.

Shin nodded slowly and let Greg stand on his own two feet with Rio's aid and walked out of his hospital room. The three began to walk a small distance as Shin began to talk to Greg about Seishiro.

"When you two were brought here, Seishiro was brought into emergency surgery immediately for the loss of blood from his injured left eye." Shin said. "We managed to stop the bleeding, but his eye…the damage done to it was so severe by the time we began to operate."

"So…he can't see through his left eye anymore?" Greg asked.

"Most regrettably, we did everything to restore the sight, but the impact of the blow made most of the surgery difficult for us." Shin said, causing Greg to shudder. "Surprisingly enough, most of the time while he was conscious, he only wanted to make sure if you were alright, so far as to say he was still concerned about you even after what happened."

"He was?" Greg asked as he was stunned to hear this.

"He's resting comfortably now, though I don't think he will be able to see as we do from now on." Shin said. "Look, as your surrogate mother said, you're not to blame for this, Greg. This happened because your powers suddenly came to life and you couldn't control them at the time. The most you can do is stay with Seishiro and your family right now, they all need you and each other to get through this."

Stopping in front of Seishiro's hospital room, Greg hesitantly stopped in front of the door as Rio bowed to the doctor.

"We really can't begin to thank you enough, doctor. We are in debt to you." Rio bowed to Shin.

"It's no bother, but please do remember to come see me before you leave. I may be able to help you yet through this." Shin said to Rio. "Now, if you excuse me, I have to tend to some of my other patients."

As the doctor took his leave, Rio placed a hand on Greg's shoulder, helping to keep up with the confidence that everything was going to work out fine.

"You ready, Greg?" Rio asked.

"Yes, I am." Greg said as he nodded his head as the two stepped into the room, holding their breaths. When they did, they saw the remainder of WARRIOR seated around a Seishiro was sitting up at the side of his bed, a large white bandaged wrapped around where his left eye used to be. Greg felt his heart sink as he saw Seishiro like this.

"Greg, thank goodness you're okay." Seishiro managed to smile, even with the wound he had at Greg. "I was beginning to worry that something serious happened to you back there."

Greg was almost shocked to hear and feel the compassion and concern Seishiro had for him, even after this incident. This was too much for Greg to bear as he began to shiver at his feet and wasn't able to stand in front of Seishiro and WARRIOR anymore. Greg fell to his knees and started to wail loudly while Rio reached for him.

"Greg, what's the matter?" Rio asked him.

"How…? How come you can still care for me after what I've done, Seishiro?" Greg looked up with his teary filled eyes. "I tried to hurt everyone who has cared for me for all this time and this is how I repay them?"

"Greg…" Seishiro walked over to Greg and embraced him. "You do know how much I care about you. And everyone else in the room feels the same way too. You're a special boy that we're honored to have brought up and we're not going to turn you away because of this."

"He's right, you know, Greg. Seishiro was determined more than ever to help you out through this. He always has been." Maki said, wiping some tears from her eyes as she was watching this scene. "And we're not going to let this stop us from taking the best of care for you."

"Aunt Maki…" Greg sobbed as he looked at her.

"Come on, Greg. Don't let this get you down. We'll find a way to help you become better at this thing, I can promise you that." Seishiro said. "But please, if anything from your past is bothering you that will make you think otherwise about us, don't be afraid to tell us about it. We're here for you always."

"You know we'll never hurt or betray you, Greg. You've practically brought us together as a family since day one." Nanvel said.

"And we'll continue being like that from now on." Lilica nodded at him.

"So, please have more faith in us from now on, okay?" Maya winked at him.

"You'll be the first and best psychic for WARRIOR ever. That, we can assure you." Yuji said, putting up his thumb.

"Everyone…thank you." Greg managed to smile lightly as Seishiro's grip on him was more firm and tighter than before. The now turned psychic could find temporary solace in that and the support of Team WARRIOR if he was having trouble dealing his new psychic gifts.

It was enough to lull him back to sleep in peace for now, but time and again, the nightmares would continue and the taunting to his confidence and trust by the emotions he tried to deny would come back. This is something that Greg would eventually have to force himself to get used to from then on into the current day, only to have this sensation sated by the antidepressants and pain killers given to him by Shin Murakami. Until he manages to overcome the fears growing within him these will have to do for now….

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Back to the present in the room where Geese, Rio and Greg were conversing, the psychic began to shudder at the bad memory he once took part in. The very thought that he must endure risking his sanity to become stronger along with increasing the risk that he might lose control and hurt those closest to him indiscriminately once more made the psychic shudder.

"I know this must be hard for you, Greg…but for now, this is the only way." Geese told him, as Greg started to shake his head.

"I can't do it, Geese! Not after everything that has happened and surely the lengths I went through to make sure the people around me don't get hurt because of my power!" Greg shouted, tears welling up in his eyes. "Are you really telling us that in order for me to face Mantis, I must take this risk? Isn't there any other way?"

Greg clenched his fists and breathed heavily as if trying to ready himself for the hard decision he had to make. He knew that if Rio hears this, this would certainly bring about some of her worst fears as well.

"Well, you could always have someone else with more experienced to get the rescuing job done for you." Geese said. "I know of some professionals who are well adequate enough to face and deal with psychics like Mantis, as well as perform a rescue operation, Greg. If you leave it to me…"

"No, it can't be done that way. I may need Mantis alive to tell me why he is doing this." Greg said sternly. "Not everything he did must have been his fault as he was manipulated by Reese to begin with."

"You really think Mantis will go easy on you because you want questions answered?" Geese asked. "Don't be a fool, Greg. Mantis will not be so kind as to fill your requests. The only way you can get things done your way is to face him as a true psychic."

Greg clenched his fists once more, swallowing hard. It has finally come down to this.

"I'll…I'll do it." Greg said with his head hanging, regretting this moment. "If this is what it will take to save Lilica, then this is the only chance I have to face Mantis and win."

"I know this is hard for you, Greg. But you have no other options at the moment, especially with the time pressing against you." Geese replied. "Are you certain that you want to go through this?"

Greg nodded silently, but the feelings of guilt still hung over him and he was getting the same kind of reaction from Rio as well. Geese sighed silently as he patted Greg's shoulder when he started to leave the room.

"Then it's decided, I'll help you with your training." Geese said. "However, you have to learn that I won't go easy on you because you're voluntarily losing control of your powers."

"I understand…you don't need to hold back because of that, sensei." Greg replied seriously. "How soon we can do this?"

"I'll give you two days to be ready. Enough time for you to prepare yourself as you get to know your powers better." Geese said as he started to walk out of the room.

"Only two days?" Rio asked. "I know we are all behind time here, but at least think how much this is being put on Greg."

"I'm only making it more convient for the two of you, so you can get started preparing for the worst to come." Geese said. "Greg, I'm counting on you to live through this."

"Yes, of course, sensei. I'll do what I can." Greg said as Geese left the room silently. Rio turned around and faced Greg.

"So, you really think that it's time that you did this?" Rio asked.

"If I keep running away from my decisions about my powers, not to mention my responsibilities. If I'm not able to fully face myself, then I'm hardly strongly enough to then face Mantis, and if I have to face the other side of myself to move on with my life, then the time is now." Greg said. "I can't keep avoiding the truth about myself from now on."

Rio looked at Greg as he simply placed his right nano arm on her shoulder. "Everything should turn out fine. I got you here with me now, right?"

"Yeah, I really have no plans on going back soon. I might as well stay here with you and help you through this." Rio said.

"Just like long ago, eh? You're not going to give up hope on me?"

"Never, you're way too precious to lose, Greg." Rio nodded at him. "Though, it kind of pains me to see this is happening to you."

"We'll get through this." Greg said as he stood up. "In any case, there are at least two favors I need to ask of you before we start this thing."

"What are they?" Rio asked.

"First, please contact Naomi for me and tell her what's happening on this end. I know she's not really the person to be telling about what stunt I'm going to pull, but she will surely give you an idea of what to expect in the next couple of days." Greg said to Rio.

"You think that's such a good idea, Greg?" Rio asked. "Considering she isn't going to like this one bit once she hears what's happening."

"I know. I'm willing to take the responsibility and explain to her about it when we get to that point. But for now, we just have to hope for the good results." Greg said as he stood up. "Rio, I know I can count on you to get me through this."

"Hey, you shouldn't act as if this will kill you right away, Greg." Rio shrugged her shoulders. "But I'm fully prepared for any emergency the moment something wrong turns up, so you just go and do your thing, okay?"

Greg can feel Rio was trying not to cry in front of him, knowing the dangers of trying to access his powers in circumstances like this. Sighing a bit, he suddenly approached her and embraced her.

"It's going to turn out fine, Rio. Be strong for me." Greg said to her. "You might as well contact Nanvel and tell her what's happening as well. I bet she may start preparing something to help us get through this, but we can only wait and see."

Greg released his embrace from Rio and turned his back to enter the room behind them, sliding open the door.

"It's night time already." Greg said solemnly, looking up to the moonlight sky. "I hope my powers will be kind to me through this period when I face that side of me…"

"You'll do just fine, Greg." Rio smiled at him. "I'll be here if you need anything, okay?"

Greg returned a silent nod to his surrogate mother and started to slowly walk outside. Rio walked a bit behind him to watch him walk off into the forest area where he will start his training. Eventually, she planned to go and check up on him to make sure things will be okay, but she wondered now if he will be able to maintain his humanity after facing his dark side.

"Greg, please. Be careful." Rio said to herself quietly as she clenched her fists. She knew that she didn't have all evening to just worry about Greg, so she decided to return to him within an hour's time to check on his progress and tend to him. She had other important concerns right now.

(Guess I'd better make that call to Nanvel now and tell her everything.) Rio thought to herself as she stretched out her arms, feeling tired. Thankfully for her, the temple served as a temporary homestead for those staying to train. The blonde Japanese police woman would have to make good use of all the proper faculties in the temple if she was to stay longer than planned. She took out a can of beer from a small refrigerator which was located in the kitchen area and took a long sip.

(It's going to be a long night.) The long haired blonde stared up into the night sky, contemplating how much more twisted things would get from here on in.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Meanwhile on the other side of Japan, James Masterson, aka Silent Scorpion, had just stepped out of the shower in the Kasturagi apartment. He had a somewhat dull day playing guard duty with NERV's security. It was very boring, considering that he had to work with Section 2 agents from now on as well with his fellow FOXHOUND comrades who have recently come to Japan. While loyal to the commands from his team leaders, he kept his interaction with most of the NERV crew to a minimum. Some of the security had been warned of Scorpion's behavior as of late and tried their best not to provoke him in his duties.

Asuka Langley Sohryu had left to stay a couple of nights with her best friend and fellow classmate, Hikari Horaki, while Misato Katsuragi was still at the headquarters with Solid Snake, trying to make sense with what had happened with Evangelion Unit 01 absorbing Shinji. At least Scorpion could finally get some peace and quiet to himself for now, so he can concentrate on his duties.

All he wanted to do was follow the order for the next 'seek and destroy' mission to keep his sniper skills up to date. After a fresh change of clothes which consisted of a plain white and simple t-shirt and a short black pants, he was about to tend to his rifle cleaning duties, a hobby he had gotten used to for years, especially during times of isolation and between missions. Doing this soon reminded him of his past missions where he worked alongside Greg, who he considered one of the closest allies and friends that he had in the group.

"Things just aren't the same without you around, Greg." Scorpion said to himself as he rubbed his hair with the towel he had. Thankfully, he was the only person in the apartment right now, second to Pen-Pen, so he was free to use the facilities given for his convenient since he was going to be living there from now on.

Just then, he heard the doorbell ring. He went up to it and it opened, revealing a school dress wearing Rei Ayanami. Scorpion tried his best not to be the least bit surprised at this, but he couldn't help but wondered why she was visiting the Katsuragi apartment, even with the current situation.

"You're the First Child, Rei Ayanami." James said, unmoved a bit. "Why are you here?"

"Good evening, Masterson." Rei simply said. "I was wondering if you can assist me with a complication."

"Sure, what is it?" Scorpion asked.

"Do you know Kinezono's Codec frequency?" she asked.

"Yeah, I do." He replied. "But why are you asking for it, Ayanami?"

"I needed to ask him something of great urgency, but knowing that he is not currently around at the moment, I had to ask you, who seems to be one of the closest companions to him and who would be the likeliest to know about his contact." Rei said.

"I see now. Well, it's frequency 199.99." Scorpion said.

"Understood. Thank you for your time, Masterson." Rei bowed to him before she walked over to the other apartment, where Raiden and Charlie were staying. Since Commander Gendou Ikari was killed, Rei was slowly opening up to others around her, but she still emitted that strange yet gentle mystery about her that has made her different from the other Evangelion pilots. James began to scratch his head wondering.

(I wonder what that was about.) He thought as he closed the door, and just as he was about to return to cleaning his rifle, he heard his Codec ring. Sighing a bit, he answered the call, getting a bit of a surprise on the other end.

"This is Scorpion here...Maggie?" James asked in surprised, seeing an attractive young woman in her late twenties, with blond hair streaked with some brown hair that ended at her neck. The woman who was calling also happened to be the main squeeze of Garland Durev, Maggie 'Dark Eden' Thompson.

"Are you surprise to see me, Scorpion?" Maggie asked seriously.

"In a way, but it's still good to see a friend from a far off country. How are things in Saudi Arabia?" Scorpion asked.

"The tension's just as hot as the desert heat during the day, but it's all good once you get used to it." Maggie joked. "And how's life in Japan so far?"

"Quite boring, compared to the day that Angel attacked Tokyo-3 just a couple of days ago." Scorpion replied. "What's the deal, Maggie? Why are you calling me up? Shouldn't it be Garland you should be contacting?"

"Yes. And for good reasons too." Maggie said. "Look...I think it's best that you contact the others first. Garland called me sometime before and told me about Greg...I think I may know something all of you should know."

"Okay, I'll get Michael and Garland. Should I get Linn too?" Scorpion asked.

"No. I think this intel I have may be kind of a shock to her for now." Maggie said sullenly.

"I see. Besides, I wouldn't want to bother her at the moment with your news; she is deep in her sleep from all of that training earlier." James said. "But still, why can't we let her know about this, Maggie?"

"This has to do with our very own Lt. Reese. And what he has done to make Greg's life a living hell." She replied, which received a glare from Scorpion. He now knew for sure that this was going to be a long night just from the sound of things.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Dressed in nothing but his jeans, Greg was meditating near a shallow lake, as the clear moonlight and the raging bonfire provided him with some relaxing, somber light. He was certainly going to need it.

The wounds he had accumulated before were starting to catch up to him in forms of pangs throughout his body. Some recent stitches he had during missions or sparring matches were opening up by themselves. His prosthetic right arm showed the worst signs as it appeared to be getting weaker by the second, losing its form. Blood and other substances used to hold it together were leaking through the false pores from Greg's lower arm. Greg had to concentrate entirely to enter his mind space if he was going to face the other side of himself, even if it means voluntarily losing the colony which held his nanoarm together for now.

Feeling closer to unconsciousness, Greg gritted his teeth, preparing for the mental onslaught once more. He kept the painkillers close in case things got too far out of control.

Silently, he felt his body go limp all of a sudden. The moment he had endured for to get to this point has come at last. Stopping to breathe for a moment, Greg exhaled one final time before he shut his eyes. He felt the sense of overwhelming sense of being consumed by his own power once more. He hadn't felt like this in years and he didn't want to experience it once more. But in order to get behind the mystery of Mantis's return and why would he kidnap Lilica and Yuina, he had to become stronger for the time being in order to be prepared for when the time came to face Mantis.

His mind went black, pulling Greg from where he was to something else entirely. It came as a shock to him as he found out he was back inside NERV headquarters and in his Sneaking Suit. He was the only one standing in the middle of the hallways.

"What am I doing back here?" He muttered to himself. Before he got to clear his head, he saw a figure at the passageway that seemed to be summoning him. He took a closer look and saw it was the cloak figured from the first time his powers surfaced.

"Well, this is a first. Normally, I would be the one to come knocking at your door to invite you to my world, or should I say 'our' world, but it seems you came here on your own." The cloaked figure said. "I really should congratulate you on that, Greg; you're much more stubborn than I thought."

"Why am I here of all places?" Greg asked.

"Come on, now. I know why you are here, Greg. You came here to ask some questions, haven't you?" The figure asked. "One of them surely has to be something about those powers that have been sealed within you for so long."

"I came to take them back. I have to rescue Lilica and find out what Mantis is up to." Greg said sternly.

"I don't think an incompetent psychic like you can ever be worthy for the powers that are hidden within you, nor do you understand the consequences for bearing them." The figure said.

"What's that suppose to mean?" Greg asked.

"You'll see soon enough. That is why I'm here to give you a tour of the…possibilities for bearing such burdens." The figure said as he walked off.

"Wait!" Greg shouted, as he sighted a grenade gun close by. He took it up and chased after the figure, only to stop at the sight before him to meet a grisly sight.

The passageway in front of him was littered with corpses of NERV's technicians, including that of Maya Ibuki, Shigeru Aoba and Makoto Hyuga, whom Greg recognized. They all bore gunshot wounds all over their bodies, their blood spilling the walls. Among those corpses were Emma's and Roses, who was still clutching unto a dead Charlie. Greg's eyes widened with shock as his stomach turned from watching this.

"What in the hell is this?" Greg muttered to himself, carefully stepping over the dead bodies of his friends. He had been used to seeing death before, but this was too much for him. His heart raced as he continued to proceed, when he heard a young man's scream shout in agony. Greg almost dropped his gun when he recognized the voice.

"JAMES!" Greg shouted, now running in a quick pace. He turned a corner, and his heart almost gave away, when he sighted Silent Scorpion's dead body, the 'Fate' sword impaling his chest. Beside his body were the corpses of Kari Mondeau and Mana Kirishima. They were burnt badly beyond recognition, as blast marks were seen on various parts on their bodies.

"No…what is this I'm seeing?" Greg as he looked on further and even sighted Raiden's dead body next to Riku Hanabishi's, and Michael Hansen corpses. Raiden was cut up pretty badly and had lost plenty of blood, while Venom and Drakken's corpses were eviscerated as their vital organs were hacked and slashed open as if for the world to see. It truly was a grim sight.

"Oh, God..." Greg couldn't take the pain and suffering anymore.

"You truly are weak, Kinezono!" The figure called out to him from ahead, taunting Greg. "So weak and pathetic, that you can't even protect your friends from something like this...this is why you don't deserve this power in the first place."

"Shut up!" Greg shouted, aiming the gun at the figure once more. But he had started to run again. Greg looked at Scorpion's corpse and with a pang of pain in his heart as he took out Fate from Scorpion's body.

"I'm sorry, James..." Greg said, his tears flowing uncontrollably. He then held onto the blade and went on until he stopped in an open area. Before Greg was even more signs of carnage, suffering and death.

Even the famed Garland Durev's body laid broken and bleeding just before Greg's feet, as was Solid Snake's who was lifeless on the floor, as Misato's hand can be seen holding onto his. Snake and Misato had been shot to death as well. Ritsuko Akagi also lay dead next to Meryl Silverburgh's, Naomi Hunter's and Hal 'Otacon' Emmerich's corpses. They all were killed executioner style with bullet holes on the temples of their skulls.

Greg fell to his knees in defeat after seeing all these people dying in front of him. It was then Matthew Reese approached in front of Greg with a cigar in his mouth and spoke to Greg now.

"I was right about you. Don't try to deny it!" Reese taunted him. "You think you're useful to anyone? You think you're needed in this world? Ha, don't make me laugh. Everything in your life up to now is nothing but an illusion, Kinezono."

"SHUT UP!" Greg turned around to aim his grenade gun at Reese, but he wasn't there. Greg only looked around, before he spotted his shadow leaving the room. Greg gathered his strength once more and chased after him.

Greg then stopped where his Harrier was stored, and the sight of more dead people close to him greeted him. They were in one single group, and Greg recognized them instantly.

He saw Rio Kinezono's dead body, half pinned under a heavy tank. Greg almost threw up at the sight, but failed to keep his contents when he sighted Nanvel Candlestick and Lilica's Ebett's corpses next to each other, both stabbed with katanas through their bodies. Maya Jingu and Yuji Naroue's bodies were among the dead as well as Maya was impaled by several spears, while Greg sighted Yuji's corpse burning from the cockpit of a nearby tank.

"What the hell going on here?" Greg stepped back in shock. "Why am I seeing all this?"

"That is because this is your greatest fear, Kinezono." Reese's voice shouted from somewhere.

Greg looked up and then saw Reese on top of the Harrier, with Linn Aramaki in his arms, struggling to get away.

"Greg!" Linn shouted, but Reese pulled out a handgun and held it at her chest. Greg stepped forward.

"My greatest…fear?" Greg asked, stunned. "I'm afraid of seeing those I care about die, is that it?"

"Maybe you should be asking yourself that, Greg. It has been the truth for years now, hasn't it?" Reese asked. "Of course, this is but a sweet little prelude to the end of humanity."

"End of humanity?" Greg asked. "Is this what Mantis is planning?"

"I doubt that, but then again, destruction has always been your forte, isn't it, Greg?" Reese said. "There is a good reason as to why you're witnessing all of this. You see, if you allow this power of yours to get the best of you, then the blame for all this may as well fall into your hands."

"I'm…I'll be the cause of all of their deaths?" Greg asked. "That can't be true! Stop saying such nonsense!"

"Ah, but this is anything but nonsense, my dear Greg. These are the facts, the truth about you, Greg. Why should you think otherwise? You have the makings and signs of a warrior bred solely for death and destruction!" With that, Reese pulled the trigger, sending the bullet through Linn's chest and her back. But what shocked Greg the most that it wasn't blood that came out from her back, an orange liquid was instead seen protruding from her lethal wound. By the time Greg saw Linn's corpse fall, he saw it explode into a puddle of the same liquid that came out of her body, leaving only her empty Skull Suit. It was the same for everyone else, who was already dead or in the middle of suffering, they all disintegrated into a large puddle of LCL.

"Admit it, Kinezono! You're weak!" Reese shouted.

Greg can only hold his head, as voices from all over NERV and around him cried out in pain, and agony, only to feel loss afterwards. Greg's body also began to give away. He can feel himself coming apart, but for what and why?

"No! No! NO!" Greg shouted, going insane. "Please stop this! I...I can't take this anymore!"

"Your spirit is weak; you hardly have the might to even keep yourself together. You can't protect everyone, not even yourself! This is why you're not worthy of having this power!" The cloaked figure said.

Before Greg can move, he felt his right leg being restrained by something heavy. Looking down, he saw a rusted and bloodied chain wrapped around his both his ankles. The chains were decorated in barbed wire. He looked at his body and saw he was bound by straps of chain that clamped onto his body, both of his arms were encased in shackles as well, as barbed wire pierced all over into his body. His neck area was restricted too by the same contraption. It was as if a simultaneous set of needles were being forced into his skin at the same time. He then started to feel the burning sensation through his skin as he was suddenly weakening from this.

"Grrragghhh!" Greg exclaimed, his body going through traumatic changes. The mental image of him being imprisoned by his own powers was becoming a reality. He can feel everyone's emotions, and now their own wrathful anger against him.

"How could you?" Mana's voice shouted in Greg's head.

"You can't protect even me!" Linn's voice followed after.

"Who would want a weakling like you in our group?" Garland's followed.

"You let all of us down!" James angrily shouted.

"You're too weak; you can't even fend for yourself!" Otacon's voice shouted.

Greg tried to shut the voices and emotions out, but he can't keep it together. His bonded arms weren't going to do any good as they are now.

"Please…I need…another chance…I must have this power…" Greg winced as he struggled on.

"Not good enough!" Snake said.

"You can never be what you claim to be!" Raiden answered.

"Even you need to be protected, and now look at you..." Riku said

Greg then felt his body was close to losing its border. Clenching his bonded fists, he made a desperate cry as he braced himself for the worst, as he could feel the loss of mankind around him and spreading over not just NERV, but all around him. He can see various people he knew losing their ego-borders in front of his eyes, and then he saw Reese laughing at him.

"What a weak, scrawny and pathetic psychic!" Reese said. "This is the reality of Third Impact, Greg. And you will be a grand part of this lovely event."

(Third…Impact?) Greg thought while in pain with his eyes closed. He looked up and then he saw an apparition of Linn coming closer to him. Greg's eyes widened at the sight of this as he knew he saw Linn die earlier.

"Greg...come to me…you will feel at peace with me." she beckoned.

He began to shake his head, despite his state. "No...! I can't be weak now! I can't give up so easily."

His fists suddenly started to quiver out of pain and determination, as he suddenly rose on his feet and his right arm exploded into a white flame. He was now free because of this and soon after, the chains melted. Greg felt that his body, now bleeding and bruised, was being filled with a determined flame from within his right nano arm. Opening his eyes, the flames expanded around him, burning everything in sight. Soon after, the blazes cleared to reveal that they had brought him back to the mindscape he knew he always had, a barren grey field, surrounded by distant mountains.

He was exhausted by the experience and landed on his hands and knees to catch a breath. He then heard clapping.

"Well done indeed, Greg. You've exceeded my expectations and faced your fear. Well, at least one of them." The cloaked figure said to him. "This is but one of many you have to endure if you want to be the best psychic there is and from what I can tell you, they aren't as simple as what you just saw."

"I was…being tested?" Greg asked, panting.

"That's right, seems to me you're a bit more than capable of handling what Mantis would dish out, but who knows, the case could be otherwise." The figure said as he turned around to leave. "Well, I don't want to leave you behind in your training, so go ahead and have fun with your new talents. Just remember they DO come at a price."

"Wait! Who are you…?" Before Greg can finish, he felt his body pulled back to the present, back to the chilly night air near the lake. He suddenly woke up and felt his entire body covered in the scars from probably the vision he saw.

"Can this be…the price for my powers that I have to pay?" Greg asked, trying to move. For the moment, he can only crawl, as his legs felt drained of energy. Trying to get some air into his body, he reached out for the painkillers and took a desperate handful of water with his left hand. He swallowed both of the pills and water into his mouth before falling back on the ground, feeling a bit relieved for now. He started to look upwards into the night sky as lifted his half decomposed nano arm in front of him and started to sob deliriously.

"This night…will surely be the longest for me if I must endure the consequences for this power." Greg said to himself as he slowly drifted to a short sleep. He will need the rest before continuing his training for tomorrow.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

ShardclawK: I thought I would have gotten this chapter revised sooner, but I'd forgotten how much I've put into it the first time I wrote it and as most of the changes kept me back from advancing quickly unto the other chapters, I was kept back a bit. But it's done finally, so here it is. I hope everyone liked it as well with the others so far.

Also, to DarkFusion whose editing this, I do hope you liked the little reference to Ceres and KOF I've included in this early part of the story, I plan to do the same in the upcoming revised chapters on either Ceres or any of the other series for this story. I won't reveal exactly which ones; I'll just surprise you with whatever comes into mind since they are many possibilities. Collis aka ShardclawKusanagi.


	7. Origins and Endings, Part 3

ShardclawK: This newly revised chapter is going to feature many new changes with some surprising additions, so I hope everyone is set to enjoy this one, as the previous ones have pleased you to this point. I'm doing my utmost to get at least two to three revised chapters up each time they are posted, as to give myself less work and ready myself to start updating this story as I'm used to. But only time can tell how things will go, so keep your fingers crossed. Anyway, enjoy the new and revised Chapter 6, though I must warn you the main reason why I stayed long on this chapter was its length.

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Metal Gear: Soldier X

Chapter 6: Origins and Endings, Part 3

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Back at the temporary Kawasaki homestead, earlier in the evening shortly after their arrival, Riku Hanabishi, Nagi Naoe and Nanami Hibino also known as Tot had been introduced to Team WARRIOR by Maya Jingu, then to Nastasha Romanenko by Maki Kawasaki, the team's long time commander. She smiled as she shook the hands of the nervous young adults who were surprised to meet her, since they have heard quite much about her and were eager to get acquainted with her.

"Well, I must say this is truly an honor to meet you, Romanenko-san." Nagi said nervously, shaking her hand.

"Please, don't think anything of it." Nastasha said. "I myself have heard about the other psychic soldier of FOXHOUND just about some time ago. You must be him, Mystic Crow."

Nagi's eyes widened slightly as he reacted in surprise. "Really now…I'd never think I would be as good as some of the veterans of the group, I'm just trying my best to be part of the team."

Nastasha only nodded her head with a gentle smile. "Of course, which is why I made sure to listen out only for the good things about this new FOXHOUND…I can tell that Campbell made a right choice in recruiting young people such as yourselves."

"Man, I'd never figured Greg was holding out on us with something like this." Riku smirked. "He's friends with the famous weapons analyst of the famous Shadow Moses mission."

"Actually, it was only today that he found out about Nastasha, Riku." Maki said. "He was just as shocked as you three are."

"So, why would you be here, Romanenko-san?" Tot asked.

"Yes, what brings you all the way to Japan?" Riku asked. "Does this have something to do with what happened to Lilica?"

Nastasha collected her thoughts before speaking to the trio of FOXHOUNDers. What she was going to have to reveal to them was going to be tough for her as well. It was also the main reason why all of WARRIOR and Seraph were gathered together in one room right now.

"If you need to know, I came over to Japan to help Maki and her friends." She said. "And also to warn them about a particular traitor in your group who is responsible for my coming over here. I think you three should know this man..."

"Are you three familiar with Matthew Reese?" Yuji asked Riku and his partners. This got a shocked look from the three of them.

"How do you know about Reese?" Tot asked in shock.

Riku stood up suddenly as he felt something wasn't right here.

"Wait a minute…why the hell does this involves him?" He asked.

"Take it easy, Riku." Maki said to him. "You and your partners will eventually learn everything that we and Greg also have been informed about Reese up to this point."

Riku knew fully well the extent of the hatred that he and probably the entirety of FOXHOUND had for their commanding lieutenant, Matthew Reese. Something like this would surely confirm the level Reese would stoop to in order to get what he wanted, yet Riku was still a little surprised at a betrayal, even from someone he hated. This surely angered Riku as he came to realize this. Also, seeing the newcomer, Seraph like this was pretty unusual, but the young ninja had a feeling that this had a deep connection to what has happened. Riku was determined to hear her story.

"I can clearly guess by now that Reese is behind what is happening and I'm certain this involves you as well, Seraph-san?" Riku said seriously.

"Yes, the man named Reese is behind the trouble that I and another am in right now. He is also certainly most involved with what happened to your comrade and his family." Seraph said solemnly. Riku noted the hint of sadness in her voice and could tell that whatever Reese had done, it was something that hurt her greatly.

"Tell us everything that we need to know, Nastasha." Riku said, trying to reserve his anger for later and calmed himself as he braced himself to listen to Seraph's story.

"Yes, please tell us." Nagi said. "If Reese has plans for Greg that we should know about, then we have to do something about it. Also, if this involves a civilian like Seraph, I'm certain that there is something more to this than meets the eye."

"You are quite perceptive of the situation. I guess there's no use to keep this from you three any longer." The Russian woman said. "First, I think we should allow Seraph tell us about what happened on her side, before I tell you what I told Maki and her comrades at WARRIOR."

"Thank you, Miss Romanenko." Seraph bowed to the Russian.

"You guys had better sit down and listen to her story before we can talk about Reese." Maki told the young FOXHOUND recruits as Riku nodded in reply and sat back into his seat and made himself calm as he was going to listen to what he could tell would be a sad story from Seraph's perspective, and Nagi and Tot did the same. This was going to turn out to be a long evening for the three of them as the beautiful and mysterious biodroid codenamed Seraph drew a deep breath before speaking.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"It happened about a week ago, I remember it was almost evening time that the incident happened." Seraph spoke as her memories trailed back to that time. She remembered it was not too long ago, that she was being accepted as being a close friend to Yuina Hattori when she forced a contract on the unsuspecting sophomore by sealing it with a kiss as a means of a contract between human and an emulate, a combat biodroid created in the form of a human. Seraph was in pursuit for another emulate like her who could be identified with having black wings.

Seraph soon discovered that she was a stranger in an even stranger land, her home planet was far away in the galaxy and she was unable to return until she at least located the other black winged emulate. There had to be a good reason why she chased her to Earth. For now, she was living with Yuina alongside her aunt at her home.

"Yuina's mother died when she was younger and her father wasn't able to be there for her time of need as he was a working individual, so she began living with her aunt." Seraph said. "Even though she is a smart and tardy girl, she sometimes can be clumsy, but is really cheerful most of the time. She had such a troubled life before meeting me, her associations with the outside world were minimal, as she felt she didn't want to trouble or burden anyone with her presence. She always had little confidence in herself as a living being."

Her thoughts traced back as to the happy moments before the incident. Using her android capabilities, she found herself back to the memory as she viewed at the sidelines the events unfold.

"Come on, Seraph! We don't want to be home late again or else you know how my aunt will react." Yuina Hattori ran on the street where she lived with her aunt. It was an end of another school evening for her and she and Seraph had just came home from a bit of shopping. Yuina was always her tutor on showing the ways and things Seraph never had on her world.

"I'm right behind you, Yuina, but please do remember I'm not as fast as you are on the feet." Seraph said with a smile as she tagged alongside with her. "I am also curious as to what kind of dinner you would like tonight, it will be my threat."

"Ah, Seraph, it's not really necessary. Let me do it tonight." Yuina said meekly, trying her best to avoid Seraph's awful cooking once more. The present Seraph smiled a bit as she remembered how bad she was at cooking and still needed practice.

"Then it's settled then." The past Seraph nodded as they entered the house.

"We're home, aunt!" Yuina cheerfully shouted, resting her bag on the table along with a bag of groceries.

"Welcome home, you two." A female voice that belonged to a middle aged woman answered as Yuina and Seraph entered. She had short dark brown cut hair and was wearing squared spectacles. She had a strong, yet gentle and assuring smile on her face. "I see that you had another good day."

"Sure we did." Yuina replied as she unpacked the groceries. "I took Seraph to a lot of places today with me."

"I learned a lot while I was with Yuina today, Ms. Tokiko." Seraph said. While in truth and reality, only Yuina knew the truth of Seraph's capabilities. She even assimilated with her at one point before. But for know, everyone else known to Yuina can only see the black and white part of Seraph. Tokiko Hattori had no trouble in letting her stay with Yuina, as Seraph won't leave her master's side.

"I see, good for you then, Seraph." Tokiko replied with a smile. "Yuina, let me help get dinner ready, why don't you get changed from your school uniform?"

"Okay." Yuina nodded as she left, as the present Seraph looked on in her memory.

"Yuina has been learning gradually how to accept herself once more and is becoming alive again with happiness and confidence." Seraph said as she told the people around her. "She was willing to face her fears to the point of going back to being part of music related activities, she'd always enjoyed singing."

"It seems like you had things going alright with her." Yuji said as Maya nudged him hard that it hurt. "Ow! What was that for, Maya?"

"Let her finish, she hasn't gotten to the important part yet." Maya whispered.

Seraph continued talking and replaying her memory as she spoke. "We were all having a quiet dinner that evening, talking as usual and enjoying our company, until we heard guests had arrived. Yuina was the one to open the door and that was the start, as well as the end of everything that was of happiness to Yuina."

"Yuina Hattori, I presume?" A husky voice asked from the doorway as she opened it slightly ajar.

"Yes. That's me." Yuina said. "How may I help you?"

"You can help me greatly, dear." The voice said, as soon a powerful force ripped the door from its hinges and pushed Yuina back to the living room. Both Seraph and Tokiko stood up to see what was happening and rushed to Yuina, who was slightly bruised, but okay.

"Yuina! Are you alright?" Tokiko shouted, tending to her. She looked at the doorway as she, Seraph and an injured Yuina looked at the doorway, which was being guarded by five heavily guarded men, carrying sub machine guns and were wearing Arsenal Tengu helmets. They all pointed their weapons at the three women.

"Who are you people? What do you want with us?" Tokiko shouted, as a tall, skinny figure stepped from the middle of the armed group of Tengus, wearing a large, dark cloak. He had a mask over his face that looked close to a gas mask, but it was different. Tubes that outlined the sides of the mask to the coat he wore can be seen hanging around his head. He had a raspy voice from behind it.

"Now, now, Ms. Tokiko, your niece has picked up quite the interesting power. I'm just here to retrieve them." The man spoke as he pointed to Seraph first, then Yuina after. "Namely both your niece and your guest."

"I'll…never let you have Yuina." Tokiko said, gripping unto Yuina. "I don't know what you intend to do with her, but she has nothing to do with your sick plans!"

"I'm just following orders, madam." The man spoke, as he raised his right arm. "Now, surrender the girl and her companion! Or else, you will die a painless and swift death for trying to stop us."

"What has she ever done to you to make you do this?" Tokiko asked as she got no reply. "She's only a child, for Christ's sake."

"I have enough of your feeble talk, woman." The man said as he signaled the men behind him to come forward. "We will take them by force if you want to have it your way."

Before the men could have done anything, a bright burst of light came from Yuina's direction as the sophomore stood up with a glare in her eyes.

"NO! I won't allow you to hurt anyone that's dear to me!" Yuina's cry echoed as she had secretly recited the password for her and Seraph to assimilate into one being, the emulate form. Yuina's alternate form consisted of a an angelic appearance, as her hair was now flowing a pure grayish white, her body covered in a snug black outfit, her chest area in an glowing white breastplate. Shoulder pads and other similar typed patterns decorated her hands, legs and knee areas. Two large feathered wings protruded out of her back as well.

Tokiko was in shock as she saw her niece's transformation happened in front of her eyes. "Y…Yuina? Is that really you?"

Yuina nodded sadly at Tokiko and then thought mentally to the assimilated Seraph within her. (I'm so sorry, Seraph, I just had to say the password because I was so desperate…)

(This was unavoidable, but you had to make the choice. I had sensed great evil from within these men the moment they entered, when it was too late.) Seraph replied. (How couldn't I have sensed this before?)

(Could this be the other emulate you have been looking for?) Yuina asked.

(No, the presence here isn't as brutal or malevolent as the one I've been seeking.) Seraph said. (This one…he seems to be struggling against the evil within him, but…Yuina, we need to focus on protecting your aunt for now.)

(I understand. Please give me the strength, Seraph.) Yuina thought as she got closer to Tokiko. "It's okay, auntie. I'm here to protect you, me and Seraph both. We won't let these people hurt us."

"Ah, so this is the rumored emulate's true form. Magnificent and more exquisite I had hoped for." The figure said as if he was smiling. "I can take the both of you at the same time with no arguments."

"Auntie, hang on. We'll take you far from here!" Yuina shouted as she grabbed Tokiko and ran out of the room as the men began firing at her with their guns. She dashed head into one of the other rooms as the figure commanded them to stand down.

"No need to interfere, I want to test for myself how strong these emulates are before I take her in." The figure said as he began to follow them. Soon after taking flight, Yuina was on the roof top with her aunt, still shocked as to what had happened.

"Yuina, you have to tell me what is going on here!" Tokiko exclaimed as Yuina tried to confide in her older relative that things will be okay, but the fact of the matter is that she was frightened too.

"I wish I knew too, auntie, but…I've never seen these people before, neither Seraph knows about them." Yuina replied weakly. (How would they know about an emulate's existence in the first place? And if he's not the emulate that Seraph was talking about, then who is he?)

"I won't let him hurt you, auntie. I can beat him, you'll see." Yuina said, standing up. "Please have faith in me and Seraph."

"Yuina…" Tokiko muttered as Yuina hugged her. "Please be careful."

The emulate nodded at her relative and faced behind her as the figure was already perched on the rooftop with her.

"My, what a touching scene, it's a shame I have to tear this family apart." The figure said as he took off his gas mask. His face was scarred, but it had gained a near true human appearance. "I am called Psycho Mantis, little girl and my powers go beyond that of a combat android. I will properly discipline you on the true reality of battle."

With that, Yuina charged at Mantis with a punch inputted with Seraph's battle data, but Mantis simply sidestepped it.

"Little girl, you are so impulsive." Mantis said, grabbing Yuina's arm. "I can read your moves very easily, since I can predict your every move."

"It can't be…" Yuina muttered as she tried to kick Mantis, but he deflected her kick with a powerful blast that injured her leg. He then pushed her back, sending her crashing through the roof she was on.

"Is that the best you can do? This is so disappointing." Mantis said, lowering himself as he picked up Yuina by the hair.

"Mantis, sir, remember Reese's orders to bring her in unharmed." One of the Tengus said to him.

"Yes, I haven't forgotten, I must have gotten carried away." Mantis said as he dropped her on the ground, as Yuina stood up once more to try and fight back.

"Wait…I'm not…going without a fight." Yuina muttered, as blood trickled down her forehead, her glare undeterred in front of Psycho Mantis. "I will protect my aunt and Seraph, do you hear me?"

"Promises are made to be broken, little girl. You should know that from the lessons in your life." Mantis said as his hands formed a dark glowing energy globe. "Now, pester me more and I have to hurt you more than ever. I don't need damaged goods on my errand mission, but for tonight, I will make an exception."

Yuina cried out as she managed to scratch Mantis's face, but it was all a futile attempt as Mantis had already fired a point blank shot of his energy ball at Yuina, striking such force at her body she was knocked out instantly which resulted in her and Seraph being separated from their bodies.

"Mantis, sir!" One of the Tengus shouted as he saw this. "You didn't kill the target we were supposed to capture, didn't you?"

"Of course not. I only intended to put them to sleep until we deliver them to Reese." Mantis said. "He's going to be satisfied with the results of today…hmm?"

Psycho Mantis turned around and then saw Tokiko standing with her arms outstretched over the bodies of Yuina and Seraph, who were steadily getting up from Mantis' attack.

"So, you think you will get in my way, woman?" Mantis asked. "Is it your wish to die that badly?"

Yuina and Seraph groggily got up, only to meet the soon to be horrifying sight before them. They were both weak to attempt a second integration so soon, as they both were delivered serious blows to their bodies that weakened them drastically. They couldn't stop what was going to happen next to Tokiko Hattori.

"I see…your mind speaks it clearly to me. I now know of your wish." Mantis said with a smile.

"What are you talking about?" Tokiko said.

"If you want to sacrifice your life by protecting Yuina…I can grant it for you." Mantis said as he raised his right hand over her head as Tokiko looked on at Seraph and Yuina.

"Seraph, take Yuina and run!" Tokiko shouted, as Yuina reached out to her aunt, but the biodroid held her back as she stood up and started to walk backwards.

"Auntie!" Yuina cried out to her aunt as Tokiko smiled at her one last time.

"Yuina, be strong, both for yourself and Seraph. I'll always…" Tokiko said as Yuina saw Mantis plunged his hand through her chest, staining the wall behind her. Yuina cried out in agony as Seraph tried her hardest to run away, but…

BANG! A gunshot was fired, injuring Seraph on her leg. She had never been shot before as this experience soon left her weak.

Mantis had already removed his hand from Tokiko's chest and then looked on at the injured Seraph. "I couldn't have afforded to leave her alive as a witness anyway. I was told to kill anyone who was among Yuina Hattori and yourself at the time by my superior. If she wasn't here with you, she would still be alive, you know? But the fool chose to stay here and die. I can't understand humans like that, throwing their own lives for the sake of others. Well, not that it matters now, you're both still coming with me."

"No…" Seraph said, as she tried to stand up, but to her shock, she saw Yuina pushed her away. "Yuina! What are you doing!"

"Go, Seraph! They can't hurt me if you're free!" Yuina cried out as several men pointed their guns at her, but Mantis raised an arm.

(This girl is smart…she knows the level of importance she holds and yet, she still wants to protect the bidroid by letting herself be captured?) Mantis thought.

"I promised Tokiko I would protect you! I made the same promise to you too!" Seraph shouted as Yuina shook her head.

"I…I know, Seraph. But I don't…I don't want to lose you either!" Yuina cried out, falling on her knees. "Please…just run, go on without me. I know…you'll come to save me eventually."

"Yuina, listen to yourself! Are you giving up this easily?" Seraph shouted. She tried to stand up, but her injuries won't let her.

"It seems Yuina made the right choice, she should have done it before without going through the trouble." Mantis said, as Seraph sneered at him. Then she shut her eyes as she made the choice.

"It seems I must follow my master's orders and retreat for now, I'm unfit to continue battle anyway due to my injuries." Seraph said. "However…"

Seraph suddenly dashed at Mantis, only to go low and grabbed a flash grenade hanging from one of the Tengus pockets, causing a distraction to give her chance to escape.

"I'm not giving up on you, Yuina! Do you hear me? I will come back to save you!" Seraph shouted as after the flashed disappeared, there was no longer any sign of her. Yuina, still traumatized in seeing her aunt die in front of her, fainted out of weakness as Mantis caught her.

"Damn, the other target got away." One of the Tengus said. "Reese will not be happy about this."

"The host is enough for now. This is intended as part of Reese's plan anyway." Mantis said. "In any case, we've wasted enough time here, we should move out."

"What about the woman's corpse?" The Tengu asked.

"Leave it as it is, the local police will be here soon after all the ruckus we caused." His comrade said. "We'd better clear out of here now."

As the group left, Yuina took one last look at her aunt's corpse and her home before she blacked out completely.

(Mom…auntie…Seraph…I'm sorry, I failed you all…) Yuina thought to herself as she lost herself in her sleep.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Back in the present, Seraph had just finished the tragic part of her story and only silence filled the room now. Riku had to turn his head away to suppress any emotions he had, while Maki, Maya, and Yuji stood with their backs turned. Nagi could be seen holding onto a gently sobbing Tot, while Nastasha felt unsettled as she smoked. Nanvel was wiping her tears with a tissue as she gently touched the biodroid's hands.

"That must have been really tough on you, Seraph." Nanvel said. "But it was also brave of you to tell us all about it. You did well on your part."

"If only…I was more aware of the danger the man called Psycho Mantis was capable of, Yuina wouldn't have been captured, and Miss Tokiko wouldn't have lost her life." Seraph said. "I've always blamed myself since then because of my appearance in her life. I have now brought great pain into Yuina's life, the one thing she has been denying herself for all this time."

Yuji shook his head as he approached Seraph. "Hey, now, don't go thinking what happened is because of you."

"Yeah, he's right, Seraph. Nothing's going to change if you keep regretting and blaming yourself like this, you know?" Nanvel said, trying to encourage her. "At least you had the courage to come to us and Greg asking for help, because we've gone through the same thing as well."

"And that alone should be enough to get us all through this and back with our loved ones." Maya said. "So, keep your chin up, girl. We'll see this through to the end."

"Greg did promise you it will happen and he won't break the promise as the man he is." Maki said. "However, if you know anything else that we don't that can help us, it wouldn't be much of a bother to ask you for some assistance."

"Most certainly, I'll be glad to do whatever I can to help if it's for the sake of being with Yuina again." Seraph said as she then turned to Tot, who was clearing her eyes up. "Are you alright, Tot-san?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry that I had to cry like that in front of you when you said that story." Tot wiped her eyes. "I guess that I'm not used as a FOXHOUND recruit to be able to suppress these emotions well, huh?"

"It's perfectly normal to let yourself go like this, Nanami. We are human beings after all." Nagi nodded to her. "And you do know you have my shoulder to cry on if you feel you need the support. This story has made me sad a bit too, you know."

"Thanks, Nagi." Tot smiled slightly at Nagi as she turned to her team's leader, Riku. "Well, Riku, what are you going to do about this?"

"It's best we find out what Nastasha has to say now about what we should know about Reese and his activities now that we know that it's all tied to what's happened with Seraph, along with the sudden reappearance of Psycho Mantis." Riku said sternly as he looked at her. "Okay, Nastasha Romanenko, other than revealing to us about Reese's participation for Mantis's resurrection, what other dirt is there to know about him?"

Nastasha took a long pull from her cigarette as she spoke. "I've dug up reports stating that he's had some nasty dealings in the weapons and drugs black markets around the world. He's now starting to turn out to be one intriguing criminal with not a trace to use to track him. His tracks are being covered by a higher source somehow."

"The Patriots again, huh?" Maya asked.

"It's a possibility, or he could be working for another enemy faction as a double agent." Nastasha said. "His father was a dedicated agent for the Patriots years past as well as before he died and the role was passed onto Matthew Reese. I take it that Reese wants to grow into places his father wasn't by committing these atrocities."

"What kind of shady dealing has Reese gotten himself into over the years?" Riku asked. "But the more important thing which bothers me is what he is planning for Greg if he's going through all this trouble."

"Yeah, it has to be really big and nasty to even involve Lilica and a girl like Yuina into it." Nanvel said.

Riku stared at Nastasha for a moment, and then sighed heavily. "I wonder how long it would take me to get back to America when this is over." He said in an icy voice. "I think I'd like to rearrange Reese just a bit. I think he'd look much better without his head." Then he turned to Nagi and Tot. "What do you guys think?"

"You'd have to stand in line, Riku." Nagi assured him. "Once word of this gets out, I bet there are going to be a lot of people, myself and Tot included, with the same idea."

"So, what's Greg going to do about this?" Tot asked.

"Well...he has made up his mind to do something about this alright." Yuji spoke. "He and Rio are around looking for clues that would probably lead us to Lilica and Yuina."

"Sounds like Greg alright; I just hope he hasn't gotten himself and Rio into any trouble doing their detective work." Riku said. "Still, given the current situation, that's perfectly understandable."

"How much of this does Campbell know?" Maya asked Riku.

"Nothing yet, I guess. He would always suspect something nasty out of Reese considering how out of line that man always was, but nothing like this. Unfortunately the colonel has never done anything to properly discipline him for the bad choices he has made in the past, and the results that followed. I know myself that quite a lot of them ended up with very grave consequences." He replied. "Something has to be done about this, before he gets to anyone else."

"I agree. A man like Reese deserves to regret allying himself with the enemy." Nagi answered. "Besides...it's one thing to bring Mantis back to life, but to strip him away of the memory that gave him peace before he died...then use him to satisfy the Patriots twisted needs...Reese has pushed enough buttons to get on my wrong side."

"I feel the same here." Tot replied. "Riku...maybe we should contact Campbell and tell him about..."

"That is out of the question." Maki Kawasaki cut in.

"Huh? What do you mean, Maki?" Tot asked.

"First, it was Greg who suggested that Roy doesn't learn of this situation until he has some hard evidence to use to incriminate Reese for what he is doing. He already told what we heard to two of your friends from FOXHOUND about this, but not about Reese and Seraph." Maki explained.

"The last thing Greg wants is to start some sort of panic within the group because of his problems and how much Reese is involved in them." Yuji said.

"But eventually, sooner or later, everyone else is going to find out about this." Nagi said. "And then everything is bound to blow out of proportion."

"Then we have to make sure it won't happen. Think of this as taking care of the weeds from a garden." Riku replied. "Like a rotting weed, he must be pruned before it spreads."

"You think Roy would approve of that, Riku?" Maya Jingu asked.

"Not as long he finds out for the time being, but we would be doing him a favour as well." Riku said.

"Look, as much as I sense that you should do this, we should really wait until Greg and Rio gets back." Maki said, patting Riku's shoulder. "You guys shouldn't be too worked up in this, so try to relax and think this through."

"I really wish we could do that, Maki, but Lilica's a good friend of mine and it's really hard to relax without knowing she's safe." Riku said. "That is why I've made up my mind to try and help Greg get through this. You guys are all old friends of the Hokage clan and Uruha, after all, so I'm kind of obliged in doing this for him in times of trouble." He then gave a sheepish grin. "It's a ninja thing, you know."

"Not to mention that Reese brought an innocent into this." Nagi said, indicating to Seraph. "Reese has crossed the line now by bringing a girl as young as Yuina into this mess. He can't be forgiven so easily for that."

"So, please, Maki, let us help you and Seraph too, okay?" Tot asked. "We will be of great help to all of you."

Maki nodded her head silently as she acknowledged Riku's determination in helping out.

"Well, I'm sure I couldn't have said no anyway, Riku. You and your partners are free to help us in any way you can." Maki said. "However, it would be best to talk to Greg about this as well when he gets back and listen to your requests as well."

"Knowing that is enough, Maki. Just count on us to assist you guys through this, you won't be disappointed." Riku said with a smile.

Just then, Nanvel stood up as she looked like she had an idea in her head.

"Seraph, about your biodroid capabilities, by any chance they are capable of a simulation mapping system?" Nanvel asked.

"Certainly, however, it is not nearly as complicated as the standards you normally use, Nanvel." Seraph spoke.

"That's okay; I just need to borrow your circuits a little, if you don't mind." Nanvel said. "I'd figured if you can register data differently than most computers out here, I can put my technology with yours and maybe it can give us a chance to locate Lilica and Yuina."

"Is that possible?" Maki asked.

"As long we have our satellite to work in our favour, yeah, it is." Nanvel said.

"Okay, you should get down to it then. We should at least give it a try to see if it will work." Maki said.

"Then, allow me to assist then." Seraph said as she opened a part of her arm area, which was like a compartment in which many different circuits and wires could be seen. Nanvel's, as well as everyone else's, eyes widen as they saw this.

"Wow, you really are a machine after all." Maya said. "Didn't that hurt a bit?"

"Not exactly, this area has been designed specifically for any maintenance I would require." Seraph said.

"Then we shall waste no time then." Nanvel said as she took out some connectors from her computer board and hooked it up to Seraph's body. The room was like a technological gold mine, and since Nanvel was in charge of it, she knew the proper arrangements she could access quickly for situations like this. Seraph sat next to her, wires connected to her arm and feeding information to the CPU, which Nanvel was using to access the Global Positioning Satellite feed so she can pinpoint Lilica and Yuina's location.

Nanvel couldn't get enough examining Seraph, who was willing to assist Team Warrior in any need to find her master, Yuina Hatori. The fact that she was part artificial, part human surprised everyone at first, but they seemed to have gotten used to Seraph, and her strange gentleness.

Soon afterwards after getting to the mainframe of their satellite, the images of the area where Yuina lived showed itself as Nanvel tried to scan all the areas that could be clues to where Mantis was hiding. But even with her capabilities, after several minutes, Nanvel still couldn't find anything that could be of any help in locating Mantis' stronghold.

"I'm sorry...there's nothing familiar that we can pick up here..." Nanvel shook her head sadly. "Even with your AI, it seems we're stuck on this for awhile and we're low on time."

"Don't blame yourself...it is natural." Seraph said, taking out the wires from her arm, only to have the spot where they were attached regenerated into new skin and her clothing had covered it automatically over the spot. Nanvel got an eagle's eye look at this and her mouth dropped.

"You've got the same regenerative abilities that Greg has, don't you?" Nanvel asked, as then everyone else entered to listen.

"All I did was focused my molecular structure to heal the cut, nothing major." Seraph said. "As for the clothes, I simply altered it."

"That's the same principle that makes Greg's nanomachines work!" Nanvel exclaimed. "But I'd never thought an android from another galaxy could be able to do the same thing."

"Every substance is made out of different sequences of atoms and molecules." Seraph said.

"Interesting theory, I never knew it was so basic." Nanvel said.

"But you said that was how his nanomachines worked as well?" Seraph asked. "I haven't seen those nanomachines which you speak about anywhere on him."

"I know, I did a good job making them to be concealed well, didn't I?" Nanvel said happily. "That's actually what most of his right arm was made up of…just plain, battery powered nanomachines that I created for a new age of prosthetics. After that, it was all up to Greg to use it well to his liking. He made it looked like a giant tattoo over some of the drafted skin he had and there you have it. Not everyone would know if it was real or not unless he showed it to them."

(Well, it seems that this Greg seems to have some interesting aspects as a psychic I have yet to know.) Nagi thought to himself as he stepped closer to Riku. The young psychic knew that he would find out more about Greg when he meets him, but now after learning about the truth about Reese, he hoped to help Team WARRIOR with their problems.

(I'm thinking of giving these two a hand, Riku.) Nagi said telepathically to his comradeas well as Tot. (With my skills as a hacker, I might be able to help trace Mantis's hideout.)

(You really think so, Nagi-kun?) Tot asked.

(Well, if the others were here with us, it shouldn't be too hard.) Nagi replied, still in thought.

(You mean Alice, Akira and the others from the Uruha Ryu?) Riku asked. (Well, something as important as this would be requiring their help as well, I guess…)

(You may need to contact them about what has happened, sooner or later, Riku.) Nagi said. (If Reese has begun to target innocent people like Yuina Hattori with powers like that, I don't want to imagine if he starts going after people like Aya, Shuro, Chidori and Suzumi or even Lucy and Nana.)

(That's definitely something serious to consider.) Riku thought in agreement. (Okay, I'll get to that as soon as possible, but first things first, we will do as Maki says and keep quiet about the matter from the others from FOXHOUND until its time when Greg has confirmed everything. In the meantime, we can start calling Alice and everyone else we know and find out if anything out of the ordinary has happened up to now. I may even call my uncle, Kurei and fill him, and my father, in on what's going on.)

(Okay, then.) Tot replied as they ended their mental conversation and Nagi faced Nanvel and Seraph.

"Um...Nanvel, isn't it?" Nagi stepped forward to ask. "I was wondering if I could help you guys out in tracking the data you have to find Lilica and Yuina. I happen to be pretty good with hacking myself."

"He's right; he certainly knows his way around computers." Tot said.

"Well...I guess if your psychic friend wants to give a helping hand, it will be alright. We will need all of the help we can get." Maki nodded. "But please don't overdo things; we don't want to catch Reese's or the Patriots attention. Plus it's getting late, so I don't want you three staying up because of this."

"Really, Maki, it's not a problem." Riku said.

"I'll show Riku where he and his friends are sleeping tonight." Maya said. "Coming, Riku?"

"Yeah, I'm right behind you. What about you, Tot?" Riku asked.

"I'm staying here until Nagi's finished helping Seraph and Nanvel." Tot said sternly.

"But, Tot...I don't think that's really necessary." Nagi said, only to get a glare from Tot. She just wanted to make sure Nagi doesn't get any funny ideas about Nanvel while she is there. Riku had already guessed this and knew not to interfere as he left the room as Maki had a thought hit her head.

"Excuse me a bit, Riku, I want to speak to Maya a bit before she takes you to your temporary room." Maki said to Riku.

"Sure thing, I can wait." Riku replied as he stood in the corridor and waited for Maya as Maki, who had her hand placed at her chin the entire time, signaled Yuji and Maya to come with her to her room. The two nodded silently and left the room to join Maki, who had a very concerned look on her face.

"What is it, Maki?" Yuji asked her. "I can't remember seeing that kind of seriousness in your eyes for a long time."

"Yeah, it's as if Seraph mentioned something that bothered you." Maya said in agreement.

"I couldn't help but think back to what Seraph had explained about Yuina's aunt and that's when I remembered an unsolved case of serial murders about some ten years back." Maki said. "I don't want to say they are connected, but…"

"Serial murders, you say?" Yuji asked.

"Yes, these murders happened in a rural town near the ocean just a train ride's distance from Police Town. They happened before we found and adopted Greg and when WARRIOR was still forming." Maki said. "It started when a number of pre-schoolers were slaughtered in a welfare center. Judging from the pictures I managed to see at the time, the fashion in which they were killed ranged from decapitations of their heads and severing of some of their limbs."

Maya's eyes widened as she heard this. "The victims included children?"

"Yes, I'm afraid so. And it didn't stop there." Maki said. "Similar cases followed when families were being killed in the same way, as if the killer intended to deal with them in the most explicit of ways. About four whole families were killed before the killer was apprehended. They all died of the same thing…decapitation of their limbs."

"There was also a report of people being killed in a festival in that same town." Yuji said. "Not to mention another report indicating two corpses found in a train, one of an eight year old girl and a male in his thirties the same night. DNA testing reports indicated the girl was related to the man."

"How were the victims often killed?" Maya asked.

"As I said, their heads were cut clean from their bodies, along with their limbs being torn apart, or their bodies being ripped apart, sometimes in half." Maki said. "About the murder report in the train, they found the girl torn apart from her abdomen, while the male's head was ripped from the spinal cord."

"Maki, could it be possible that a psychic was responsible for all that?" Maya said, trying to keep her composure. "And if so, can Greg…?"

"Don't even think it like that, Maya." Yuji said to her. "There's no way Greg would ever be capable of doing those kinds of things. We've known him all these years; he could never hurt anyone like that."

"Uh, yeah…you're right." Maya said.

"There's a good chance someone with immense strength is capable of doing such things…" Maki said. "In any case, I'm just letting you know to be more careful when thinking about the possibility of these things happening close to home. If need be, I may need to consult Greg himself about this, but for now, let's keep tight lipped about this."

Maya and Yuji nodded silently as they left Maki to return to the living room as Maki sighed. Then another thought hit her.

(Now that I think about it…the report also stated there was an unconscious boy around the deceased girl's age at the train when they discovered the bodies. I wonder what ever happened to him, did he ever recover from his coma?) Maki thought to herself as she left. (And whose idea was it to leave those cases unsolved in the first place?)

From a good distance unseen, Riku heard most of the conversation that the three officers were having and grew a bit worried at what he had just heard.

(Just great…well, there's no question about it now, they were definitely talking about what happened with Lucy and Kohta years ago.) Riku thought, as he remembered the details that he had learned of that tragic event from them. (I know Maki and the others are my friends and all, but I really can't answer their questions concerning whatever they may have on the cases they claimed were unsolved. Its part of a promise I made to her as a friend that I won't ever break. But one thing that bothers me is how come they seemed a bit more worried about Greg as well in this?)

Riku then gave a light sigh so as to not betray any hint of his presence and decided that for now he had to focus on what he would have to do in order to help Greg and Team WARRIOR. Since Maki had decided to leave the matter regarding Lucy alone for now, Riku decided he shouldn't be too worried about it for the moment as the current situation was now taking up everyone else's strength and time.

"Guess I should start making some calls about now." Riku said as he touched his Codec.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Psycho Mantis seemed satisfied with himself, as he had examined what he had seen from invading Greg's mind when it was weakened enough already to use his psychic power to reveal Greg his fear. But this was beginning to become a strain on his mind. It was hard on him as it is already as he struggled to keep Yuina Hattori under his control.

Mantis had succeeded in breaking Greg's spirit somehow through this. Now, he had to wait on Lt. Matthew Reese's next orders before he could decide on what he should do with his hostage, Lilica Ebett, the skilled computer hacker of Team Warrior. He also had concern on what fate he should decide for Yuina, another one of his captives.

Psycho Mantis glared at the sleeping teenager, who looked innocent as she huddled herself between the ragged sheet she had to use to cover herself. Mantis had been trying not to let his killer instinct take over to harm the girl in any way, but he also had to take measures whenever she was in contact with Lilica. The two seemed to become quick friends whenever Yuina would get the chance to see to her, and Mantis knew that he would have to do something about that before the young girl could rebel against him. If it weren't for his brainwashing effect on Yuina, she would have found a way to rescue herself and Lilica. However, he knew that he still had control over this situation and the outcome.

There was also another matter, namely Matthew Reese himself. His interests in Lilica's skills as a computer hacker were a bonus for his plan to trap Greg. Mantis's orders were to keep Lilica alive for the time being until a change of orders had been given. Mantis himself wondered why he would want that in any case.

However, Mantis couldn't care about that for now. His main focus was to follow Reese's and the Patriots orders and hopefully after he had succeeded in defeating Greg Kinezono, he would be able to turn the tables on Reese himself.

(Soon, dear Greg...I'll show you who the strongest psychic on the planet really is. You're a fool to challenge me.) Mantis thought to himself, placing a hand on his temple to relax himself from the throbbing pain. He had to prepare himself now for the battle that would lie ahead, especially since Greg was in the process of preparing himself to challenge him and he knew that would cause problems. Hopefully, Reese had laid out a plan by now to make sure Greg doesn't get to Mantis's location alive.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Night had fallen back at the training yard of the Guardian Dogs Temple, the moon shone brightly over the forested area where Rio decided to set up camp nearby where she would be staying with Greg until the training was complete. The policewoman had changed out of her police uniform and into an oversized t-shirt which she sometimes slept in that she brought with her for the time she would be staying. She sat back on the ground and knocked back a couple of beers as she thought about how Greg was proceeding with his training.

(It's been two hours since Greg went into the training area…pretty quiet for him to be training like this if he's trying to make full use of his powers like this.) Rio thought to herself as she drank her beer. (Considering he must be going through lots of pain right now, he may need someone to be with him at this time…maybe I should go check up on him.)

Sighing heavily to herself, she picked up a six-pack of beer and a first aid kit next to her and started to walk towards the clearings where Greg had been training since earlier in the evening after meeting Geese.

After a two minute walk, she then found the spot where Greg was training, but got a surprise of her life as she saw a sleeping Greg lying back against a tree trunk, it's bark torn away by a few small craters into the tree. She took a good look at her student's hands and saw that they were bloodied and bruised. Taking a few cautious steps closer, she can see that he had no shirt on. She also saw that his face was drenched in sweat and dried tears.

(Was he asleep all this time just like this?) Rio thought to herself, as she called out to him as she kneeled in front of him, taking his left hand. "Greg, wake up!"

Groggily, the psychic raised his head and simply stared at Rio with a near miserable look on his face. "Sensei…Rio? Is that you?"

"Don't talk, Greg. I'm here now." Rio said as she placed her hand on his face as she began to apply the bandages on his hands. "What happened here? Don't tell me you passed out again?"

Greg looked up at the night sky silently as Rio applied sutures and disinfect to the cuts on his hands. "Yeah, I must have overdone it again. I don't know how it happened; everything came so quickly that I wasn't prepared for shock. But I'm okay now, really."

Rio shut her eyes as she felt the seriousness in Greg's voice, yet his determination to face the challenge was one of the things that made her stay by his side to help him through this. She also didn't know that the vision Greg encountered earlier was one of the reasons he backed down from training any further, which was probably one of the reasons why dried tear marks on his face can be seen evidently.

"Does it hurt…that badly?" Rio asked her surrogate son. Greg's eyes now met Rio's pure blue eyes as he raised his head to see her.

"Only for a while, this is something I would have to teach myself to get used to anyway." Greg said.

"You know you really don't have to go through this." Rio said to him. "If the pain is getting too unbearable, you should quit while you're ahead. Surely we can find of another way around this."

"I've already come this far, Rio. I'm not backing out on this, no matter how dangerous this is." Greg said as he held onto his chest and stood up. "I don't have any regrets doing this either, this is the time I have to ask myself if I'm worthy of this power I have if I want to see Lilica safe again."

Rio stayed quiet as she watched Greg started to walk steadily away from her as his body was hurting as hell. The image of the memory he tried so hard forget as she was witness of that time still stayed on her mind as she watched him staggering to stand up.

He hasn't been training for long, but it was the memory of Third Impact and the loss of his friends and family remained fresh in his mind. He could still envision Linn's dead body exploding into LCL, as well as seeing the same for everyone else. This was for surely some ploy for him to bring his spirits down before facing Mantis.

"Why did you come here, Rio?" Greg asked, without turning his back at her.

"I thought you needed the company." Rio replied simply.

Greg simply looked at her as he knew Rio wasn't going anywhere until she made sure her surrogate son made it through this alright. He could never say no to her as he is now.

"If that's the case…can you stay a while with me?" Greg asked. "I need someone to talk to and you're the only person around right now that can listen to me."

"Talk with me?" Rio asked surprised to this. Even in his state, Greg wanted to talk to her casually as if nothing was amiss. "What for, Greggie?"

"I need your voice to help me take my mind off from some of the pain." Greg said to her. "It can be about anything, you know. You name the topic and we can just talk about it."

"But, Greg…is this alright? I mean, you're supposed to be readying yourself for Mantis, you know." Rio lamented.

"Yeah, I know. But that doesn't mean I can't keep pushing myself like this and in the end, I really don't discover an answer to the problem with my powers." Greg said. "The only way I can face the fears of my powers is to find out what is wrong with me to begin with."

"Well, I won't complain to you if you want to talk, but trust me, I'm no shrink." Rio said to him.

"I don't need the counsel, just you staying here with me is enough." Greg said to her as he took a beer can when he got close enough to her. "Please, sensei? It would really mean a lot to me."

Rio threw her arms hesitantly as she sat back on the ground. "Fine, then…since you're in a mood to talk, we'll do just that. In any case, let's focus on what's your life in FOXHOUND is like. Tell me your best relived experiences since you joined the group."

"Wait a minute now, you want to talk about my life all of a sudden?" Greg asked. "You sure you want all the details?"

"Sure…at least this can give me an idea of why this Reese would want to make our lives so miserable, you might as start with your life as a FOXHOUNDer."

"You're not making my training any easier, Rio." Greg said as Rio suddenly threw an empty beer can at her student, hitting him on his head. "Ow! What was that for?"

"This is part of the training, like it or not." Rio said to him as she sat back with a stern face. "Now, what was it like when you first joined up, hmm?"

Greg simply sighed lightly at Rio as he sat back to detail to Rio about the events of his first set of days in FOXHOUND. One of them was the day when he signed up to join the group after it became reformed in 2010.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

However, because of his status as a Japanese national since Rio took him in, Greg encountered some problems regarding his education. Most of the education he had was during his stay in Japan, where he advanced quite well enough to speak both English and Japanese, thanks to Seishiro's and Rio's support. During his young adult years, Greg was inspired to try his hardest and excel by applying for an American college, meaning Greg would have to renounce his U.S resident status for a while. Not too long after he graduated by the time he turned 22, he took active duty in the Marine Corp Martial Arts Program when he signed on the force.

Under the harsh training Greg endured over time, he applied what he had learned from his time with WARRIOR and Seishiro into dedicating himself to making full use of his combat and weapons training in the areas of assault rifle, grenade and certain CQC weapon based training. It was also during the time with the Marines that Greg had become used to piloting the standard Harrier. He took his training and time with the Marines quite seriously, but would eventually take his time off by getting along with a few of the people he had met there.

There was even one time he ran into a visiting female Chinese drill instructor from an overseas branch who volunteered to teach the newcomers some of her training. She was rather brash for the type to be part of the Marines, totally opposite to what Greg had expected from one of the respected officers from the Marines. But somehow, he had gotten attached to her for only if it was a little while. So much had happened then and now Greg can't clearly remember her face so well or what happened to her.

"Ah, that's too bad." Rio said, looking up. "You really can't remember what she looks like, huh?"

"She was rather attractive for a soldier. But at least she was strict in seeing me train so it helped passed the time a bit well." Greg spoke. "I think her last name was Mao or something…"

Rio stayed quiet as she watched Greg became relaxed somehow reminiscing on his times with FOXHOUND. She can remember clearly too when she personally assisted Greg in joining up with the group.

The day of April 20th, 2010 had come in the newly developed FOXHOUND headquarters in Washington, D.C. It was the day that Greg was to get assigned to the newly reformed group that called itself FOXHOUND after some encouragement from Rio. Seishiro Takeda himself encouraged Greg to give the group a try to share his experiences as well his talents from the years of training he endured from under WARRIOR and Seishiro's tutelages.

"Are you guys sure this is a wise choice to begin with?" Greg asked, while Rio, Lilica and Maki walked alongside with him in the hallways of FOXHOUND headquarters. They were to help Greg get signed up to be among the recruits for the newly formed group.

They were all heading to the sign-up desk, as Greg was wearing a black, tight fitting bandana over his head, a white vest which was covered by an oversized motorcycle jacket. He was wearing tight fitting blue jeans to compliment the jacket. He was still wearing reading glasses at the time.

"Well, if you're just questionable about this group, Greg, there's still room for WARRIOR for you to join." Rio said to him. "Besides, Seishiro said this was one of the best choices for people your age and your kind of specialties to get started on."

"I've heard of other similar anti-terrorists groups that exist…" Maki said to Rio. "Most of them are secret, but none of them are affiliated with any of the world's governments. Yet, they still arise to a crisis when they are needed."

"So FOXHOUND's like the only group that is publicized in the open like this to bring in new recruits?" Rio asked. "What about the buzz that surrounded it after the both Shadow Moses and Big Shell incidents? You'd think that would give people some reconsideration about joining this new group."

"She's right about that, Maki." Greg replied.

"Well, for Seishiro's sake, at least confirm for yourself if this place is good for you. We're not forcing you to join this group right away." Maki replied.

"Right...I don't want to give the impression that I had no other choice but to do this." Greg simply said.

"Maybe you'll like it in the long run, Greg." Lilica said happily.

"Just maybe, Lilica...just maybe like you said." Greg said simply. He then stopped to see a small group of people waiting near a secretary's desk. Some of them were seated filling out applications. Rio placed a hand on his shoulder and smiled at him.

"You just have a seat over there, while Maki and I look for this Colonel Campbell guy." Rio said to Greg.

"I'll be right here if you need me then." Greg replied. As the trio of the Warrior members left the room, Greg simply sat down and leaned back to read a magazine to pass the time. However, this somehow got boring and Greg couldn't wait any longer as he though Rio and Maki were taking longer than he thought. Fifteen minutes passed and Greg couldn't wait any longer.

"What is it that could be keeping them?" Greg said to himself, standing up. (Maybe if I'd walk around a bit and get used with this place to pass some time, I'd meet back with them when its time to leave here.)

Stretching out his arms and yawning, Greg stood up groggily, almost feeling tired. He took a step as he suddenly bumped into someone he wasn't carefully seeing walking towards him.

"Ouch!" A woman's cry was heard as Greg felt his body pressed heavily towards another warm body. As he looked to see who it was, he suddenly gasped as he saw that he knocked down one of the people who came to be recruited.

"Hey, can you be a little more discreet and watch where you're going next time?" The woman said to him, rubbing her head, while Greg who was still standing, suddenly saw her and swallowed, hoping he hadn't offended her.

"Ah, I'm so sorry." Greg quickly said, as he extended his left hand to her. "It was clumsy of me that I didn't notice you, please forgive me for that."

"Well, at least you apologized and are offering a hand. I guess I can forgive you." the young woman said to Greg as she gripped his hand to stand upright. When she did, it gave him a chance to properly look at her.

She happened to be very attractive woman in her early twenties, about 5' 7 in height, with short cut hair that was coloured in a chestnut brown. Her skin closely matched her hair, as it was being lightly tanned brown. She had brown pupils in her eyes and an enticing, yet innocent look on her face. She had on a biker's outfit that hugged her almost average cleavage tightly enough as her waist was perfectly curved with both muscle tanned abs and around her cute navel was painted of a red vermillion symbol. Her thighs were good to look at as well, long and slender, some muscles bulged out on just the right places.

"Uhhh…" Greg felt his face reddened as he suddenly turned around and fiddled his thumbs. He has never before he actually spoke to a woman outside of FOXHOUND with this much beauty. Since he was so diligent in his studies in his past, he never had time or the interest to properly pursue relationships. This was tough on him getting acquainted with a woman, especially one he must apologize to after knocking her down.

"Hey, are you okay?" The woman asked, placing her hands on her hips as she playfully chewed on the strawberry chewing gum that he can smell from his distance in her sensuous and glossy lips.

"Yes! I really am!" Greg suddenly replied, standing upright. He was starting to have a cold sweat. He was having a bit of a problem what to say to her.

"Hey, you don't have to get worked up. You did say you were sorry for earlier, so I'm not really angry at you." The woman said after blowing a bubble. Greg was close enough to smell both her bodily scent, as well as the flavour of the gum she was chewing.

"It's not that…you see the thing is…" Greg managed to say as Linn walked closer to him, innocently as she giggled taking a look at him. "What's the matter? Is there something on my face?"

"No, you silly. I was just curious as to why a guy like you would be here joining this outfit, that's all." She said to him after looking at him. "You don't look like the kind of person to be a soldier."

"Then what do I look like to you?" Greg asked her.

"I really can't find the words for it…you look so average, yet headstrong." She said. "There's something quite deceiving about you, I couldn't help but wonder about you."

"We've only just met by accident." Greg said to her. "Not to mention, I really can't say that I'll be actually joining this FOXHOUND. I'm only here to scope out the place. So I'm afraid I won't be around to help you solve your curiosity about me."

"At least tell me your name." The woman pleaded. She seemed really determined on finding out more about Greg.

"Greg Kinezono." He replied simply.

"You're part Japanese? That's quite the surprise. Here I was thinking you were from around here." Linn said, placing a hand on her lips.

"There's a lot about me that would really surprise you, miss…?" Greg stopped, now wanting to know her name.

"Linn Aramaki." She said, bowing to him.

"So, you're Japanese too?" Greg asked, which responded by a gentle laugh from her.

"Well, it's good to see that I'm not the only one being surprised today." Linn smiled at him. Greg couldn't help but grin a bit at her. For once he was beginning to feel comfortable around strangers of the opposite sex. He felt something common in this Linn Aramaki, yet he couldn't pinpoint what it was for the time being.

"I see you like to play dress up too. Is that a casual outfit where you come from, Greg?" Linn asked, touching his jacket.

"It's different from people like me you see normally wear, isn't it?" Greg asked.

"That's right." Linn said, taking a seat. "Say, Greg…why don't you come and have a seat with me?"

"Okay, sure." Greg replied as he sat back down on the chair, but at a good distance away from her.

"Why are you sitting so far away?" Linn asked, as Greg's face reddened. "If you want, I can sit closer to you."

"No, I'm perfectly fine over here." Greg replied as Linn giggled once more.

"Aw, you look so cute when you're like that." Linn said as she rested her head on her hand, looking at Greg once more. "I bet you've never been with a girl before, haven't you?"

Greg hung his head as she hit the nail on the head. "Yes, you're right. I never had the time for dating because of my studies."

Once more, Linn snickered to this. "Then that will make it much better for me to tease you with, Greg Kinezono."

"Cut it out, Aramaki." Greg said seriously. "I only came here to check out FOXHOUND, not to get hit on."

Linn smiled as she stretched her arms, sticking out her chest. Greg couldn't help but compare her to Rio's body size. She was sure as close his surrogate mother even to the chest and waist size and her muscular looking legs looked so slender too...

(What the hell am I thinking?) Greg thought to himself. (This is not right for me to look at a complete stranger like Aramaki in this way! What is wrong with me?)

"So, Greg, did you come here by yourself?" Linn asked.

"My surrogate family is here with me." Greg replied.

"How sweet to have them come along with you." Linn said, as her tone got serious now. "My parents won't even acknowledge that I'm joining FOXHOUND and won't even bother wishing me luck."

"They must be very worried about you if they don't want to tell you the best of wishes for doing this." Greg said to her. "Some people I know in my life are like that…when you're moving on to a next stage in your life that only you consider to be important; they really don't intend to let you go without some kind of opposition."

Linn looked on at Greg as he had a dead serious look in his eyes, yet she also felt a sadness emitting through the transparent lens of his glasses.

"You really shouldn't be angry at them because they think what you're doing is wrong, not to mention very dangerous work. They have their reasons because they are very worried about you, Aramaki." Greg said.

"You don't say?" Linn said. "You must really love your surrogate family, Greg. I like a family man."

"Ah, thanks. I don't know what to say." Greg said. "They are part of the reason why I have a Japanese surname."

"I see, and what about your old family?"

"I had a mother and a younger sister once, but…they died a long time ago. I can't even recall the memories I had with them too well, or remember their faces." Greg said sadly.

"I'm sorry. It must have been tough on you and your father." Linn said, as Greg's right fist clenched at the mention of the word.

"Father? I never could have considered him one in the first place." Greg said bitterly. "If he was a father, he would have never hurt my mother like that…"

Greg then realised what he was saying and stopped before he went further.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have…" Greg said, as Linn stopped him.

"Hey, it's okay. I was the one who asked in the first place. I just didn't know you had bad memories, so I won't pry any further." Linn said. "But, at least I can see that you've been brought up by your surrogate family must have brought you at least some good memories and things out of being with them."

"Yeah, I'm glad for that at least." Greg said. "They have been very kind to me and I hope I can repay them someway for all that they have done."

"I'm sure you will do so, Greg." Linn said to him.

There was a bit of silence afterwards, other than the sounds of Linn smacking her lips while she ate her chewing gum. Greg almost felt relaxed by staying close to this woman, but he was still unsure of what he can do to say to her. Time passed as she looked then looked at her watch.

"Ah, damn. It looks like I got to run an errand now." Linn said. "So, Greg, have you made up your mind to join FOXHOUND yet?"

"Not really, I'm still having some second thoughts about joining." Greg said. "Based on how things turn out, I may not be able to join, but I'm not going to whine about it."

"That's a shame then. I was wishing that you would join. You seem to be a really interesting guy." Linn remarked.

"You're quite forward, aren't you?"

"Only to the most handsome guys I meet." Linn replied with a smile. She looked at Greg before turning around. She was carrying a mountain bike with her as Greg watched her she get on it. "Well...I'm done here. I have to get back in two days when they have accepted my papers."

"I see." Greg simply replied, trying his hardest not to allow any dirty thoughts plague his mind as she got onto her riding bicycle.

"If I ever see you again, I'll be a part of the group and you'll just be a civilian I have to protect, huh?" Linn asked, opening her biking vest.

"I guess that is the case. I do wish it was otherwise." Greg replied.

"You're not even re-considering?" Linn asked.

"Just maybe, though I can say it won't be a serious thought." Greg answered. "Not to mention, I don't have much time to spend here any longer. I have to be returning to the city soon before evening."

"I see." Linn only shook her head with a smile as she firmly placed her hands on the bicycle. "Well...I have to go now."

"Okay. Good luck with joining FOXHOUND then." Greg waved at Linn.

"Thanks a lot, Greg Kinezono. You were very nice to talk to, even if you're having trouble talking to girls. But I'm sure that is something you'll get over eventually." she said as she began to peddle out of the reception area. (Man...I was really hoping he would join...he really seemed so nice to be with.)

As she left the headquarters, Greg only looked on as Linn rode out. Just then, he thought to himself with a serious look on his face.

(Well, just maybe I can give this FOXHOUND outfit a try.) He thought. (If people like her are getting a chance to become part of this group, it would be a nice thing though. And more importantly, I bet this place would benefit me greatly if I were to start using my powers to help others voluntarily. It's not a sure guarantee that I would officially be part of it, but the most I will do is just leave a recommendation.)

As he turned, he then saw Rio, Maki and Lilica staring at him with smiles on their faces. Rio looked extremely happy as she came closer to Greg.

"Sensei Rio, why are so happy?" Greg asked.

"Oh, I couldn't believe it…my Greggie actually talking to a girl!" Rio cried tears of joy as Greg stepped back. "Yuji would be so proud of you, Greg!"

"Ah, hey! Wait a minute!" Greg shouted. "It was just a normal conversation among strangers, I don't know why you got to make such a big deal out of it, sensei!"

"Come on, Greg. I had to, you really couldn't get associated with any girl outside WARRIOR because you were busy with your studies and so much time passed that you grew up." Rio shrugged her shoulders. "You should be proud of yourself that a pretty girl like her wanted to talk to you in the first place."

"It's still nothing to be so joyful about." Greg said to her.

"Oh, Greg, you may be saying that, but you somehow liked the company, didn't you?" Lilica said.

"Oh man, not you too, Lilica." Greg shook his head.

"Come on, Greg. I think it's for the best that you stick to this group." Rio said to him. "You seem more relaxed here anyway, and if that girl is going to be part of this group, the better reason to stick around."

"As tempting as it is to say I want to join FOXHOUND for that reason, I must have more valid reasons for this, you know." Greg said. "I'm not going to join this group to pursue any romance if that's what you want me to do."

"You're really are something. At your age, you should already have a girlfriend, but it's hard to believe that you're actually having trouble getting one." Rio said. "And I'm not getting any younger, you know. I want to look as young as I am when its time for you to have kids of your own."

"Sensei, you shouldn't plan that FAR ahead!" Greg replied, as his face flustered while Rio and Lilica laughed.

"Hey, Greg. Don't take it personal, we're just teasing you as usual. You know you're cute when you're embarrassed like that." Rio placed an arm over his shoulder. "In any case, you should meet up with this Col. Campbell about now."

"Yes, it seems that he is ready to have a talk with you after we managed to tell him about Seishiro." Maki said. "We wish you the best of luck, Greg."

Greg nodded silently as he left his surrogate mother and her friends where he soon found an office area where Roy Campbell was waiting with a tall woman with long dark brunette hair. In the office with them was also another man of Campbell's age, but something about this man's presence started to bother him the moment his eyes were set on him.

"Gregory Kinezono?" The woman asked.

"That's me." Greg replied seriously.

"I'm Naomi Hunter, FOXHOUND's expert on the medical field of modern day genetics and nanotechnology." The woman said. "I've heard quite a bit about you from Maki about a year ago and I was intrigued in knowing more about the technology that developed your prosthetics for the limbs in your right arm. I was hoping you can stay with us so I can do a bit of studying into this as this is a first in a breakthrough of medical science."

"Hmph." The older male sitting next to Campbell scoffed, as Greg can feel the air being becoming tense in the room.

"Please excuse Litenenant Reese, Greg." Roy offered a hand shake to Greg. "He's had a bad morning, aside from having to personally interview all the newcomers today."

(This guy is one of the new superiors for FOXHOUND?) Greg thought. "I understand, sir. I can assure you that I won't give any kind of trouble while I'm here."

"That's what they all say, you youngsters are all alike." Reese said, biting on his cigar. "Sooner or later, you will cause problems, especially you negro types."

"Reese, please put up a little longer till the end of the week. We are only ensuring the future of the group with a younger generation of special soldiers capable of the tasks of anti terrorism." Campbell explained as Greg listened in.

(Though personally, I'm not sure if I can put up with this Reese guy myself.) Greg thought to himself.

"Just get this interview started, Campbell." Reese said, glaring at Greg at the side. Campbell sat down as the half hour long evaluation began.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Present Day…..

"I remember stepping in the office the first time where I met Roy, he was pretty friendly and open, so I had hardly any trouble talking to him and Naomi at the time. The interview went better than I hoped for and they accepted most of the truth about my nano arm." Greg explained, playing with an empty beer can with his exposed nano hand. "But even then, I should have known Reese wouldn't like me from the start."

"How could you have known then, Greg?" Rio asked.

"His voice was just as icy then as it is now, but I will never forget his eyes." Greg said. "Those eyes…they weren't smiling at me on my welcome to FOXHOUND compared to almost everyone else who did."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Two days passed as Greg was staying in an apartment he was renting in the city. Even though it was temporary until he can go back to Japan, he was comfortable living there. He was just playing some street basketball with some of the neighbours kids and had gotten a good sweat out of it as he came home one evening to meet Nanvel Candlestick waiting for him at his door.

"Yo, Greg. See that you're staying fit as ever." Nanvel said, holding unto a bag of Chinese take out. She also had a parcel of mail with her.

"Nanvel, why are you here?" Greg asked, getting inside to his apartment, which was hardly used, except for the necessary furniture that was there. For the living room, he had a home theatre system with a Playstation 2 and a DVD player hooked on a flat screen tv on the wall, while the kitchen was adequately fixed with a working refrigerator, microwave, stove and garbage disposer. Greg had a mattress spread out on the floor in front of the TV where he normally sleeps.

"I see someone's taken after a certain other someone on their upbringing of their homestead." Nanvel said. "At least you keep the place clean though."

"You didn't have to go through so much trouble to see me. So why did you come anyway?" Greg said, taking out an energy drink for himself and a soda for Nanvel.

"I thought I'd threat you to dinner, as well bring you some good news." Nanvel said.

"What kind of good news is that?" Greg asked.

"It seems that FOXHOUND had accepted you." She replied smiling.

"Weren't they supposed to call me first about this?" Greg said as he turned on his PS2 to play Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition. It was one of his most favourite games since his teenage years and was a dedicated player to the game that only recently, he managed to get to max health and maxed out Red Orbs due to hours of playtime and practicing. It also provided his nano arm good practice, especially on the Dante Must Die level.

"You probably weren't home at the time, so I got a fax instead." Nanvel showed him the page. "So, Greg, what do you think? You're up to it?"

"Well, I'll go for the sake that everyone's hoping the best out of me." Greg said as he equipped his Dante with the Sword Master Style with a Nevan and Beowulf and a Spiral and Kalina Ann combination. The gameplay videos he watched thanks to Nanvel and Lilica's constant net surfing made him use these for best results on the DMD mode.

"Are you sure it's not for seeing that girl again?" Nanvel asked.

"There's that too." Greg said simply.

"From what Rio told me, she was really interested in knowing more about you." Nanvel said taking a seat and watching Greg play.

"It seems so, but I don't want her to get too involved with me or else…" Greg stopped as Nanvel's hand touched his.

"I doubt she will turn you away, Greg." Nanvel said. "She seems nice enough to have listened to you; I bet she will keep on doing so if you keep being yourself."

"You have a point." Greg said, as Nanvel took up the second controller.

"Hey, it's been awhile since I've played with you using the Doppelganger style." Nanvel said, being an average player herself. So, Nanvel and Greg joined together and played for hours, while he contemplated much about what is going to happen when he return to FOXHOUND headquarters.

The following day….

"Congratulations, Gregory Kinezono. Welcome to FOXHOUND." An eccentric Roy Campbell shook Greg's hands after the announcement was made that he was accepted into FOXHOUND.

"Yes, sir. It certainly is an honour to be among this group." Greg said. "I do hope I won't be a burden here with me being the only black male in the group."

"You shouldn't feel discouraged, Greg. You'll be viewed just as equal as everyone else here. You'll be part of a family that will surely accept you." Campbell said.

"Well, I better hope for the best then while I'm here."

"Now that you're part of this group, there are some truths about us that you need to know." Campbell said as he began to explain certain facts he wasn't aware of.

Greg got to learn about what happened at the Big Shell a year ago and the truth behind it.

He learned from Naomi Hunter the details of what he needed to know about why FOXHOUND had to be reformed and even read the famed, 'Darkness of Shadow Moses'. He then also got hints about the Patriots before joining the group, after much time he had spent with Rio; he only knew the details about how they could have been possibly involved in arranging some hideous terrorists' acts in Neo Tokyo.

"This is still hard to actually believe, sir." Greg said, after an hour or so had passed talking as they walked in the hallways on FOXHOUND headquarters.

"Yes, the world in under control by a group of shadow leaders that control the U.S government and they have been doing so for many years now." Campbell said. "The fact that Solid Snake has been framed by them is one of their acts."

"So, this new FOXHOUND has been formed to stop the threat the Patriots pose?"

"Well, while we stay a wet works counter terrorist group, we do seek the end of the Patriots' end, but it's not really the department of where younger recruits such as you comes in." Campbell said. "All we can do is assist Philanthropy, the anti Metal Gear campaign group, and share information that will eventually lead to the Patriots somehow."

"You mentioned recruits before. So there are other people before me here?"

"Yes, some of them are still in their teens though, except for a few older members who are practically the superiors of FOXHOUND, making them among the top ranked in the group." Campbell said.

"How soon will I get to meet them, sir?"

"Patience, Kinezono. I must take you to your new quarters, as well give you your Sneaking Suit." Campbell smiled at him. "But first…I need to assign a codename to you."

"A codename?"

"It's an alias we use here in the group, based on the person's skill level during a mission." Campbell said. "I would advise to you that it is something you will have to get used to soon."

"So, what name have I been assigned?"

"We just have to test you to see if you're worthy of a good one." Campbell said, as he showed him to the VR training room, where Greg was amazed by the technology the base had and what was taking place. He can see several other recruits taking part of their training exercises.

"This is amazing!" Greg muttered. "Is this for real? I've only heard about it when I was in the Marines, but to see it first hand…"

"It is something, isn't it?" Campbell said. "Well, I won't stop you, go on ahead and show me what you have."

"Huh?" Greg said as he suddenly felt his body inside the VR environment. He was inside what it seemed to be a platform where several targets of green and yellow crystals moved about freely and various weapons lay before him.

"This is truly something indeed. I can spend hours in this suitable environment!" Greg said to himself. For some strange reason, this was getting him all giddy. If Nanvel were here, she'd faint out of pleasure from seeing the VR system activate around her.

"What should I train in first?" Greg thought as he saw the C4/Claymore section was empty. "I think I'll try this one."

The first couple of tries ended in failure, as Greg would lapse behind the record times, but it only made him preserve further. After the fourth try, he managed to do the impossible for any FOXHOUND newcomer.

After studying the targets movements and easing his steps to move from one point to another, Greg had a strategy planned out as he placed one Claymore after another near the targets, careful enough that he wouldn't injure himself in the process.

From outside, several people who were watching Greg examined the psychic make movements and studied his pattern about the VR arena.

"Who's the new blood?" A male voice asked behind Campbell.

"Oh, Michael. I didn't see you." Campbell said. Michael Hansen was watching Greg train on the Claymore field, making some good progress. "I see that you both came back from a successful mission. Well, what do you think?"

"Well, he is devoted for one thing." Michael said. "Though I'm not sure that kind of ambition is what we actually need in the battlefield. It would turn to arrogance at some point. Though, I'm certain Kinezono has his limits. Though, that look on his face says that. I would like to test him out one of these days myself."

"What, in a sparring match?" Campbell asked. "But this is his first day; I haven't even given him his codename as yet."

"I know that sir. I'll just give it some time before it happens." Michael said. "He doesn't look too masculine, but he seems to be strong too. I just need to see if he's any good in the close quarter's combat department. And I'm sure when Garland hears about him; he wouldn't mind sparring with him either. He may need a bit refining on, but at least to ascertain some doubts I'm having about him."

"I know he's new blood, but please go easy on him for the time being." Campbell said. "He may look like an average youngster, but his guardians told me he's had it pretty rough in his past. Most of the trauma remains with him up to today."

"Sure, Col. I'll be sure to keep that in mind in the future." Michael said.

The two stayed as Greg was still taking part in the Weapon Mode under the Claymore category; he managed to beat Bombshell's Bear's record of 00:30:28 seconds, when he made high score of 00:16:17 seconds.

"He's pretty good so far, I'm impressed he knows how to handle those so well." Michael said. "Well, if you can excuse me, sir. I have to join Garland and Maggie for a game of chess. Let me know about this recruit's progress, okay?"

"I'll be sure to keep you informed, Venom." Campbell said as he saw Greg come back from the VR room just as Michael left the scene.

"So, how did I do?" Greg panted.

"Much better than I hoped for. You really were serious in there; I've never seen anyone move so vigilantly before." Campbell said.

"If it's okay with you, I'd like to stay here and train some more, sir." Greg requested.

"Feel free to stay as much as you like. I'll just base your scores on the record and then I'll give you your codename, or you can pick one that suits you." Campbell said.

"I rather earn the name than be given it, sir." Greg said seriously as Roy nodded at him.

"I like your spirit, Greg. Then you just go in there and show what you can do, but don't push yourself." Campbell said as he left. Greg turned around and stepped back into the VR training arena where he took part in the topping the Assault Rifle, C4, No Weapon, Stinger and Nikita time attacks. Two hours passed as Greg begun feeling worn out from the training as he stepped outside to relax himself.

"Man, I'm bushed." Greg said, taking a seat nearby. Sitting back to breath deeply, he reached for his left pocket to take out a pack of cigarettes when he heard a voice call out to him.

"Really, Greg, you certainly don't need those right after training non stop like that." The voice was very familiar to Greg as he suddenly saw a tall Japanese male with shoulder length black hair and was wearing an eye patch over where his left eye used to be approached him dressed in casual clothing. Greg's eyes widen in anticipation as the man came closer to meet him as three other men in their mid thirties to forties were accompanying him.

"Seishiro-san!" Greg shouted, instantly putting back his cigarettes and running to meet his martial arts instructor and guardian. "So, you really were here all along. I just didn't expect to run into you so soon."

"Yes, Maki told me that you were here a couple of days ago to sign in." Seishiro smiled at Greg as he placed a hand on his shoulder. "I really was hoping you would have succeeded in joining and it came true. Congratulations."

"Seishiro-san…really…I don't think this is something you should be too happy about." Greg rubbed the back of his head. "This is a dangerous thing we are getting ourselves into after all."

"Yes, the activities we will be partaking in this group will be life threatening to an extent, but I know you will do just fine." Seishiro said. "You've done well to get this far in life, Greg. And I'm very proud of you for that."

Greg hung his head and smiled a bit as he heard this. It was enough to make him come close to crying. Even after years since the incident which resulted Greg in harming Seishiro, costing his left eye when his powers were first realized, Seishiro still can threat Greg like a dear son and student to him. It was still hard for Greg to understand how Seishiro can act this way towards him, but it really doesn't matter now. Greg felt he was needed now since Seishiro was there to assure him that he will do well in FOXHOUND.

"Hey, Seishiro, isn't it about time you introduced us to him?" One of Seishiro's friends asked, who was of Japanese decent, in his thirties with short brown cut hair with bangs. He had brown eyes with a medium body built.

"Sorry, Kojiro. This is the boy who I took in years ago who grew up into who you're seeing today." Seishiro said as he showed Greg the men who were with him. "Everyone, I would like you to meet Greg Kinezono."

"Greetings to you all." Greg said with a bow. "You must be good friends of Seishiro-san, I assume?"

"That is right. We're also recruits here in FOXHOUND, so we'll be seeing each other more often." The man named Kojiro said. "I'm Kojiro Shimura, my codename is 'Hawkeye' in this group."

"And I'm Trang Nguyen Hang." The other male in his forties of Vietnamese descent spoke. He had black hair and matching eyes with an athletic build. "My codename is 'Black Cougar'."

"Marcus Blackthorne, codenamed 'Ice Wolf'." The last male spoke among Seishiro's group spoke. He was in his forties with medium build, short brown hair, and a hairline scar. He was of British descent. "We were all watching you before and we're really impressed with your skills, Greg."

"Yeah, that was nothing short to expect from someone who has lived with Seishiro, not to mention knowing him." Kojiro said, nudging his friend.

"All I did was raise him in the best ways that would make him happy. I'm sure anyone who has seen what Greg went through when his surrogate mother found him would want it what way." Seishiro said. "Come on, Greg, you have no reason to be afraid to shake their hands. I've already mentioned to them about your artificial arm and they are even interested in seeing it too."

Greg nodded silently as he extended his left hand to pull up the sleeve of his shirt on the right arm and displayed his artificial arm to them. It had strands of wires and veins extending into the remainder of Greg's upper arm, while most of it was coated in a dark, scalish gauntlet fashion. A tattoo covering most of the forearm can be seen so mask most of its designs.

"That truly is something you have there, Greg." Marcus whistled as he saw this.

"Yes, my aunt Nanvel put her heart and soul to make this as convincing as possible." Greg said.

"It is pretty efficient for Greg as well, it would serve him in combat when its time for him to use his psychic gifts." Seishiro said.

"In any case, did you get a codename as yet?" Trang asked Greg.

"No, not as yet. I think I will leave it to the Colonel to give me one though." Greg said.

"It is alright if you tell him what name you prefer to be assigned to, Greg." Seishiro said as he looked thoughtful. "Since you're a psychic, it would be fitting that you start the codename with the word. Any rank they give you should follow after."

"Sounds like an idea." Kojiro said as he smiled. "Well, Greg, do you like it?"

"Yeah, though I'm not sure about what rank given to me, but the Psychic should make up for it, I guess." Greg said.

"You're going to do just fine. Just seeing in there was enough to tell us you mean business." Marcus said. "Just know that if anything or anyone here gives you problems, let Seishiro and the rest of us know, okay?"

"Alright. I'll remember that." Greg nodded. "Even if one of them happens to be a cigar smoking Lieutenant?"

"Ah, I see. You already met Reese, I see." Seishiro said.

"Yeah, much to my displeasure. He made me really uncomfortable back there." Greg said simply. But Seishiro placed a hand on his student's shoulder and smiled at him.

"It won't be so bad, Greg. Just learn to put up with him while you're here." Seishiro said. "I'll be here with you if any problems occur and there seems to be a number of new ones your age joining up, so I'm sure there should be plenty of new friends to make here."

"Oh, I certainly will do that, Seishiro-san." Greg nodded at him.

"And one more thing, Maki and Rio told me about a pretty girl you met on sign up day as well." Seishiro said with a smile as Greg stepped back.

"They told you all of that too?" Greg asked.

"They had to share the details. Rio was rather ecstatic about it, actually." Seishiro said. "I can't really say the same thing, but at least you looked rather comfortable talking to her. Maybe if she is part of the group, you two can get together."

"Seishiro-san…even you…" Greg blushed as Kojiro laughed a bit.

"What's the matter, Greg? You really don't know how to talk to women?" he said. "I can give you some pointers, you know."

It was then the P.A system was heard calling for Greg to step into Campbell's office. Greg sighed heavily as he started to turn back and headed for the direction of the office.

(Saved by the bell.) Greg thought as he walked away. "I guess I should be leaving now, guys. I was good we met like this, especially you, Seishiro-san. I will take your words to heart if I will want to do my best in FOXHOUND."

"Well, I'll be seeing you again soon, Greg." Seishiro said as Greg took one final bow before he left. Marcus looked at his friends and then to Seishiro before he spoke.

"That guy really is something." Marcus said. "I sense something troubling, yet intensely dangerous about him."

"Yes, Greg is one not to be taken lightly." Seishiro said. "It could be useful against the enemies into thinking he's just a mere soldier. But it also can be something that can be used against his own friends if he isn't careful later on."

"Worried about him as usual?" Trang asked.

"I guess it's a habit of mine. But I know he will do fine for now." Seishiro said. "Come on, I heard Garland and Michael are having a chess game and I don't want to miss the sights.

Sometime later in Campbell's office, the Colonel and Naomi had already tallied up the scores collected in Greg's VR training. Almost surprised with the results, Col. Campbell approached Greg and shook his hand as he gave him his codename.

"Panther, you are now officially part of FOXHOUND." Campbell said to Greg as he looked at him with a surprised look.

"Panther?" Greg asked simply. "It doesn't sound bad, but why that?"

"Only among the most skilled in FOXHOUND get titles depending on the conditions set during the mission. Yours seem to have come close to the original FOXHOUND titles that had Big Boss as the top rank." Campbell said.

"And this is something that I should be really proud of, sir?" Greg asked. "I know there are people who can do much better than I am…"

"Really, Greg. Your skills alone are worthy for the group, just accept it. I have no qualms with you in the team and Naomi feels the same way." Campbell said as Naomi nodded her head at Greg.

"Then, would it be alright I included Psychic as first of the title?" Greg asked.

"Psychic Panther…now it makes it quite authentic." Naomi said. "Alright, then. Psychic Panther it will be for you from now on, Greg. Congratulations."

Shortly after being accepted, Greg was escorted to his quarters that he would be staying for awhile in case of urgent emergencies or missions. It was a bit of a tight space, but he can make the most of it by making it a bit lively. Greg carried several bags with him and started his unpacking when he got an unexpected guest.

"So...we meet again, Greg." Linn's voice called from behind him while he was preparing his quarters for living accommodations. He turned to see her dressed in a long flowing, light pink flower dress, which ended just above her thigh areas. "Looks like you changed your mind after all."

"Yeah, so it seems that way." Greg simply replied as he unpacked his suitcase. He seemed oblivious to the beauty she was displaying towards him.

"Looks like we'll be seeing more of each other, I'm really glad for this opportunity." Her smooth light brown face, being such a delectable sight to gaze at, gazed at Greg with a smile. "So...what codename did they give you?"

"They titled me, 'Psychic Panther'." Greg replied sternly, still unpacking.

"Really? I heard it was an honourable codename, the second best ranked one to the old ranking from FOXHOUND just below Big Boss." she asked. "I'm really amazed that you of all people would get to have it, I should congratulate you."

"I don't think its anything too important to make such a big deal out of. It's just a field name anyway, nothing more." Greg said. "In any case, what did they name you?"

"Silver Eagle, at your service." she replied. "But tell me...the first part of the codename, why Psychic?"

"Oh, you probably haven't seen me in the VR training room yet, haven't you?" Greg asked as she only shook her head. "The fact of the matter is that I'm really a psychic."

"You can't be serious." Linn chuckled a bit. "You don't look the type."

With a low sigh, Greg looked at the suitcase behind him as suddenly; it began to levitate on its own much to Linn's amazement. Then it began to spin around his body along with several articles laid out in the room.

"Now, do you believe me?" Greg asked. "And this is only a light amount of my power that I'm allowed to use right now. I'm only doing this so you wouldn't be confused about me."

"You're truly something, Greg." Linn said, leaning back as Greg stood up and lighted a cigarette.

"I doubt it…I've met some of the other recruits now joining up. They looked more skilled than I am right now." Greg spoke. "I've yet to meet those guys soon, one of them is supposed to be a former mercenary with years of experience, hope the chance comes soon so I can test his mettle."

"I've heard of them myself. And by the looks of things, you may get your ass kicked." Linn said.

"What makes you say that?" Greg asked, inhaling the smoke from the cigarette he lit.

"Two of them may have been part of FOXHOUND since Shadow Moses, but they were active long before. I heard this Michael Hansen guy is a razor sharp tactician and combat specialist to boot." Linn said to Greg.

"What codename they gave that guy?" Greg asked.

"Venom, I heard from Roy that he's immune to poisons for some reason." Linn said. "The other happens to be the mercenary I mentioned before who happens to have broken all the records in the CQC and No Weapons combat training under some impressive times. From the rumours I heard, he's probably the most physically skilled combatant in FOXHOUND right now."

Greg stayed silent as he let his head hang a bit. Taking the cigarette and putting it out on the ashtray nearby, he began walking towards Linn where he patted her shoulder.

"I see, I might go and look for this guy to check him out as well." Greg said. "Even if the chances of me losing are pretty high, I just want to get to know these guys. Just to break the ice between us, you know."

"But other than that, everyone else here is pretty nice." Linn said. "There are even teenagers who are part of the group now, it's truly something to behold."

"Yeah, it sure is." Greg said. "Well, thanks for filling me in, Linn Aramaki. I really enjoyed the talk. I do hope we will see each other in the field someday."

"Ah, yeah, same here." Linn said sullenly as she saw Greg walk off in the direction of Roy's office. He had such a serious look on his face that it bothered her somehow.

(He says he would enjoy his time here, but…something about his eyes isn't telling me the whole truth.) Linn thought to herself as she shrugged her shoulders. "Well, we've just met anyway, so I shouldn't be too thoughtful about his problems right away.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"You know, Greg, you got some strange reactions when it comes to the opposite sex." Rio lamented as she tended to Greg's cuts back in the present day.

"I really can't help it. If I didn't have to live isolated because of my powers at the time I discovered them, I doubt I would have problems talking to girls. You guys are different because you're family." Greg said as he flinched while Rio stitched his cuts.

"At least its good to know you had a good start in FOXHOUND." Rio lamented.

"Yes, that is true. I felt I was truly accepted in a place that truly needed my powers and skills." Greg said. "But somehow…I still feel weak compared to the others, no matter how much I say that I have their support."

"There you go again; I can't believe this thing about your powers is bothering you so much that you're full of doubt in yourself as usual." Rio said. (But then again, I'm sure this is the result of the past trauma that has been doing this to you, hasn't it?)

"Sorry if I still sound that way, sometimes I really can't help it." Greg said.

"Well, you really shouldn't act as if the situation is all that hopeless, you know?" Rio lamented. "In any case, you seemed to go pretty well with everyone in FOXHOUND in those days."

"Yeah, everyone was nice, alright. Despite getting beaten up by Michael and Garland often, the occasional breakups Linn and I had, it was pretty much routine for me." Greg said. "Except for one recruit that everyone really didn't like. He went by the name Han Zu Kang."

"I can't recall if you ever said anything to me about him." Rio said.

"There's good reason why. Not everyone I knew in FOXHOUND really liked that guy; he had this high and mighty attitude that really got on people's nerves, which made him Reese's most favorite recruit. He had quite a way on how he looked at individualism and really didn't care about his comrades as he would only follow Reese's orders instead of going against them if it would means contradicting the mission. One of our operatives, Carlos Santiago, died because of Han's decision to follow Reese's command." Greg explained.

"Please tell me that you didn't have to work with that guy." Rio said.

"Unfortunately, yes, a long time back." Greg said. "The guy really knew how to get on my case often, just because I was the one of the only few coloured operatives in the group. He made issues on my appearance a lot and even said some things about me and Linn."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

FOXHOUND Briefing Room, a rainy day in October of 2012…

Greg and Linn were joined by James 'Silent Scorpion' Masterson in Reese's office this morning and despite having to listen to the annoying superior, they were there to be briefed on a new mission. At the time, Greg and Linn were still partners, but were eventually seeing each other mutually.

"Where's the Colonel this morning?" Scorpion asked.

"Must be overseeing a mission for the recruits again…" Linn said, sighing as she looked at Greg. "Why do we even have to be here, Greg? This guy is up to no good again."

"Tell me about it." Greg simply replied, not facing her. "By chance he tried to harass you again like the last time?"

Linn looked at Greg with a near shameful look on her face as she nodded silently.

"Yeah, but at least one of the other recruits came by to rescue me in time." Linn said. "Marcus really could have given the guy a trashing if Campbell wasn't in the same room."

"Let me know if this gets more serious and we'll file a harassment case against Reese." Greg said. "Really, who booked this guy to be here in charge?"

Before more was said, Reese himself stepped in the office and another person was behind him, it was Han himself, dressed in his Sneaking Suit with a big smirk on his face.

"Oh, so you're here too?" Han simply said as he lifted his nose at Greg and his friends. "Well, this will be a joy for me since I'll be working with you today, so I don't want any of you to lag behind."

"Working today with us?" Linn asked as she looked at Reese. "What's the meaning of this, Lieutenant?"

"Let me explain the objective of the mission before I tell you why I've decided on including Han in your mission today, Aramaki." Reese said as he showed specific points on a map. "We've received intel that black market smugglers are transporting a new experimental bio weapon today across this area. Your mission is to intercept the smugglers and recover the bio weapon before it reaches the harbor where it will depart from the country."

"The smugglers, are they by any chance armed with weapons to defend themselves?" Greg asked. "They are carrying dangerous materials after all; they may have professionals guarding the transport as well."

"You always assume the worst, don't you, Kinezono?" Reese said to him, causing Greg to stare at him, eye widened while Han's grin got wider. "They are based from a small rural area after all, it is doubtful that they would be carrying weapons in a place where civilians are living."

"But, one can't be too sure about the manpower these smugglers have…" Linn said before she was cut off by Han.

"These smugglers are small fry, nothing the four of us can't handle." Han said as his look on Linn now unsettling while Greg lowered his gaze at him.

"Which brings me to ask why Han has to be included in this mission as well, Lieutenant?" Greg asked sternly. "Certainly, the other recruits are more qualified in devising a plan to…"

"His expertise would provide useful tact against the enemy, Kinezono. I'm certain his organized plan to stop the transport will work like clockwork."

"He is right. I'll see to it that this mission is carried out as the Lieutenant sees fit, one way or the other." Han said.

(You CAN'T be serious.) Greg thought to himself as he and his two comrades left the office along with Han. From the tension felt from both Scorpion and Linn, Greg knew it was a bad idea to let Han tag along with them. Greg knew that if Han screwed something up later, neither he nor Reese would be punished for it. He had to be prepared for anything this guy may do on his part which could be considered reckless.

The rest of the way was by the helicopter which took them where they were to be dropped to the transport point where they would then be taken to the warehouse where all the action was going down was quite silent, save for a few brash lectures from Han which were tuned out by Silent Scorpion, who did his best not to cut open the recruit with his Fate katana, while Linn sat on being uncomfortable all the way. Greg had his Codec on MP3 mode and on the loudest volume possible listening to Hostile Groove's '_Taste the Blood'_, Devil May Cry 3's main battle themes as he tried to formulate a plan for the mission. He really couldn't tolerate Han's stupid lectures anymore, especially if they would include lewd remarks about Greg's race.

As they reached the warehouse where the smugglers were bringing in the vans to load the rumored weapon, Han was the first to jump out the helicopter without waiting on his comrades. Greg suddenly reached out to grab him by his shoulder as he gave him a stern warning.

"What the hell are you doing?" Greg simply said to Han. "At least wait for orders first from the commander of the mission."

"I already know my orders from Reese and you should know we have no time to waste here." Han said to Greg as Eagle and Scorpion watched from behind. "Now, let me go and follow me."

"Wait a second; no one said anything about following your orders." Greg told him. "And even if we did, God knows what kind of disaster you will stir up."

"Am I sensing a mutiny?" Han asked.

"What if you are?" Greg simply asked with a dangerous glare in his eyes. "Are you going to do something about it?"

"I'll will report your insolence and rebellion to Reese when we get back to headquarters, do you hear me?" Han warned Greg. "He always told me to keep an eye on you and make sure you don't get into any kind of trouble, nothing good ever comes out from black people like you. You won't get away with this."

"Just try it." Greg said he suddenly swiped his right nano arm across Han's face, dazing him a little and then found himself with his face pressed on the concrete ground as Greg locked his arm behind his back as Greg pressed his body on top on Han's applying pressure on the recruit's face with his knee, bruising it.

"Greg!" Linn called out, but Scorpion simply shook his head at her.

"It's okay, Linn, he may be doing something right here." Scorpion said as Greg looked at Han up close and whispered to him.

"Normally, I'm a mild leveled kind of guy, but now, I'm really am annoyed with your attitude." Greg said to him as he took out a pair of hand cuffs and shackled his hands together.

"What the hell are you doing?" Han protested as Greg then confiscated Han of his weapons, which weren't much.

"Something that will guarantee the success of the mission without having any more of my friends dying because of your mistakes, Han Zu Kang." Greg said as he pressed his Codec. "Venom, this is Panther. I've reached the landing point with Eagle and Scorpion and am now awaiting orders."

"Alright. What about Han?" Michael's voice said as his face appeared on the other screen. "I've been told he's with you guys."

"He's a little tied up at the moment." Greg said, as Han kicked away. "It was a good thing I decided to call you before we got here and asked if you can help us, I really couldn't trust his judgment, you know."

"You made a wise choice, Greg. I didn't really trust him at all, but will the three of you be alright?" Venom asked.

"As long you're with us giving us back up, it will be more than alright." Greg said as Michael smiled.

"If that's okay with you, then, I'll do my best to assist, Greg. It was thoughtful of you to have called me for help." Michael said as Greg turned off the Codec and faced Han once more.

"We'll be leaving you here to see this mission through. At least you'll be safe for the time being." Greg said to him. "I promise I'll be back to pick you up when it's over."

"You can't do this to me, Kinezono!" Han shouted as Panther, Eagle and Scorpion walked away from Han. "Reese will have your head for this, do you hear me?"

Greg remained silent as he and his partners left a badly bruised Han to wriggle on the cold, wet, concrete as rain began to fall heavily on the compound and on him, totally drenching him.

Thanks to Michael's last minute intervention and Greg's quick thinking, the mission went rather well as Scorpion's coordinated sniping, Linn's interception and Greg's Grenadier skills brought the most efficient results into stopping the new weapon from being transported and even brought in a few of the smugglers in for interrogation.

At the end of it all, as some of the other FOXHOUNDers came to assist in the arrest of the smugglers and the collecting of the weapon, Greg even had the heart to get Han out of his handcuffs, but not before the disgruntled recruit tried to deck Greg for stopping him before the mission. However, before Han tried to hurt him, a hand stopped Han from advancing further.

"And do pray tell what is going on here?" Roy Campbell's voice said as he managed to stop Han from hitting Greg.

"This man rebelled against me and had me handcuffed, sir!" Han complained as he started to sneeze heavily. He must have been coming with a serious cold. "They went against direct orders Reese have given for the mission and had secretly gotten orders by Venom for the mission instead."

"Is this true, Panther?" The Col. asked Greg, as Greg knew this was the cue for the likes of Han to be defended by Roy Campbell. "Did you do all this behind Reese's back?"

"Yes, with good intentions, sir." Greg said sternly. "Han's interception in this mission would have under minded everything while I trusted Venom's help which would have the polar opposite effect. I had to take the measures to prevent him from causing any one in this team from either getting injured or worst because of his recklessness."

"You're one to talk!" Han shouted, as he tried to punch Greg once more, but the psychic coolly looked at him as Campbell spoke.

"Panther, even though the success rate of the mission was acceptable, what you did to Han was unacceptable." Campbell said. "In that case, I will ask that you have to answer to Reese first thing when you get back and see what kind of disciplinary action he has for what has taken place today."

Linn and Scorpion both gasped as they saw Greg lowered his eyes at Han once more in silence. They knew well Greg did what was right for the mission and they hardly have anything to complain about it, but does he have to be punished for making the right choice?

"I understand, sir. I understand fully well." Greg said sternly as Han smirked at Greg as he left together with Campbell. Linn came to Greg with a look of disbelief on her face.

"This isn't right, Greg." Linn said to him. "As far as I know it, Han should be the one going to the brig, not you."

"It will be fine, Linn. Two weeks in the cell is something I can live with." Greg simply said to her. "Compared to what happened today, Han may end up getting into an even worse situation later on with someone else in the group. Just give it time, you can bet the way he's going, someone else from FOXHOUND will teach him something before I work with him again."

Linn looked on at Greg as he smiled at her and Scorpion as he spoke again. "But enough about him, we three along with Michael's support did rather well today, don't you think?"

"Yeah, I was actually glad things went well." Scorpion said nodding at Greg.

"Me too. At least no one on our side got hurt today." Linn said as Greg noticed the different look in her eyes which mad Greg ponder.

"Is something the matter?" Greg asked.

"You were worried about us when Han joined up today, weren't you?" Linn asked. "Is that why you had to stop him?"

"Of course I was." Greg said. "It was the first time I did something that crazy, but the safety of you guys comes first than anything else on a mission. I want to do what I can to watch over you guys always."

Linn couldn't help but think that it was kind of noble that Greg had to stop Han like that before things got worse. But this only made the rift between Han and other fellow FOXHOUNDers like themselves to widen. Greg will have to careful from now on when facing Han next time,

"Come on, guys, we need to get back to HQ." Scorpion said as they left the compound.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Wow, that was kind of cool for you to do that, Greg." Rio said as she had been listening to Greg's story. "You did the right thing then to stop that guy from causing any problems."

"If you say so, but really, I wanted to do more than just handcuff him and bruise his pretty face." Greg said with a light grin. "Still, I had to spend time in the brig for at least a week by Reese because of it. He wasn't all too happy when he heard what had happened."

"So what happened to that Han guy?" Rio asked.

"Well, I wasn't around when it happened, but Riku gave me the details of what really happened. Not too long after that incident, Han, Maggie, Garland and Michael went on a mission on their own, where I heard there were complications caused by Han's part, as he had injured Maggie because she didn't follow orders." Greg said.

"Orders from Reese, nonetheless." Rio said.

"Right. It was then Han started a little rebellion on his own as he would have killed Maggie then if Garland and Michael hadn't shot at him, killing the guy first." Greg explained. "His body ended up being turned into processed meat by machine gears afterwards when his body fell into, so there was hardly anything worth collecting for the funeral. Not even his brother wanted to pay for it and to make matters worse, we had to pay for it. He died a poor, lonely man and wasn't liked even by his own family, quite miserable, isn't it?"

Rio couldn't help but snicker to this as Greg then thought to himself a bit before he spoke.

"Which reminds me, they are supposed to be burying the former NERV commander in a couple of days soon, I hope I can at least be back in Tokyo-3 when this is over to see if anyone will be going to pay any respects that man deserved." Greg said. "But from what I gathered from the few of the friends from NERV I made before coming over here, that is unlikely as I doubt anyone would care."

"Sounds like not even a powerful man who was in charge of the base responsible for holding off the Angels is appreciated, huh?" Rio asked. "I wonder why?"

"I can always ask for a list of reasons once this is over. Be expecting a very long one though." Greg said as both he and Rio laughed together. It was a comfortable time that they can spend together as family.

The ring tone of the Codec had somehow ceased the laughter, knowing that it has to be someone from FOXHOUND who is calling Greg. They looked at each other silently as Rio patted his back.

"It will be okay; I'll sit over here and act like I'm not around." Rio winked at Greg. "Go ahead."

"Thanks, sensei." Greg nodded as he then picked up his Codec and answered it. "Psychic Panther here."

The other end was another fellow FOXHOUNDer, Maggie 'Eden Puma' Thompson, a female recruit who gifted and cursed with the necromancer ability to communicate to and listen to the dead, as well as summoning their essences. She was of American decent with brown streaked blonde hair with a near petite appearance that still remained attracted among the other female recruits of the group. She had been in FOXHOUND since long before the full reformation shortly after Shadow Moses and is currently Garland's love interest.

"Come on, Greg, I was told you're not on a mission right now, so you don't have to say the codename like that."

"Maggie? Why are you calling me? "Greg asked almost surprised.

"Well, I was kind of worried on how a psychic recruit like you would be doing if he's not in Tokyo-3 at this time and not stirring up some kind of trouble. Something has to be very wrong here." Maggie said jokingly.

"Really, Maggie, I want to laugh, but I can't right now." Greg said. "It's just a very personal matter regarding family issues that heeded my attention and I just couldn't turn away from them when they need me the most."

"Always the family man, huh?" Maggie said to him. "In any case, I'm calling you to discuss about this thing with Reese."

"Wait a second…did Garland and Michael tell you what I said to them?" Greg asked.

"Uh-huh, I'm sure they were only thinking about you when they decided to call me, Greg." Maggie said.

"Okay, but at least let my surrogate mother listen to this as well, she's here with me." Greg said as he looked at Rio. "Sensei, I will need you to turn on your Codec and meet a fellow comrade from FOXHOUND. She's the necromancer recruit I mentioned to you a while back."

Rio nodded as she switched on her Codec and her face appeared while she greeted herself to Maggie Thompson.

"Hey, there, you must be one of Greg's old friends, huh?" Rio said to Maggie. "I'm Rio, nice to meet you."

"It's good to meet you too, miss Rio Kinezono." Maggie said as she bowed to Rio. "I did wish it was under better circumstances, Garland told me all of the details about what has happened from Greg."

"I see. Well, don't let it get to you, at least I'm still kicking and that's all that matters." Rio said.

"Greg, you really would be the envy of the entire male population of FOXHOUND if the other guys find out how incredibly pretty your mom looks." Maggie said as Greg flushed with crimson.

"Enough of the teasing already, Maggie. It's time we got to the heart of the issue here." Greg said as he looked serious. "Didn't you call me to tell me something I should know about Mantis?"

"Yes, Garland said it probably be relevant to this situation which could help you. Do you want me to connect him and Michael so they can help fill you in?" Maggie asked.

"Yes, please." Greg said sternly as the Codec screen from Maggie's side was now on Garland Durev's and Michael Hansen's faces.

"Hey, Greg, I take it that you're ready to learn something I should have said to you a long time ago." Garland said to him. "It could prove useful if this bit of news can help you find your sister."

"I'm ready for anything you will say to me, Garland." Greg said seriously. "Even if it's probably something I may not like to hear."

"But I'll be right here with you, Greggie. It's going to be okay." Rio said to him from outside the Codec.

"Thanks, sensei." Greg nodded at her.

"You'd better listen up good to what I have to say about this, Greg." Maggie spoke as she prepared herself for a long speech. "It happened during a mission I was sent to infiltrate Shadow Moses sometime after Snake became a legend there. It was there I also met Garland."

"I never knew that." Greg simply said.

"Well, now you know." Garland replied.

"Did you have any idea to as what you were doing on that island, Maggie?" Greg asked.

"Yes, I had my mission objectives." She replied. "But it's kind of a long story."

"I bet it is." Greg said.

"Don't fall asleep." She smiled at Greg.

"I got hot coffee brewing on a bon fire and my surrogate mother watching over me. It will be impossible for me do so right now." Greg said seriously.

"Just a year after Shadow Moses, only a small faction of FOXHOUND remained, except for the founding members." Maggie explained. "Only Campbell and Meryl stayed behind to make sure the pieces that were left behind from that famous mission."

"That means Snake, Mei-Ling, and Naomi had left the group to form Philanthropy, if memory serves correct." Greg said. "Nastasha Romanenko somehow retired from that job to work on her story and Otacon joined Philanthropy afterwards to kick things off."

"Right. At the time, Reese was also still one of the high commanding officers of the then disbanding group." Maggie said. "Before FOXHOUND totally had been claimed disbanded by the public and to the world, I was sent to Shadow Moses on what it seems to be the last mission for FOXHOUND..."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Flashback to Shadow Moses, while Alaska was still in the barren freezing temperatures, in the basement levels of the facility...

(Is this really the Commander's room where the corpse is supposed to be?) Asked a younger Maggie Thompson, wearing a B.D.U of a green colour, and holding unto an assault rifle. Behind her was Garland Durev, who seemed to have been unaffected by the hard battles that he went through just to get down to the basement levels of the Nuclear Storage Building. During the time, he was on an assigned mission as a mercenary who went by the codename, 'Bloody Hands.'

"Something wrong, Maggie?" Garland asked, surveying the room. "You seemed more unsettled than before the moment we stepped in."

"No, it must be my imagination." she replied.

"Could it be your necromancer powers kicking in again?" Garland asked. "This is the place where Psycho Mantis supposedly had died."

"Most probably." Maggie simply replied. She hadn't told Garland the details as yet, but her orders were to infiltrate the facility of the nuclear base and recover the dead bodies of any of the rogue FOXHOUND members. Using her special necromancer ability, she had been using it to track any sign of any of the deceased recruits. She had been given the right descriptions of who to look for, but she still can't comprehend on the fact of why she would have been sent on this mission despite the fact she was a new recruit with hardly any experience suited for this mission. If it wasn't for Garland's arrival some time before, a worst fate would have befallen her by now.

"But I can sense that this room once had a fierce battle...the essence of death is getting stronger from here on..." She spoke sullenly.

"Let's investigate some more, shall we?" Garland said, as he began to walk towards the hidden corridor which leads to the outside of the room. A little way after exiting the room, the two stopped to see a makeshift hole in the stone wall near the door, with long icicles covering it. Maggie cannot see inside the dark hole too well, but she can see a mummy wrapped corpse that was stained with blood around the chest area.

(That must be him...) Maggie taught to herself. Before Garland can spot what she was holding in a free left hand, she snuck a tiny transmitter near the body. (Hopefully, the signal can be picked up by the Black Ops that supposed to confiscate the body, just as Campbell said.)

"Maggie, don't fall behind." Garland called to her as she suddenly looked in his direction.

"I'm right behind you." Maggie said as she caught up with the burly mercenary.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Back to the present...over Greg's Codec screen...

"So, in short, you discovered Mantis's corpse, didn't you?" Greg asked.

"Yes, I did manage to find the corpses of both Mantis and Sniper Wolf. That was the orders I was given to infiltrate Shadow Moses by Reese of all people." Maggie explained. "That was the mission I was given and I hid it from everyone else for all this time…"

"Maggie, I'm not blaming you for this." Greg said. "Certainly if anyone knew Reese's intentions then, it would have been a different story. But we really can't go back and stop it from happening, can we?"

"Even still, it wasn't right for Mantis to be have been manipulated for this, I feel responsible now knowing that he has hurt a family of a friend of mine." Maggie said.

"Like I said before, I'm not angry at you for this. None of us could have known." Greg said as he faced Garland's screen now. "And Garland...you had any idea of this?"

"No way, Greg. If I did, you would have been the first to know right away." Garland confessed. "I had my separate mission to see about, but I had little idea about Maggie's mission and how it would affect all of us."

"In any case, did Campbell ever know about your mission, Maggie?" Rio asked, cutting in the conversation.

"No, he was never notified that I even went on a mission anyway." Maggie replied.

"Well, I guess the routine that Reese is famous forhasn't changedfrom that time." Rio said.

"Let them finish, Rio." Greg said as he allowed Maggie to continue.

"When Mantis was recovered, his body was still in satisfactory condition because of how the dead body was preserved in the thermal wrapping, to keep his skin from decomposing. All that was required was an electrical heart massage to bring Mantis back to life again and a reconstructive plastic surgery for Wolf." Maggie said.

"Not doubt with endorsements by Reese and the Patriots." Greg said.

"Those bastards took away Mantis's memory of peace and happiness when he died after his fight with Snake and warped his mind into something worst." Rio said, gritting her teeth. "They turned him into a killing machine and made him do things against his will."

"Is that what really happened?" Garland asked. "How did you know about all of that, Greg?"

"A friend of the family told us about Reese and his atrocities. That's all I can tell you for now, Garland, until everything's clear." Greg replied.

"Okay then, as far we can guess, Mantis was brought back to be a slave for the Patriots and Reese. Sniper Wolf was also brought back for pursuing Scorpion in his recent mission in Cuba." Garland said.

"What happened to Wolf?" Greg asked.

"Scorpion managed to kill her according to intel. As far as we know it, she came like a surrogate mother to him; she taught him all she knew about sniping and the art of killing." Garland said.

"He must still be going through a tougher time than I thought." Greg said.

"In any case, Mantis has to be stopped before something happens to Lilica." Rio said. "That is why I'm helping Greg get through this by the time to rescue her has come."

"And how do you propose to do that?" Maggie asked. "Greg, do you think you're strong enough to even reverse the damage that the Patriots have done to him? Now that we know that it's possible of brainwashing a psychic strong as he is, it may be impossible to break their effect on him."

"I'm not sure...but..." Greg stopped midway as he shook hid head. "I can't just willingly hurt someone like Mantis without knowing why he's doing this. There's more to this than meets the eye here. He may be hiding something important we need to know."

"What about Reese? He's the cause of all these problems; he should be dealt with accordingly." Garland said.

"Reese…" Greg muttered as he then thought about Yuina Hattori now. "Because of him bringing Mantis back, he had managed to bring even an innocent into this mess. I really can't just be laid back about this matter from now on."

"Yuina Hattori?" Maggie asked.

Greg sighed and held back his head. "A sophomore that was rumored to have hidden powers. She was snatched by Mantis from her aunt. I was told that she died trying to protect Yuina when Mantis attacked their home. Her caretaker came to my family looking for help and then one thing lead to another."

"How horrible. Now, this just keeps getting even worse." Maggie shook her head.

"Okay, Greg...we understand the situation. Now it seems Mantis has two hostages." Garland nodded his head. "If need be, we'll deal with Reese when the time comes and if he's holding back anything we can use while we're searching for the Patriots, it will be forced out of him."

"Hold on, you told me I will be getting support. Just telling me about what Maggie's involvement in finding Mantis's corpse alone isn't going to do much." Greg said.

Garland nodded his head. "Don't you worry; I didn't plan to leave you without some helping hands, Greg. I thought ahead that even with Team WARRIOR and your skills, Mantis may have some manpower to defend him. So, I contacted one of my old merc groups, the Shinsengumi to come on over to your place to help you out."

"Shinsengumi…I thought I heard about them from somewhere." Greg tried to think back. (I actually heard there were two of these groups under the same name anyway, and they all consist of the female gender. I even heard Riku muttered their name a while back during a mission in the past, but I've never actually seen them…)

"They are the famed trio of women skilled in combat and mostly, sword fighting, famous among certain mercenaries like me." Garland said. "Anyway, I asked Naomi where you could be staying and she told me the address. So be expecting them in the morning, bright and early."

"You said these girls are famous around mercenaries. Do we have to pay them for their services?" Rio asked.

"Relax, miss Kinezono. They have already decided to do me a favour and help you out, so you don't have to worry about paying them." Garland said to her.

"Garland, even if you manage to beat me down time and time again, you're still a good friend." Greg smiled. "We really appreciate the extra help."

"Hey, anything to make sure that you'll get through this without getting killed, Greg. I know family is important, but remember that you still have to come back to us after this mess is over so we can go altogether and punish Reese for what he has done." Garland said.

"I really doubt you need my help in that, but we'll see." Greg simply said. "Anyways, it's getting pretty late here; I have to continue my training for awhile longer."

"Okay, Greg. Take care of yourself." Maggie said as she logged off.

"We'll make sure to talk to you again when we uncover more information you should know about, Greg." Garland said. "I would be extremely from now on careful if I were you."

"I will. Thanks for the company." Greg said as he turned off this Codec, then facing Rio.

"So, Greg, what now?" she asked.

'Well, now we know Reese was truly behind bringing Mantis back to life and brainwashing him, something has to be done and right now I'm working on it." Greg replied.

"Just don't push yourself too much or you'll open your wounds again." Rio lamented.

"If that's the case, you should stay close by and make sure something we don't like doesn't happen." Greg said, stretching his arms. "Do you want me to show you what I managed to have controlled so far?"

"By all means, go on ahead." Rio said to Greg as she sat back and paid attention to her surrogate son's skills as a psychic soldier. For the next hour, Rio supervised Greg in gracefully using his pryokinetic powers along with his combat skills, as he endured a great deal of concentration to maintain balance of his mind when he used his powers every time. She made sure to help him up every time he fell on his knees or when it was time to take his pills. She had to support him since it bothered her that she felt Lilica's safety was riding on his actions and choices he will make.

There was a six hour break between the late night into the morning as Greg used this chance to rest and recover some of the wounds and cuts he had during the training. Rio used the tent he slept in, while Greg used a sleeping bag. By the time morning came, Greg was already up while Rio slept in a little late. He couldn't help but smile as she snored away in the tent, thinking it was best not to wake her just yet.

"My…Greggie…" Rio called out as Greg stopped midway, preparing coffee.

(Could she be dreaming about me?) Greg thought to himself.

"Please…don't take away my Greg from me." Rio finished as Greg's thoughts became more serious.

(What was that about?) Greg thought as he then heard his Codec ring once more. Knowing it could be a possible call from FOXHOUND once more, he answered.

"This is Panther." Greg simply said.

"Good morning, Kinezono." A young girl's voice was heard at the other end, and Greg almost didn't recognize it if it weren't so silent. He instantly caught on with the tone of the girl's voice before her face appeared on the other Codec screen. It was Rei Ayanami, the First Child. Greg was almost surprised to see her even call him up like this.

"The First Child?" Greg looked at Rei in surprise for awhile. "This is certainly a surprise. Is there any particular reason why you contacted me?"

"I have been seeking to ask you a question before you departed from Tokyo- 3, but I had to ask Masterson for your frequency." Rei replied.

"I see. Sorry I had to put you through the trouble of finding out my frequency from my comrades." Greg said.

"It is of no problem, but have I interrupted you from something important, Kinezono?"

"Not really, I'm just about to start my day off." Greg said. "So...what is it that you wanted to ask me?"

"Kinezono...ever since the last Angel invaded the city..." Rei stopped for a moment.

"The one that managed to get into the GeoFront?" Greg asked.

"...why did you do it?" she asked.

"Excuse me" Greg asked.

"Why did you risk your life to protect the inhabitants of NERV and of your own comrades, as well as Ikari and myself and by us time?" Rei asked. "You would have been killed during the encounter, but you willingly threw yourself in front of the enemy to defend us. Do you not know of the power that the Angels wield?"

"About that, I really ask myself why I did it. You can say it was impulse on my part that made me do such a crazy and stupid thing." Greg said. "Even now when I think of it, I'm not really proud of what I have done, even though it may have saved people for a bit. I would have been easily killed, but it seemed I got off easy for now."

"But you certainly did something possibly no other human couldn't. "She replied. "Do you put that much trust in your abilities, Kinezono?"

"No, not all the time. I actually don't trust them all the time, really." Greg said to Rei. "They have put me through so much and I've even hurt someone dear to me in the past quite gravely. But still, I want to use them for what's important to me. I want to protect the people and the time I spend which I hold close to my heart."

"I guess that's why I had to use my powers is because I'm probably asking for some kind of retribution for the things I may have done in the past. Until then, the only thing that matters is making sure the people around me won't have to suffer as some other people I know did. There are others who have gone through even worse suffering than I have, but they are still headstrong about the problems they are faced with." Greg said. "The most I could do is learn from each of my friends that I'm not alone in this fight and that is what keeps me going despite the hardships."

Rei looked at Greg silently for a moment, thinking of how Shinji went all out to prevent the 14th Angel to attack Unit 00 and in the result when his Evangelion lost power; it came to life and absorbed his life force into itself. He was obviously doing what he could to protect her, Misato Katsuragi and the people at NERV and FOXHOUND.

"Is something wrong, Rei?" Greg asked.

"I was only thinking of Ikari." Rei replied.

"His actions must have been the same as mine." Greg said. "I risked my life to defend the city and protect my loved ones, while he fought to do the same. But, I do hope he didn't have to die for it...sacrificing yourself to save others will only bring more grief. There's certainly no reason to throw your own life away to make that happen, Rei. There's more to life than it looks."

"And what about Aramaki?" Rei asked. "Did you do what you have to do because of her?"

"Certainly." Greg replied. "She's one of the reasons why I decided I couldn't give up on myself or on others, no matter how big or impossible difficulties seem. I doubt I would have been myself as I am today without her. There was something my master said to me years ago while I started to train, something that I drummed to the back of my head since that time she told me...would you like to hear it?"

"Yes, please." Rei replied kindly.

"He asked if I was still weak in terms of my strength. After I was able and still up to this time, to acknowledge it, he then said to me to treasure my weakness. Without anyone to protect, my strength is but a foolish one that will only lead to self destruction." Greg said. "I'm certain that is something you can ponder on, Rei Ayanami."

"I'll certainly will." Rei said.

"I do hope I have answered your question, but sometimes it's better to find out yourself when the time comes. It's better that that way." Greg said.

"I do not understand, Kinezono." Rei simply replied.

"You will eventually. You can ask Garland or Michael if you are still unclear on it." Greg said.

"I have most certainly enjoyed talking to you, Kinezono. I must be attending school now." Rei said to him sullenly.

"Well, be well then." Greg said as the Codec then turned off at her end. Greg sigh some a bit as he stood up, only to see Rio wearing her casual clothing. Her long blonde hair was loose which now covered her back and she was holding unto a towel along with a bar of soap and pail.

"Who were you talking to?" Rio asked.

"She was one of the Evangelion pilots. She wanted to find out a bit of why I use my powers." Greg simply said. "It was quite a bit of a mystery why she would ask me though, but now it reminded me of something important for this bit of training."

"Well, the answer's obvious, isn't it?" Rio said. "You fight to protect a future for those who would soon inherit the things us humans are meant to enjoy in life. You are a psychic guardian fitted for the role of ensuring this reality happens as you really can't give up on hope, now that there are people counting on you to help them always.

"You are right." Greg simply replied. "And I certainly can't afford to get over my head either about this thing with Reese. Getting Lilica and Yuina back safe are most important to me, as well trying to find a way to restore Mantis to his former self."

"Well, I shouldn't be stopping you from going on with your training. I'm going up to the waterfall for a quick skinny dip." Rio said.

"Alright then." Greg answered, turning around as a question mark appeared on top over her head. "Hey, is something wrong, sensei?"

"You're starting to creep me out, Greg." Rio simply said.

"Hey! What a thing to say to your own darling student." Greg said. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Your weird reaction to women strikes again. Something must be wrong with you." Rio shrugged her shoulders.

"Sensei, not now, please. I want to complete my training before sunset at least. "Greg said. "I'll be just fine."

"Alright, alright. I won't press you any longer. I guess this is why you're one of the Four Horsemen of Apocalypse, you can be such a straight arrow sometimes." Rio shook her head as she then took up a bar of soap nearby along with a pail as she began to walk off while Greg looked up to the sky and started to practice his skills once more while he reminisced another important memory.

(I guess it has always been like this, hasn't it, Linn?) Greg asked himself. (Ever since that time.)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

It was a Wednesday afternoon, August 5th 2013. Silent Scorpion, Berserker Demon, Drakken, Silver Eagle, and Panther himself were assigned to rescue a group of children who were kidnapped by a group of para-military troops who were revealed to have deep connections to a recent uprising of drug, weapon, and slavery charges by a hidden faction of the Romanian government. Most likely, the Patriots were behind these inhuman acts.

The group had infiltrated a deserted farmhouse on the outskirts of the Romanian city, where Silent Scorpion picked two sentries clean with only two sniper shots that were patrolling from near the gate. According to Campbell's intel, there was a mansion close by where the group's ringleader was supposed to be staying. That was the target for the group.

"I still don't understand why all of us have to come..." Scorpion muttered, while gripping on to his sniper rifle.

"Well, that was Campbell's order, and I can't say I blame him for those orders. There are about fifty plus young hostage victims in that prison that we're looking for." Riku replied. "Nagu alone won't be able get half of them out of there, not in a single trip anyway, which is why Greg's here to hijack one of their transports and get them out of here, while the rest of us are to go for the leader."

"So far, there don't seem to be any problems..." Linn looked around, before cautiously walking forward. Greg followed her; just to make sure she didn't step on any mines that could be lying about. So far, thanks to the thermal goggles he made sure to bring, he didn't see any. But the daylight was still bright, making it possible for everyone to easily to be spotted, and they had to move fast if they wanted to get out alive with the children.

The group stopped at what it seemed to be the middle gathering area of the compound and then they heard the Codec rang. It was Lt. Matthew Reese.

"I take it that you've successfully infiltrated the compound?" Reese asked. There were a couple of grumbles from Riku and Greg, as they still had to get used to Reese taking over this mission since Roy was on sick leave. Linn was the one who replied.

"Yes, sir. No hitches so far." Eagle replied.

"You now must perform your assigned duties. Panther, locate an available air transport and have it ready. Eagle, you and Drakken go out to locate the children and Scorpion, your task is to eliminate the ringleader of this military group with Berserker Demon's assistance." Reese commanded. "You all have only forty minutes until Nagu gets the command to arrive at your location. By that time, you should be ready."

The Codec logged off and Greg was the first to talk. "Forty minutes alone isn't enough to get all of that done, you all know that?"

Garland nodded in agreement. "Well, we just need to do what we are told. Thank God that Venom decided to mark out the possible locations on the Soliton radars where those kids were being held before we got here. This should make things easier for us."

"We may still need to contact him now and again for further aid." Greg said seriously.

"Let's move out." Scorpion said, leaving in another direction with Garland. Riku began to walk in another opposite direction, as Linn followed. But Greg's right hand grabbed her arm before she separated from him.

"Be careful. I got a bad feeling about this place." Greg warned her. She simply smiled at him

"Don't you worry. You know I've got a good hand with children and I also have Riku to help me here." She smiled at him. "We'll be back with our extra guests soon enough."

"Okay then. We'll take care of things on our end." Greg simply said, turning to head towards a separate direction; he then turned to Garland. "Demon, if it's alright, I'll go on ahead just to make sure things are all clear."

"Alright, but be careful." Garland replied seriously.

Greg then headed off to look for any transport around, and saw only the armoured tanks and several jeeps, but no helicopter that will help with the transport. Knowing that he had no time to waste; he simply paced his movement towards the small hut at the side of the parking lot and planted a C4 near the entrance and another underneath one of the jeeps.

Before he made a step, he pulled back his head only to see a large built soldier pass him; he had a large machete strapped across his back and was holding a large submachine gun in his right hand. Greg took a look at this man and saw that he could easily put Vulcan Raven to shame, because this man looked like he could move dangerously if underestimated. From his distance, Greg could see the man speaking into a radio.

"Yes, Commander. We have the armaments ready for them just as you promised..." he spoke in a deep accent. "They have no idea that we were expecting them to come for those children. They all wasted their time, and soon their lives...into thinking they could get away with bringing us down."

(They knew we were coming and prepared themselves, which isn't good.) Greg thought to himself, keeping a straight face. (I've got to warn everyone at once.)

"No, we haven't delayed the delivery to the underground in the States. Things will go according to plan once these meddlesome FOXHOUND commandos are eliminated." The man said with a smile on his. "Over and out."

As soon he disconnected, Greg touched the Codec call button. The person that he met on the other end was Linn. He wasted no time getting set to warn her about the trap that was set.

"Eagle! Get out of there now with Drakken!" Greg shouted over the Codec. Linn looked at Greg in a surprised look.

"Panther! What is it?" Linn asked. "Is something wrong?"

"These guys somehow knew we were coming and have set up several ambushes around. This place is going to be under serious heat if we don't move fast." Greg said.

"But we already have found the children. We're just getting them out now." Drakken replied. Just then from his end, the door busted down on the floor.

"There they are! Get them!" one of the troops shouted from the background of Linn's Codec. A sound of gunfire was then heard, as static took over.

"Linn! Riku!" Greg shouted. "Damn, it has started!"

Gripping on his grenade gun, he stepped up, only to be faced with a large shotgun in his face.

"CLICK!" was the sound Greg heard from cocking of the gun in his face. He didn't even glare at the side to see the large man smiling at the intruder.

"FOXHOUND really went through a lot of trouble trying to take out our reputation, now this will be such a great victory for us when we will eliminate everyone one of you and use those children in our custody for the most...useful, purposes that our governors will find interest of." The man said.

"You think you will get away with this?" Greg simply replied, without easily showing any emotion. "You know you won't be getting away with this when we find your leader."

"Ha! Seems that the information you received was wrong. I'm that commander that you were sent to kill!" he said.

(Don't tell us we've been misinformed by Reese again!) Greg thought to himself. (Got to act fast now or else…)

Greg simply raised his right arm, that was covered in the long red cloak and punched the shotgun out of harm's way before it fired. But before Greg can reach for his USP, a sharp pain was felt from behind his back. A bullet had been shot from one of the sentries that were hiding out from behind the ringleader. Greg fell one knee. He felt the stinging, then a burrowing at the right side of his body, just behind his liver. The bullet stayed inside his body.

"This is where I get to finish you off." The man said cocking the gun at Greg's head closer. "Say good...ARRGH!"

Greg heard a blood curdled sound from the man, as his throat was embedded with a large bowie knife. Scorpion had just entered the area, picking off the three sentries that surrounded Greg. As the large ringleader fell back, Greg had to step aside before the gun went off, missing his head twice.

"Thanks, Scorpion. I owe you one." Greg looked at the dead bodies around him and then held unto his side, which was now drenched in blood.

"Greg, this was a botch. They knew we were coming." Scorpion replied. "What now?"

"Both Eagle and Drakken are in trouble, as well as those kids. I have to get to them." Greg said. "Where's Demon?"

"He's clearing a path for an escape. He spotted where we can get everyone out of here in one trip by an old ferry behind the mansion."

"You go and help him out; the chances are that he's probably in True Dread trying not to go Beserk." Greg said. "We'll be joining you soon with the children. If I'm not back in thirteen minutes, leave without me. I can always escape in the Harrier."

James saw the wound on Greg's body. "You'll be okay?"

"I'll be fine. I'll just use these for now." Greg said as he took out some painkillers. With a bottle of natural water he also would carry with him, Greg took a swig of the drink and swallowed a handful of the tablets quickly."

"I'll be there to join you guys shortly, just go and clean house." Greg said as he started to run off, as James headed to his direction. When the scene was quiet, the movement of the large dead man's fingers could be seen moving slightly.

As Greg continued running, he heard the Codec rang. It was Reese at the other end.

"Panther! That area is highly dangerous with enemy fire! Do not proceed any further!" Reese commanded.

"And abandon my comrades? I can't really do that now, can I, Lieutenant?" Greg replied loudly, checking his RGB-6 for ammo and the wound he got. Swallowing a bit, he tore of piece of the nanomachines like a clog of living moss from his right arm and placed the colonies where the bullet wound was to stop the blood loss. Grimacing a bit as the nanomachines found a temporary new home on his body, Greg felt some stamina returning.

"This is the most I can do until I get some better medical attention." Greg said as he stopped at a corner and watched enemy sentries enter the old farmhouse that the fight ensued. He still had a USP with only 26 rounds of ammo, and some frag grenades as well. He also was carrying an empty Nikita missile launcher as well.

"You will obey the command that is given to you! Retreat now if you value your own life." Reese said.

"You should know that I can't just leave them behind!" Greg replied.

"You will return to Scorpion's and Demon's positions as of now and let Eagle and Drakken handle things."

"I've had enough of listening to you. I'm not leaving any of them behind and that is final." Greg growled as he switched off Reese's frequency suddenly as he then switched to Venom's own. "Venom, do you copy?"

"I'm here, Panther. What's the situation?" he said with a concerned, yet focused look on his face. "I was told by Scorpion about what has happened."

"I'm right in front where Eagle and Drakken are caught in some serious crossfire." Greg shouted. "If I don't intercept now…"

"Take it easy, Panther. Demon is on the way to assist you now. You'll go in following his lead." Venom said as if on cue, a blood covered Berserker Demon appeared aside Greg.

"I made it, Venom." Garland spoke calmly, despite his appearance and how Greg couldn't stop looking at him in his state. It was obvious he must have gone berserk or just really made one big mess holding the fort where he was.

"Alright, Demon, Panther, the two of you will flank the enemy from the front that is where most of them will be by now." Venom said. "A few of the hostiles are situated at the back area as well."

"We got you." Demon said as he turned off the Codec and he stared at his comrade. "You ready to raise some hell, Panther?"

"Sure." Greg said seriously, clenching his right wrist. The two rivals stared on at the door as Greg used his psychic powers to blast the heavy door off its hinges, knocking down two soldiers who were behind it. Garland wasted no time as he dashed faster than Greg's eye could see as he was now taking down soldiers in severe knockdown blows from his gauntlet worn fists and feet, while Greg picked up an M4 on the ground and aimed the gun at his north left and fired three shots at the sentry that cocked his shotgun at Greg. A shot was heard, but Greg had already cart wheeled to the side, before taking out a frag grenade and holding it in case, looking for another target.

Demon, who had just flattened over five of the sentries by now using his complex strength, saw Greg in this state as the psychic stared at him back in silence before suddenly whipping out his USP and shooting in succession three sentries above him on their vital points.

(Is this Greg's form of a Sixth Sense?) Garland thought as he saw Greg moved at a controlled pace, firing his USP at the door in front of them, before throwing the grenade in the passage way, killing two sentries who were waiting for them.

"Let's move." Greg said to Garland in what it sounded to be the most serious deadpan tone he had ever heard from him yet. Not waiting to observe Greg's shift in attitude any longer, the two men entered, as Greg had his USP and now a Bowie knife ready while Garland had his own hand gun on the ready.

Greg and Garland proceeded to meet more sentries in the proceeding levels into a basement area. Greg stopped to take out his handgun and fired at one of the sentries, before he threw the knife at sentry's comrade. This gave Garland the chance to rush in and slam the wounded sentry to the ground, while he took out the others with his brute attacks of Jeet Kun Do mastery.

"We're almost there, Panther." Garland said to his partner, who nodded to him silently as the right side of his face was now covered in blood. Garland kicked down the door while Greg was now holding unto his grenade gun. He instantly fired it at the ground in front of him, as two sentries met their ends.

"Eagle!" Greg shouted as he walked on to see in a large room, several corpses lay about, while Riku was near one of the corners of the wall, tending to an unconscious Linn who was surrounded by small children. Greg came closer to his partner and saw blood protruded near her heart, while Garland helped Riku up.

"She took a shot trying to protect one of the kids before she managed to get some of them." Riku said miserably. Greg gritted his teeth, while Garland checked her pulse.

"She's still breathing, but has got a weak pulse." Garland said. "We have to get her out of here. Drakken, you have guide the kids out of here, Greg, you'll have to carry Linn out of here."

"But, I want to help you clear out of here." Greg said as Garland shook his head.

"You've done enough getting here; I don't want you to push yourself more than you're already doing." Garland said, noting the wound on Greg's body. "Besides, you're responsible for her life now. If anything happens to her, you know I won't forgive you."

"I…I understand. I'll do my best for her." Greg nodded as he took Linn by the shoulder. "Oh, one more thing, Garland."

"What is it?" Garland asked before he and Riku left with the children.

"Thanks for the back up." Greg simply said seriously as he carried her off.

"Come on, Drakken. We have to get these children out of danger. I'll take us to a shortcut." Garland said; as he crashed open a door which leads to the back of the house with sound deafening blow. "We can leave through here."

"O-okay..." Riku said, holding unto his shuriken and returning them into the holster of his Sneaking Suit. He grouped the young children into a line and led them out along with Garland. As he passed, he saw the hell Greg and Garland raised just to get there while he saw Greg leave in a different direction.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Greg followed with Linn on his shoulders, as he stopped outside the farmhouse, just a few meters where the Harrier was located outside the compound.

"We're almost there, Linn. Just hang on." Greg said as carried her.

"Uhhh…" Linn moaned in pain, but at least it was enough of an answer to him. However, before he stopped, he met an unexpected snag. It was the ringleader of the paramilitary group who still had the knife Scorpion threw at him in his neck.

"Not now of all times." Greg muttered as he laid Linn down near a wall, but he placed his cloak around her body to keep it warm and let the nanomachines temporarily keep her alive until she can get proper medical attention.

"I'm sorry, FOXHOUNDer, I can't allow you to leave here alive." The ringleader spoke. "I'll introduce myself at least since you managed to hurt me…I am Khyber and I will be your executioner."

"I'll see to it that you stay dead so you won't do anything more to harm these children ever again." Greg said seriously as the fire around them turned into a circular barrier around them. Before he can react, the man swung out his large machete and threw it at Greg. The psychic soldier simply side stepped the thrown object, and made sure it wasn't heading Linn's direction. He charged the large man, who was just as fast as Greg, and swung a back fist at Greg, before hitting him in a double haymaker blow.

Blood was spilled from Greg's mouth as Greg felt the strength of this man impacted on his face. But he didn't let that stop him, the next time the ringleader swung his fist, Greg countered the attack with his Guard attack. Right after deflecting the punch, Greg then slammed his right fist into the man's chest, before bringing up his leg to perform a leap kick which raised Khyber off his feet.

"Rrragh!" Greg said, now turning his body to slam his leg coming down in a spinning arc kick on Khyber's chest. Greg was about to go for the kill, but the man caught Greg's arm and took out the blade from his neck in an attempt to stab Greg's chest with the knife. However, the blade was shoved away in time as Greg used his right arm to be stabbed instead.

"Urrrrkk!" Greg felt the knife cut through his artificial wrist and almost immediately after getting stabbed, the man pulled the blade across Greg's arm before pulling it out near his elbow. However, the arm bled black and blue ooze from the socket area, which burned into Greg's Sneaking Suit.

"What the hell are you?" Khyber shouted.

"A psychic of FOXHOUND, nothing more." Greg said as he let the nanomachines from his arm petrify themselves into a sharp blade into his hand. "And you shall be put to rest for good knowing this."

"I won't allow it!" Khyber shouted as he charged at Greg while the injured psychic gripped unto his makeshift sword and waited for Khyber to swing his machete at Greg while Greg dashed at him, making a single cut across his enemy's stomach. A blood curdled cry was heard as Khyber watched his own stomach cut into half as he fell on his face. Greg looked at the now reformation of his bloodied hand as he saw tears involuntarily fell out his eyes.

(And once again…I stain my hands to protect those dear to me.) Greg thought to himself wide eyed. (Is this really worth having this curse?)

"Uhhh…Greg…" Linn's weakened voice spoke as Greg snapped out of his train of thought as he now remember how grave Linn's injury was. He stood up after clearing his eyes and picked her up once more to take her to his Harrier.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"What was it that Reese was thinking sending orders like that tonight?" Greg's voice shouted from the outside of the tent that Linn groggily woke up from a sleep that seemed to have been an eternity. "Was he trying to get all of us killed?"

She noticed that she was no longer where she was for the mission, but she heard running water from the outside. Looking out, she can see they were in a heavily forested area, the FOXHOUND Harrier close by guarded by the towering pine trees.

She also noticed the stained Sneaking Suit she wore was near the tray of surgical instruments, leaving her practically topless. She looked for something to cover her, and only saw Greg's cloak. She took the cloak and began to walk outside, her legs weak from the fatigue and loss of blood. To her surprise, she saw a campfire with a pot hanging over it, as Greg can be seen talking to Roy Campbell over the Codec.

His chest was bandaged over his right shoulder and around his abdomen, but some of the fresh wounds he had were still left to tend to. The nanomachines would be working overtime to heal some of these.

"Yes, she should be okay. The bullet may have gone through, as of her vitals weren't hit, still…she lost a sizeable amount of blood." Greg said, as he sighed. "I did what I could to stop the bleeding for now, but she still needs the proper medical attention when we get back. What are you going to do about Reese?"

"He should be talked over to about this, Greg, but the best thing was that both of you came out alive thanks to your bravery." Roy replied.

"I wouldn't have to worry so much about the circumstances if the mission went according to Michael's plan, we wouldn't be in this mess." Greg said. "I take it the same for everyone else got out okay?"

"Yes, only about half hour ago, both Scorpion and Berserker Demon have now returned to headquarters." Campbell said. "You don't need to worry yourself anymore, just try to get some rest."

"I understand, sir." Greg simply said.

"I'll be seeing you both back in the States tomorrow." Roy said, before he signed off. Greg sat down on the log near the fire and sighed to himself. He hung his head as he took out a capsule pack to take some painkillers. It was then he realised that he used them as a sedative of sorts as he tried to patch Linn to stop the bleeding when she was shot. Greg threw the pack into the bonfire and rubbed his temple.

"Greg?" Linn called out to him. "Will you be okay without those?"

"Linn…you're awake." Greg said, without turning.

"Yes." Linn simply replied. "But, didn't you need those painkillers more than I did?"

"If it's for just one night that I can go through without using them, I should be fine. The nanos are taking care of everything as we speak." Greg said. "Besides, I'd figured they would be more useful to you in the most crucial moment of need."

"You know you didn't have to do that for me." Linn asked.

"I was just being selfish, I guess." Greg said, as he sulked a bit. There was a moment of silence before he spoke again, "Um…I had to take off the top of your Sneaking Suit to do the surgery. Don't worry...with your life on the line, there was really nothing else I could have done."

"Greg, I didn't think you were selfish in risking the means of saving yourself to save me instead. Just like how you ignored orders to come for me and Riku back there." Linn asked, hugging her chest in the almost cold night air.

"Now that I think about it, it was a stupid and crazy plan. I just rushed head along to make sure you and those around me weren't in any danger" Greg said, before grinning deliriously. "I would have gotten myself or more people hurt."

"How can you think that, after all that you've done for everyone in FOXHOUND, Greg?" Linn said to him. "Do you still consider yourself that weak, compared to everyone else who is more experienced than you?"

Greg didn't return the answer, for it was obvious that was the case.

"I've always been weak from the start, Linn." Greg said, looking at his right nano arm. "I can't be as strong as Garland, or full of knowledge as Michael, or fast as Riku. Even if I dedicated myself fully to become as close to those qualities, it won't change things. And this is why…I thought I failed you tonight by not being close to you to protect you in time."

Linn only stared at Greg for awhile, before she let go of the cloak and then wrapped her arms around his neck, her naked chest pressing on his scarred and tattooed back. Greg felt something soft and warm pressed against his body as he then felt her tears drop on his shoulder.

"Greg, you know that's not entirely true. Since we've known each other, you have never failed anyone, not ever." Linn whispered to him.

"Linn?" Greg asked, now feeling uncomfortable. "What are you doing?"

"Just listen to me, okay?" Linn asked him. "It must be hard on you thinking that you can't do everything to protect everyone, but that's how it is, Greg. That is such an impossible feat even a psychic isn't capable of. And don't you go thinking you're a lesser person than most people in FOXHOUND. You can do things differently than most people I know, probably even better. That counts, right?"

"But still, what about my powers?" Greg asked. "I'm even a danger to myself if I don't control them to an extent."

"You don't have to suffer alone." Linn said, resting her head on his back. "If you want me to burden some of the pain, I'm willing to do so for your sake, Greg."

"Linn…" Greg said, as his left hand touched her hand. "Thank you for the encouragement."

"Hey, if someone doesn't tell you that you're not the only person with problems in the world, who knows how you would end up later in life." Linn said with a smile.

"I may rave on nonsensically about how things aren't fair with me, am I right?"

"Hmm, something along the lines like that. Just try not to think too much about it." Linn said. "At least everything turned out okay, thanks to Michael's last minute interventions."

"Yeah, we owe him one when we get back." Greg said as he gazed into the fire.

"Um, Greg…you do notice I'm still holding unto you, right?"

"I know." Greg simply replied.

"And I'm topless, no doubt." Linn blew into his ears, causing Greg to leap up suddenly to hide his crimson face. "Hey, what's the matter with you?"

"Nothing's wrong, Linn." Greg stuttered as Linn smiled at him, realising something.

"Oh, I get it. You've never been with a girl in this type of situation before, have you?" Linn asked as Greg simply shook his head quickly. "That's hard to believe, a modest and kind guy like you don't know how to be with a girl like this. I bet this is even your first time seeing a girl almost naked, am I right?"

Greg simply nodded silently as he lowered his head. "Yes, even though I lived with Rio for years, I really never could bring myself to do such a thing unless Yuji brought me into trouble with his antics."

"Yuji is the last person you'd want to trust with getting intimate with a woman." Linn joked.

"Yeah, that's why I hardly pay any attention to him about those matters, even though he's just trying to help me." Greg replied. "And you'd be surprised to know that most of the times in the past; I had to take the baths with Seishiro, but not with Rio, even though she offered to do some of them."

"What a shame then. But don't worry; I'm not going to give up on you." Linn sighed. "Just because you think you're not fit enough for a romantic relationship, doesn't mean it's the end for you."

"Linn, there are other ways we can do this without actually…" Greg stopped as Linn took his right hand and placed it on her left breast, which had the wound just above it.

"Linn, we can't do this. It will only open your wounds." Greg said as he felt his fingers motion around her chest.

"Can you feel it, Greg? My heart is still beating because of you...yet; you rarely would want to share your pain with me. Don't make things harder on yourself anymore, Greg. I'm willing to let you share what you have gone through with me."

"Linn..." Greg muttered in shock. "I can't...it's too much...I don't even know the steps on how to properly make you happy."

"You used part of yourself to keep me alive, why can't I offer piece of my self to keep you alive?" Linn asked, almost disappointed. "Please, Greg. I had already made up my mind about you...we're meant to be together through the worst. All I want you to do is to just accept me, just as I have accepted you as you are."

Greg felt something inside him that wasn't like the feelings he is used to having. His heart sank as he let the nanomachines in his right hand examine how he carefully touched and massaged Linn. His mind started to drift, but in a good way.

(This feeling…this sensation, what is it?) Greg thought. (This is nothing I've ever felt before. Is this acceptance? Is it warmth? But Rio and everyone else who has taken me in gives me this kind of assurance, so why tonight…does it feel so different…and comforting?)

"It…feels good for you, doesn't it?" Linn asked, as her faced turned crimson. "It feels good for me too."

"Linn…" Greg muttered, unsure what to do next, but Linn smiled at him as she took her hands and guided his right hand over her lower abdomen.

"Please, Greg…you don't have to be afraid." Linn smiled as she pushed his hand lower to her thighs. "As long as it's with you, it will make me very happy and safe."

"What about protection, Linn?" Greg asked.

"You worry too much, but it will be okay. I've been taking the pill for a while." Linn said as she pulled Greg closer as their joined hands met closer to Linn's underwear. Greg's head was close to Linn's that he began to practically hear her gasping as he smelt her hair.

Greg then used his left hand to pass his fingers through them as he pulled it closer to his chest, while Linn rested her head on his bandaged chest.

"But still, Linn…even if you say you'll be happy with me, would these changes things for us in the future?" Greg asked. "We may be making a mistake here."

"I don't care, Greg. The last thing I need is to see you sad because of your own shortcomings." Linn said. "Why can't you understand I can protect you too?"

(Of course, it was obvious.) Greg thought to himself. (This love she has for me is what is giving me this new sense of assurance I've never had before. I've really never seen how determined and capable she can be if she wants to see me safe and I've been blind to see that before it was too late.)

(Can I still call myself a man for not seeing this before, the fact that one person alone isn't capable enough of protecting the ones he love due to the shortcomings he has, but even the most impossible things can be accomplished if he confides in his fellow comrades, even to the ones that are meant to be protected because they too can do things as well or better?) Greg thought as he smiled a bit, lifting Linn's head as he touched her chin.

"I'm sorry I didn't trust you sooner." Greg said as he kissed her forehead. "I trust you enough, Linn. To be there for me and watch my back, as well give me the feelings no one else on this planet can."

"Greg, my love…I trust you too." Linn said as she walked back unto the Harrier 2's wing. For the moment, she was trapped and Greg had her right where he wanted her to be. He walked closer to her and placed a hand under a chin.

"Greg, please...don't be so rough." Linn begged, her breath escaping through her lips in loud gasps.

"Sorry if I'm hurting you." He said, stopping midway.

"You're really not, but I don't want to rush things." Linn said. "I want to savour every second of your gentle touch."

"Ah, me too, Linn." Greg said, nodding his head. "I'll try to be even gentler from now on."

"Yes, please." Linn replied, hugging his as his right hand to guide its way down below into her underwear. Greg can feel her protesting his 'entry', but she seemed to be simmering down.

"Greg...please..." Linn begged. "...don't stop..."

"Linn, you're so beautiful." Greg whispered into her ear, as she clutched onto his back, gripping her nails deeper into Greg's back as his hands continued to tease her body.

"I...I like it too..." Linn panted, before moving her head back in ecstasy. She then kissed his lips long enough to let his tongue slip underneath hers and drew out some saliva that he enjoyed tasting from her mouth.

"I hope I'm doing okay on the first try." Greg asked her, as she started to shake her head quickly.

"You're doing…just exceptional for a first time." Linn replied, panting and gasping. "Are you sure you really never did this before?"

"No, I would never lie to you about this." Greg said.

"Alright, I believe you." Linn said as her gasps increased. "Ah, Greg!"

"What?" Greg asked, hoping he didn't do anything wrong to hurt her.

"I think…that's enough now." Linn panted, holding onto him as a smile came to her face. "You can tell, right?"

"I guess so; you're body feels as if it's on fire." Greg replied.

"It means I am ready to return the favour. Its no fair for you alone get to give me pleasure and you did so well too." Linn said, as she sneezed aloud. "Achoo!"

"The night air sure is chilly tonight." Greg said as he reached for her legs and picked her up. "I think its best we finish this where it's much warmer."

"I agree." Linn snugged herself into his arms. Together the two made way to the tent where for the night only, they can put aside all fears and troubles, doubts and insecurities to discover the feelings Greg was unable to face until he started to believe in Linn. It was all thanks to her that he can rest peacefully for a long while under her watch and from that time on he never could afford to doubt her again.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Greg! Hey, Greg!" Rio's voice called Greg out from his train of thought. He opened an eye to see Rio in a simple tight blue shirt and red jeans. Several hours have passed since morning and now the time for the final stage in training is closing in.

"What is it, sensei?" Greg said, still maintaining his meditating posture.

"I just got a call from Maki." Rio said to Greg. "She told me that Riku and his partners have arrived and now they learned everything about Reese's deeds and how Seraph is involved."

"I see." Greg said. "Still, it would help us as to find out where Lilica and Yuina really are so we can properly make plans on rescuing them."

"Nanvel had some help; it seemed that your friend Riku and his partner, Nagi Naoe pulled through with finding where Mantis is hiding them." Rio said. "This Nagi just happened to be an expert hacker who can use his psychic powers along with his hacking skills and he proved really useful for us."

"Alright, so far we are making a bit of progress. But I can't leave just yet. I still have some fine tuning on my powers, before I face Geese one final time for now." Greg said.

"Okay, I'll stay here until then." She smiled at Greg.

"Ah and one more thing, sensei. By chance you got a barber set here with you?" Greg asked.

"Yeah, there's supposed to be one at the temple, but why do you need it?" Rio asked.

"Can you do the honour of giving me a haircut? I need to let go of this past that is holding me back from realising my potential and I need to show the proof of it." Greg said.

"You got it, Greg. Just give me a moment." Rio smiled as she ran off. Greg then continued his silent meditation period as he continued to integrate his thoughts and strengths into one. He would later be facing Geese on a one on one match as he will need the concentration now more than ever.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Later that day, just before evening in the training hall of the temple…

"So, Greg, the time has come at last." Geese Howard said. He was all decked in his traditional white and red dojo uniform. He has agreed to return here to the temple to see if Greg has progressed in his training. Greg was standing in front of him, his head shaven clean, while Rio stood close by behind him.

"Yes, it has at last, Howard-sensei." Greg simply said to him, dressed in only his white vest and dark jeans.

"Tell me one thing before you begin…why did you want to become stronger, Greg?" Geese asked. "Is it for vengeance for what Reese has done to make your life miserable so far?"

"No, it isn't that." Greg answered sternly.

"Then, is it to face and prove your own strength against Mantis, to be equal to him in strength?" Geese asked another.

"No, it's not that either." Greg answered sternly once more.

"Then, do tell me…why did you go through such lengths to bear the curse that you so despise?" Geese asked.

"It's because…I've avoided facing myself for far too long." Greg said, looking at his nano fist. "There is something dark, yet incomplete about myself and I seek to learn more about it, even if it means risking my own life. The only way I'll be at peace with myself is to confront the fears that have plagued me ever since I found out about my psychic gifts."

"Then this is for personal gain." Geese said.

"I need to learn why this power has come to be without my ever having done a thing to even deserve it." Greg said. "If I do so, I would no longer be putting those I hold dear to me in danger just because the feelings inside me tell me otherwise."

"You have seen then what your own two hands are capable of if you allow your power to ruin you, haven't you, Greg?" Geese asked.

"I know it all to well, that is why I need to be sure of myself when I use this power from now on." Greg said. "I need to know if this power would accept me being worthy of protecting those that are close to me."

"And if it doesn't accept you?" Geese asked, knowing the fate that possibly was in store for Greg as he simply sighed to reply.

"Then I'm ready to face the consequences for my actions, even I must die for them." Greg said to Geese. "Even now, I doubt I'm worthy enough of saving Lilica and Yuina from Mantis, but I cannot afford to give up now of all times."

"Even if it means certain failure and a possibility that you could die along the way?" Geese asked.

"Yes…even if it means so." Greg said simply.

"Greg, let me tell you one thing that you should remember, now that you acquired a deeper sense of this power you have." Geese said. "You may feel different than everyone else, but you may certainly feel alone in the world, isn't it the truth?"

Greg simply nodded to his instructor to this. He always felt left out because of his inexperience in certain fields, but also because of his powers. He felt like an outcast to society because of his difference.

"That's not the case, Greg. Whatever the darkness of your powers may tell you, you're as human as everyone else on the planet. Never think of yourself as being alone." Geese said. "Neither coming close to anyone nor being understood by anyone for your entire life, even though you are living, it may as well be the same as if you were dead."

Greg lifted his head as he heard Geese said this. He knew he hit the nail on the head.

"This is why you can't give up on yourself or the people relying on you to live on past your fears, Greg." Geese said to him. "You've always managed to see beyond the darkness of your powers just so you can help others and now more than ever, you cannot give in to it."

"I will heed your words well, Howard-sensei. Thank you." Greg said to him, while Rio smiled sullenly behind him.

"You will most likely be facing more hardships later, but you have your friends and family to help you. You cannot turn away from them because you're afraid of hurting them or them being hurt." Geese said. "They will go to great lengths to help you and with their help your fears will certainly be overcome."

"And what happens then?"

"Who knows…maybe you'll turn out to be a better person than you are now, Greg. But only time will tell." Geese said, taking off his robe. "Now, we shall see how you will fare with your powers. Are you ready, Greg?"

"Yes, sensei. Let's get it over with." Greg got up, his body only partially refreshed, but it could still suffice enough for just one sparring match.

"Reppu-Ken!" Geese shouted, waving his right hand as Greg. A mass of his chi swirled around his arm into matter and formed into a single energy ball that rolled on the ground towards Greg.

Greg staggered a bit, before he focused on defending himself from getting hit from the projectile sent at him. He mustered his strength and concentrated his powers to activate. Clasping his hands together, he shut his eyes for a brief moment, before he opened them back, as the projectile was just meters away from him.

"Guuhh!" Greg shouted letting the flame emerge from his right hand. Surprisingly, it wasn't the fire that was affecting him so it can cause burns, but the procedure to unseal it was quicker and more painful than he thought. At least it ended quickly. With only seconds to react, he simply made a step forward and thrust out his right arm, while turning his body. His flaming hand managed to dissipate the oncoming wave of energy into thin air, much to the surprise of Rio.

Geese simply smiled at Greg. "Hmph. Your reaction is much quicker than expected. Now...let's see how long you can stand up with all of that power inside of you and still defend yourself."

Geese charged Greg with a turning kick that ended in a stomp just some distance from his student. Greg only stepped back with a quick retreating dash, only to stop at a brief standstill. Even with the growing pain in his body, he still made a stand to defend himself. He only wished not to injure Geese with his ignited right hand.

"Double Reppu-Ken!" Geese waved his arms and fired a double and even powerful version of his previous attack. Greg only had seconds to react. He simply turned his body with an outstretched right fist, as the incoming projectile of energy got closer.

"Panther Cut!" Greg shouted, as the flaming fist met the projectile, and dissipated it before it can hit him. Before he could stop to recover, he saw Geese charging at him, his fists in a stance that Greg was familiar with. Greg stopped shifting his body and got into a position that got him ready for his next attack. But what he didn't predict was that the other wave of Geese's energy wasn't affected by Greg's flame and managed to catch him by surprise.

Greg was open enough to be stunned by the hit, but not too much that it affected his balance. He could still see Geese charging towards him and not only that, he felt his body was getting used to the pain within it, that somehow he felt his own body was getting stronger. This was his chance to surprise Geese.

"Jai-Ai-Ken!" Geese shouted, extending his clenched left fist then shifting it quickly to his right one. He then placed his hands together, creating a close range energy wave in front of him and Greg. Greg got himself ready and was able to get an attack ready.

"Spiked Crescent!" Greg shouted, hitting Geese's energy wave, and him at the same time, with his right elbow first, then he connected with a rising, twirling uppercut, with the flame emanating from the fist. First, his fist landed a mark on Geese's chest, and then went upwards towards his chin. Greg could feel the searing of Geese's clothing and his skin burning from the hit, as the flame seemed to dance around his body in a long trail while he rose into the air.

Rio looked on, now with a smile on her face. Greg was actually improving his skills and incorporating his powers into his style at the same time. She started to feel proud for him at the moment, but was beginning to worry that this new power could get the best of Greg.

(No way, not my Greg) she thought to herself. (Greg can get used to this. It shouldn't be a problem for him. Everything seems to be looking good so far.)

Geese was knocked off his feet and then fell back. But it seemed that he regained his momentum quicker than Greg had anticipated, as Geese had bounced off the ground with a quick recovery and had prepared his next attack.

"Double Shippu-Ken!" Geese shouted, waving his arms and releasing two descending energy waves at Greg's direction. Greg could only try to deflect the energy waves by using a counter defense maneuver.

"Tsuki!" Greg shouted, creating an overhead psychic shield that protected him from the projectiles. He then stepped back a couple feet, so as to get a good distance to land his next move. The pain in his body was beginning to make him numb.

"Greg!" Rio shouted to him, but Greg nodded silently to her, letting know he was okay for the time being.

"I'll be fine, sensei." Greg called out to her.

Geese smirked to himself, seeing Greg was wide open for an attack. "How long can you keep it up, Greg? The power is starting to get to your body, isn't it?"

"But I can't give in to it, can I?" Greg asked Geese.

"No, you have yet to show me how much you've learned, Greg." Geese said to him as he prepped himself for another attack. "I hope you are ready to defend myself from this...Deadly Rave!" he beckoned, placing his open fists at his chest and charged at Greg.

If he were to contact Greg's body with this move, he would devastate his student with a series of various punches and kicks striking almost all of the vital points of the opponent's body then use a close range Jai-Ai-Ken attack to blow them away. The only other person to have even increased the power of this attack is his own estranged son, Rock Howard.

The distance between Greg and Geese was close. Greg was prepared to defend himself against this attack. He turned his body, letting his back turn at Geese for a brief second, clenching his fists and surprised him a Close Quarters Combat move that was so fast that it caught Geese off guard.

"Panther Snap!" He landed a hit with his left fist, stunning Geese and cancelling his Deadly Rave move, as then Greg shifted to his right fist, keeping his right elbow close to his body, palming Geese's chest and sending his body spiraling away, his body becoming charred from Greg's attack.

Greg stopped his feet, as he felt the impact of his blow on Geese. Rio looked on with tears in her eyes and a smile on her face.

(I don't believe it...Greg actually did that!) She thought.

Greg started to pant to himself; the pain in his body never giving up on him. He only looked on at Geese's as he staggered off the ground.

"Had this been a real fight, you would be dead by now, Greg." Geese said to him.

"What?" Greg said, as he felt extreme pain overcome his chest area. Getting on one knee, he coughed out some blood as he saw Geese's palm indent on the centre of his chest area.

(How did he…?) Rio thought in shock as she saw Greg in pain. Greg looked up at Geese as he staggered getting up.

"This is not any other spar you're used to with Rio. With me, I always mean business, Greg." Geese said to his student, who wiped the blood near his mouth and stood on his feet. Once more, Greg got into a fighting posture and awaited Geese to attack once more.

"Jai-Ai Ken!" Geese shouted as he motioned his fists towards Greg once more. However, the FOXHOUND psychic was prepared for his instructor now.

Greg suddenly dived to his side and suddenly gave Geese a turning back kick, which was easily countered by Geese in time before it reached him. However, as Geese lifted Greg off his feet to slam him, Greg turned his body in a form of a revolver chamber to execute an aerial spin kick on Geese. The crime lord smirked as he felt Greg's determination through his attacks.

"Nice counter." Geese said to Greg as he stood up once more, beckoning Greg to come at him once more. "Well, come on, don't you have any other tricks up your sleeve, boy?"

Greg simply gritted his teeth as he suddenly dashed at Geese and swung a punch at him, which was countered with an arm grab that Geese formulated and had now slammed Greg against the floor. Geese raised a foot over Greg's chest, but the psychic blocked it from going down on him with his right arm and with all the strength in his body, Greg lifted Geese off of him.

Rio looked on as the fight grew more and more intense. She knew this was a common thing for Greg to face even more experienced and stronger combatants from within FOXHOUND, as it did come as a surprise to her when she heard that Garland Durev was part of the group around the early time when Greg had become part of the group. It was around the time he had lost his first sparring fight against him and he just told her about it. She too knew about the legend of the Bloody Hands mercenary and had warned Greg more than once to be extra careful around him at times.

However, she knew that it wouldn't keep Greg down at a time like this. He was pushing himself right now against Geese, so at least he could get a standing chance against Mantis, all for the sake of rescuing Lilica and Yuina.

Greg stood up, his face covered in sweat and now looking a bit fatigued. Swallowing hard, Greg held onto the wrist of his artificial right arm as a strong gust began to blow across the room.

"I see…so you're finally ready to get serious, Greg?" Geese asked him, knowing what may come next.

"Yes, sensei." Greg said simply to his instructor as the wind seemed to have been originated from his powers.

"Then, prepare yourself with this attack." Geese said as he raised his arms over his head, energy forming around them, while an energy globe formed itself around the palm of Greg's right hand. The globe then lit up with white flame as the gust began to swirl around him and into the energy globe he formed.

"This is it, Greg! Here I come!" Geese shouted as he slammed his fists into the ground in front of him. "Raging Storm!"

A powerful geyser of chi energy sprung from Geese's feet, surrounding his body and now expanding towards Greg, who had shut his eyes for a moment and then raised his right hand as he opened his palm. The energy globe he created expanded in front of him, as he was ready to summon his attack.

"Crimson Gale!" Greg shouted as the flames he created came as volleys of white flames spiraling at Geese's attack. The flames combusted with Geese's chi as the two energies collided upon impact, resulting in a bright flash, canceling each other out.

Rio can be seen coughing as the smoke cleared, as Greg panted heavily as he saw the burns on his right hand being repaired on his fist by the nanomachines. He then looked to Geese's direction.

"Geese-sensei? Are you alright?" Greg said to Geese, who was now getting up.

Geese smiled at Greg and stood up. He had gone through situations in worse things had been thrown at him before. "I'm doing okay, Greg...it's you that has managed to surprised me today."

"Yeah, Greg…I'd never thought you'd counter Geese's attack like that." Rio said to her student.

"I…I only got a bit lucky that it even worked." Greg said. "It still needs some work, though."

"Yes, but at least you have a trump card or two for the enemy when its time to face him. I was thinking that you weren't capable of living through this, but it looks like you'll do just fine, Greg." Geese smiled. "With a little work, you can get used to this."

"I'll take heed of what you've taught me earlier, Geese. We're in debt to you." Greg said, bowing to Geese.

"Just remember, Greg. You still have ways to go on mastering the true aspects of your powers. Even though you've now discovered that you can truly create a living flame, the bad news is that it's true you're new to it." Geese said to him. "There are probably other psychics who have better control of talents similar to yours for years now. I may truly not be the one master suited to help you control them, but I know there's someone who will help you gain better control when the time comes."

Greg nodded to Geese silently as he turned to Rio now.

"With the training done for the time being, Rio, here's the payment for the trouble you and Greg went through for the time you spent here." Geese said, handing her a suitcase. "Do make sure to handle it properly, it may lead you to where Lilica is being held."

"We can't thank you enough, Geese." Rio bowed to him as he left. Before he did, Greg called out to him.

"Howard-sensei …is there a chance we'll see you again when this is over?" Greg asked him.

"We'll see, depending on how things turn out." Geese said. "For now, just watch your head out there and remember that everyone's is with you through this. I'll be sure to send word to Kyo and Iori about what has happened."

"Be sure to do that, I also may need to see them on a timing as well." Greg said as Geese took his leave. Rio then gleefully jumped as she hugged Greg.

"You finally did it, Greg. Now we can get set in rescuing Lilica and Yuina now." Rio said.

"Yeah, but we can't get over our heads. We need to be careful now more than ever about this, now that my powers are totally unearthed." Greg said.

"I know, I know. Try to relax a little, will you?" Rio said, patting her student's back. "Come on, we've got to get back to Maki's place, but before that, lets put this money to good use."

"By the sound of that, you probably want to go ahead and spend it out shopping. Shouldn't we use it instead in getting the resources we need for the rescue mission?" Greg asked.

"That's my point! We need all the accessories we can get for the mission." Rio said.

"You're not seeing eye to eye with what I meant, sensei." Greg said, as suddenly, Rio hopped on his back to nudge his head.

"What did you say, Greggie?" Rio shouted as she rubbed his head even harder.

"Ow, owww!" Not there, sensei! That hurts!" Greg shouted as he wrestled trying to get Rio off of him. "Come on, we have to get going, the earlier the better. And since you're already on my back, I might as well piggyback you to the motorcycle."

"How nice of you, Greg. Always considerate of me, aren't you?" Rio said. "You think you're able?"

"This is good exercise, sensei. I don't mind doing this." Greg said as he and Rio left the temple together.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Later that evening, Tot and Nagi were sitting at the porch of the Kawasaki household gazing at the sunset, where Nanvel and Maya were at the street checking their transport van. From inside, Riku leapt out with Yuji behind him.

"I have to admit, this is some nice set-up you guys have here." Riku said to Yuji. "Even if you're not in Police Town at the moment, you've still got access to information which could be useful in this situation."

"We do what we can to help him out on our end time and again." Yuji replied. "But sometimes, I often worry for him and Rio right now though."

"Oh, you worry too much, Yuji." Maya waved an arm at him. "They will be back soon enough."

"I just wonder how soon." Nagi said.

"Why so eager to find out, Nagi-kun?" Tot asked him.

"It's just that I'm a bit curious to see what it is that Greg will do about this, not to mention ask him a few questions regarding with what happened to Seraph." Nagi said seriously. "It kind of bothers me a bit to know how this is affecting a psychic like myself, so in a way, I need to know how he feels about this."

"In other words, you're trying to understand a bit of him to see if he's different than Crawford or probably any other psychic we've met before?" Tot asked.

"Yeah, you can probably say that." Nagi admitted. "One thing I've learned is that all psychics aren't the same in personality and they think differently as well. I want to see for myself just how different Greg is when compared to some of the others we've met, that's all."

"I can't blame you, if he was raised by good people like Seishiro and Team WARRIOR, he may be quite a good person." Tot smiled to Nagi.

Just then, a loud motorcycle engine was heard from across the street. It stopped in front of the house, as Rio got off the backseat. She then saw the people standing in front of her, as she smiled at them.

"Rio, about time you got back." Maya ran to her. "How did things go?"

"A lot better than we thought for a change." Rio said as Greg stepped off the bike, taking off his helmet. "Everything went okay on Greg's end, so he's going to be just fine."

Greg came forward silently at the gathered group with a serious, yet welcoming look on his face. He then saw Riku as he soon recognized his face.

"Riku, it's been awhile. Missed me?" Greg smiled at Riku.

"Yeah, I guess. Where were you and Rio this entire time?" He asked.

"We were going after some leads which would have helped us find Lilica and came up with nothing." Rio answered for Greg before he spoke mentally.

(Sensei? Why did you have to say that?) Greg asked as Rio turned her head slightly to show Greg she was up to something.

(Greg, I know you and Riku are close friends, but I don't want to give him any impressions something's seriously wrong with you, especially with what's happened to you and your powers just yesterday.) Rio replied. (Just let it be for now and act as if nothing's happened.)

(He'll eventually find out, you know.) Greg replied.

(Not anytime soon, though.) Rio said. (The last thing we need is more questions about your powers…we should be more focused on getting Lilica and Yuina back for the time being. Got it?)

(I understand.) Greg sighed as he nodded his head silently as he replied to Riku. "Yeah, it's as she said, we didn't get any leads on finding her."

Riku felt something was up with Greg and Rio's answer, but felt he shouldn't pressure them with more questions than they already have. Instead, he wanted to ease the tension a bit as he decided it was time for Greg to meet his partners.

"Well, it's good to see you anyway, because my two partners have been waiting to meet you ever since we got here." Riku said as he let Nagi and Tot get close to see Greg.

"Oh, these are...?" Greg now remembered that Riku was bringing two people with him, but he never figured out how young they appeared until he saw them in person.

"Greg, these are the two people that I have been telling you about." Riku said. "This is Nagi Naoe and his girlfriend, Tot."

"Mystic Crow and Usagi Ninja...we finally meet at last." Greg extended his left hand. Nagi was the first to take Greg's hand and shake it.

"It's really an honour to meet you, Psychic Panther." Nagi smiled. "I've been really looking forward to meeting you after hearing so much about you."

"I feel just as honoured to hear that, Nagi." Greg replied. "I remember hearing some vague tales about you, but I never expected that you would be still in your teens the way Riku always talked about you."

"Nor did I imagine the kind of psychic you'd be after hearing about you." Nagi said. "You really don't look like much of a psychic."

"I try my best to maintain that image at all times." Greg said as he then shook Tot's hand afterwards.

"Tot, isn't it?" Greg asked puzzled. "Is that a nickname everyone calls you by?"

"Is something wrong with it?" Tot asked.

"No, I don't think anything is wrong with it. It just that it kinds of bothers me some that you would be called by Tot rather than your real name." Greg shook his head.

"Well, if you want to call me by my real name, you have to become a real good friend of me and Nagi first, Greg." Tot smiled at him.

"Then I'd better try my best in the future if I were to make it happen, Tot." Greg replied with a confident grin. (At least it will give me a chance to try and make a good impression with these two. Not to mention I can see she's in good hands with Nagi around her.)

"I can see Nagi's in good hands with someone like you." Greg said seriously as he then glanced at Riku. "Just as much you two probably trust Riku's judgement whenever you're with him to get around such dangerous missions by yourselves."

"That is a true fact, Greg. He may come off as laid back all the time, but he is serious about his job and protecting his buddies." Nagi said.

"You don't have to tell me twice." Riku smiled as Greg looked on at Maya.

"Has the Shinsengumi arrived yet, guys?" Greg asked.

"Nope, but I did get a call earlier from a woman named Dee Starling who claimed to be one of them. They are to get here tomorrow morning before we get set for the rescue." Maya replied.

"It's best to use this time to think about what we should be doing for rescuing Lilica and Yuina." Greg said.

"Greg, when you do have chance, I want to see you in my laboratory for an examination on your nanomachines. I did some research that would be able to help you later." Nanvel said.

"That's much appreciated, Nanvel." Greg said, as suddenly he felt his stomach rumble.

"Whoah, someone must have built up an appetite while he was gone." Maya joked. "Greg, you can go on ahead and fix yourself some dinner while Rio discusses some things with Seraph about the mission."

"Have Riku and his friends eaten yet?" Greg asked. "I thought I would treat them for tonight since they are special guests."

"Greg, really, you don't have to do that. It's really no trouble." Riku nodded.

"I insist, Riku. You are part of this family after all and we're all brought into this by some strange and twisted instance we couldn't prevent. At least allow me to rectify the trouble I may have caused you and your partners by coming all the way here." Greg said, patting him.

"Well, if you say it like that, I guess we can use something to eat." Riku said nodding to him.

"Just think of it as a chance to catch up on old times, we have much to talk about." Greg said.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

ShardclawK: There you have it. Another all new and slightly different revised chapter of Soldier X, and probably the longest one I've ever done, considering the history, references and the characters I've included. Hope those who have enjoyed the progress liked this one the best so far as things will get even much better soon. I still have much to be done in terms of revision, so bear with the delays. The faster the first set of these chapters are revised, the faster the following ones can be done, so I'm doing my best to make it happen while including other varieties into the story.

And a short note to Royal Knight to his recent review about the last revised chapter, you can say that the incident involving Seishiro Takeda (thanks to Grey Wolf4 for letting me use him, as well helping with some of the soon to be Wolf Pack members in this chapter) losing his eye was kind of based off the CLAMP manga, Tokyo Babylon's Seishirou Sakura-zukarmori, though he did was blind in his right eye. But, the truth of the matter is that is wasn't really one hundred percent based off that reference, but you did get one thing right though, that X is currently one of my favourite reading material during the revisions of Soldier X and I had finally seen the complete animated series just recently which serves the title justice, (though it can't touch the manga in ways of the humour and then violent horror sections when some of the cast members die, fans of that would know who I'm talking about but at least Fuma is as cool as ever, both anime and manga wise.)

I also hoped you liked the other references I've sneaked into the story, most notably for Eflen Lied if you noticed. To tell the truth, I can't wait to find a way to include those characters in an update or even during the revisions, so cross your fingers for the time it happens.

As a matter of fact, the quote that Geese told Greg before the sparring match in this chapter was what Arashi's guardian said to her at the end of Volume 10 of the manga in her flashback scene and since Yuina's aunt's name was never known during the run of Angel/Dust, I thought I'd named her after one of the ill fated X characters for the remainder of the story, Tokiko Magami, who was Kamui's aunt, thus making her Tokiko Hattori. I do hope you all okay with that, as I kind of felt uncomfortable going through the chapter by calling her just be 'Yuina's aunt', you know?

Okay, that's about enough of my ranting. See you in the next one, I promise to get it out real soon, but I got to take a short break first considering the work I did on this chapter alone...

Collis aka ShardclawKusanagi


	8. Advancing Towards 12 O'Clock

ShardclawK: Okay, fellow readers. Here's another revised and hopefully, much better version of this chapter, packed with even more surprises for all to enjoy. Hope everyone enjoys it as well keep on supporting the all-new, all different Greg Kinezono and the large supporting cast in the following chapters.

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Metal Gear: Soldier X

Chapter 7: Advancing Towards 12 O'clock

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Lilica Ebbett was in dire need of a proper rest and a bath. Her body, although it showed little signs of abuse since her capture, was already beginning to lose some of its vitality due to the fact she had little to eat for the past two days since she was brought there. Even though Mantis didn't do anything to harm her or endanger her life, she could constantly feel the Tengus working under him constantly eyeing her and her body. She could immediately sense their lecherous thoughts, but she was grateful that Mantis had ordered them to just watch, and not touch her or Yuina Hattori.

Her clothes were not so badly torn up, but they were beginning to get musty with dirt and odors. She had to let her ponytails out due to the heat inside of the cell she was held in, but whenever it got chilly, she had to make sure to huddle herself to whatever cold spot there was. Even though there was a comfortable bed in the cell which she could use, she hardly got any sleep because she was more anxious than afraid of what will happen next. She would always keep a sharp eye on what was going on around her and try to clue in on what was happening as being in Warrior for a long time now has helped her to gain information in times like this under certain circumstances.

She had been part of a living hell because of this development and she greatly hoped that someway, somehow, her comrades would find her. Lilica was greatly concerned about Rio's fate as well, since she vividly remembered how her friend was gravely injured trying to protect her friend from Mantis.

(I can't afford to give up just yet…) Lilica thought to herself, her face smudged with smoke and dirt. Her hair was a bit of a mess as well. (If only I could find a computer somewhere, then I could send a beacon signal to Maki and the others so they could locate where I am.)

The young girl then looked around as she noticed how advanced in technology that the base she was held in was. Lilica had been out cold up to her arrival in this mysterious place, making it harder for her to determine where exactly 'this place' was located. She could see that the passageways were lit by dimmed blue fluorescent lights, as transparent ones of the same color could be seen flowing throughout the walls from one passageway to the next. Two heavily armored Tengus were securing the block where Lilica was being held. Other than that, she really couldn't make out just what the area in which she was being held really was, much less get any idea as to where it could be.

Sighing a bit, she returned to her bed and sat down to rub her face and dwell in thought once more.

(Oh, Rio…my only hope is that you're still alive…it would be horrible for everyone if you died on us like that.) Lilica thought to herself. (But then again, everything now is hopeless…I have no idea what or where this place is, or what Mantis is planning for me and Yuina. From what I can tell, it has to be something for the enemy and this base has should be part of the reason.)

Lilica was getting more worried about Yuina's well being as well. When she met her, she could tell that the young girl had gone through something traumatic as it seemed she ended up being captured by Mantis with little resistance. Lilica knew well from past police work of those types of people who would use a type coercion or force in their crimes to have others do their bidding.

She hadn't seen Yuina for over a day now and she was getting very worried about her. She knew for sure that Mantis was plotting something for her as well.

(I just hope she is still okay physically after all what's happened. She must be really shaken up emotionally that she can't willingly break from Mantis' psychic spell, I bet.) Lilica thought to herself. (If that's the case, isn't there a way to break her free from it?)

Before she continued to think, as if on a cue of timing, Yuina walked in the passageway, still wearing the casual clothing she wore when Mantis captured her. It had gotten dirty from the time she spent here and her long flowing pale pink hair was becoming a mess. She had a sad and depressed look on her face, but her eyes were almost close to emotionless. She approached the two Tengus and silently nodded at them as one of them proceeded to open the door to the holding cell where Lilica was. Then afterwards as the two left the area, Yuina fell to her knees as Lilica rushed to pick her up before she hit the ground.

"Hey, are you alright, Yuina?" Lilica asked. She then noticed Yuina had been crying, as she saw the dried marks under her eyes and on her cheeks.

"Oh, Lilica…it hurts." Yuina simply said, as she sniffed. "I don't know why, but…"

"Hey, take it easy. I'm here with you." Lilica said, trying to comfort her. "Tell me what happened. Did Mantis do anything to you?"

"No, even though I was with him most of the time." Yuina spoke solemnly. "As a matter of fact, since I was brought here, he never really did anything much as even speak to me much until you came here, it was then he had me bringing you your meals."

"I see." Lilica said. "What is he doing now? Do you know, Yuina?"

The sophomore simply shook her head as she replied. "I really can't say…he seems to be planning something with all this around us. My head is all messed up, I hardly can't remember a thing expect…oh, auntie! Seraph! Why did all this have to happen?"

Yuina broke down in tears as Lilica sighed and held on to her more. (So, Mantis is up to something big and he got Yuina hurt to this extent for that. But something isn't right, this really isn't like him to have done such a thing, but then again, his mind was contaminated by a serial killer.)

Shaking her head, Lilica decided she should start confiding Yuina instead of pressing the issue about Mantis for now

"Yuina, listen to me…not all hope is lost, okay?" Lilica said. "I happened to have some good friends who are all probably finding a way to get us out of this mess right now, so don't give up."

"How would you think they can help us?" Yuina broke out at Lilica. "Can't you see what's happening around here? What makes you think they can help us?"

"Because I'm part of them as well and I know they will definitely get the job down, no matter what." Lilica said confidently. "Most especially if their family is in trouble. We make sure to help each other out in times like these, so you can't afford to lose faith, Yuina. We will get out of this one way or the other. We can work together on trying to…"

"Escape, dear Ebett? I don't think that is quite an acceptable course of action given the circumstances." A coarse voice spoke from outside the cell as the two girls looked in the direction where it came and saw Mantis standing there. The two females gasped in horror as Mantis glared at Yuina. "Yuina, I've been searching for you for a while now. The time when I need you most draws near and this is where you want to spend the little time offered to you for freedom."

"Mantis, how could you hurt this girl so much?" Lilica said, gritting her teeth and acting brave. "She has nothing to do with you or the Patriots, so why did you have to destroy her happiness?"

"Oh, you'll eventually see. But since you're so curious, I should let you in on a little secret that may give you an idea on why I'm doing this for the sake of the Patriots." Mantis said. "You are a professional computer hacker after all, so it wouldn't be a surprise to me how much you would know about your darling surrogate brother being the core of the situation you're in."

Lilica's eyes widened as she heard this. "You're saying this has to do something with Greg? What a pack of lies!"

"My child, there is so much in the dark about him that you and those who have taken in him should know about. I know this because I have all the relevant information about his records from his birth to present time, courtesy of his father and Dr. Clark's researches." Mantis spoke. "The Patriots organized this little drama so that eventually, but surely, Greg would come to me to learn his past that he has claimed to have forgotten, as well as the secrets that he wasn't so aware of. Part of the deal is that I also gain some of that man's abilities as my own, since there are certain properties of a psychic that I'm quite interested in acquiring."

Though she was reluctant to admit it, Lilica felt in the back of her mind that some of what Mantis was saying made sense and began to think back on certain points about Greg which now began to bother her. From the time Rio found him, to his temporary amnesia from the trauma he suffered, to the first time his powers manifested which resulted in him injuring Seishiro Takeda's left eye in a near feral state…this was all black and white to her and everyone else in Warrior until the moment Mantis said the relevant things about him to her. Still, she had to believe in her friends and even Greg's help to come and help her and Yuina, and hopes along the way that no one has to learn the truth about why Mantis was doing this.

"What is the matter, Lilica? Are you in shock to hear that this was to draw Greg in?" Mantis said. "Eventually, he and those who will follow him will come into my trap and pay dearly for trying to foil the Patriots plans."

Mantis turned around as two Tengus entered and took Yuina out as he spoke. "Make sure she stays in her cell this time. But remember not to touch or harm her as the order remains the same."

"Lilica, help me!" Yuina cried out as Lilica tried to reach for her. Lilica grabbed on to her, but one of the Tengus fought her off as she fell back with full force. She then felt she grabbed something flat and metallic as she saw the Tengus carried Yuina helplessly away.

"Yuina, remember that my friends will be coming for us, you can't give up!" Lilica shouted, but there was no reply from the passageway as they were long gone. Standing up once more afterwards, Lilica then noticed what she grabbed from one of the Tengus was one of the latest state of the art Ipods, which can now transmit computer data to anywhere on the web. Luckily for her, it was still in operation and had small output connectors she can use.

(Yuina, you may think things may seem hopeless now, but I'm not going to give up on you and I'm sure my friends won't give up on us either.) Lilica thought as she smashed a small portion of the glass wall next to her bed and hotwired the wires to the Ipod and began to program it. With this, she can leave a transmitter beacon that should be picked up by Warrior.

(Rio, Maki, Yuji, Nanvel, Maya and Greg…anyone, please find us.) Lilica prayed this would work. (Everything is riding on this last chance for all of us to be together again, so please…find us.)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

(Huh? Lilica?) Greg's head was raised to hearing a voice calling out to him. (Was that you?)

It sounded so clear and familiar that he almost lost track of what he was doing. Hoping for a response, all he got was silence, followed by a sudden loud crash which snapped his train of thought back to reality.

CLANK!

CRASH!

Riku, Nagi and Tot looked on at the noise which was made as Greg ended up cutting his right hand as he was clearing up dishes in the kitchen back at the Kawasaki temporary safe house. One of them fell and broke as his mind suddenly had lost concentration for a moment. A black and blue coloured substance composing of many colonized nanomachines began to flow out of the thumb area of his artificial hand as he held his wrist in pain.

"Ah, crap. I can't believe I did that." Greg muttered silently to himself.

"Hey, Greg, you alright back there?" Riku asked as Greg turned around and nodded at him with a weak smile.

"It's nothing to worry about, Riku. It's really nothing major." Greg said as he watched as the wound began to heal itself up slowly as the nanos looked like strands of cloth weaving itself together over the cut. Even though he had this arm for years, he can never get used to seeing it repair itself like this whenever is sustained injury. It still bothered him greatly.

(I could never get used to this.) Greg thought to himself as he cleaned his cut and the shattered pieces of the broken plate. (Still, I could swear it was Lilica that I heard just now. Was my head playing tricks or was that for real?)

Taking a deep breath, Greg was able to maintain his composure once more. The mess had been cleaned up and no one else would have thought Greg would have made a mess. Now Greg can get started on catching up with Riku and his partners.

"Sorry to keep all of you waiting." Greg simply said as he wiped his hands after finishing cleaning the dishes after Riku and his two partners, Nagi and Tot, had just finished having a share of Greg's cooking. It was the least he could do as Riku was staying there with him and the remainder of Team WARRIOR for the time being. "So, how did all of you thought about my cooking?"

"Well, while it's not near as excellent as Garland's, I can say you still haven't lost your touch when it comes to cooking ramen, Greg." Riku said with a smile, as Greg rubbed his head.

"It's nice to hear that, Riku, even though I know my specialty doesn't entirely rest in the kitchen." Greg replied, taking out some beverages for Riku and his guests while Greg took a can of beer for himself. "I take it that they too liked my special brand of ramen?"

"Most certainly we did, Greg." Nagi nodded to him. "It's much different than a few others we've tasted."

"Yeah, I have to agree with Nagi on that one. You're about par with someone else we know who is studying to be a professional chef one day." Tot said.

"I see…is it anyone I know?" Greg asked.

"For now, not yet, but hopefully soon after this mess is cleared up." Riku said as he started to sip his drink.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Well, for the time being until everything's settled down, let's leave it at that." Greg said. "So, Nagi…I guess it may be kind of settling now knowing you have a fellow psychic in FOXHOUND, huh?"

"Well, you can say that, but that's not really on my mind when I first saw you earlier. It's hard to believe by looking at you that you're a psychic whose name has been made known in our group." Nagi said, still trying to get used to understand Greg. He felt a strange, yet strong and gentle feeling from Greg just by watching his personality and appearance. It felt a bit more assuring than the time when he was still with Crawford.

"Hey, you shouldn't let that worry you, Nagi." Greg said to him with a solemn look. "Even I wonder at times if I'm anywhere near adequate enough as I am to be part of the group."

"What are you trying to say, Greg?" Nagi asked, but the older psychic simply waved at him.

"Ah, it's nothing that you should be too concerned about. Time and again, I often ask myself stuff that is rather unnecessary when I think about things too much." Greg smiled a little.

Riku noticed what was going on and could understand a bit about what his friend was thinking about, and decided to speak with him.

"Hey, Greg…I'm sure Lilica is okay." Riku said, trying his best to console him, even though he was as worried about her as well.

"I hope so too, Riku…there's just too much happening that has raised questions that even I'm unclear of. I need to find out why Reese has found it necessary to do this to us. It just doesn't fit all together." Greg said.

"Look, we may not be sure how Reese was able to connect himself into this by getting even Seraph and Yuina involved as yet, but I definitely won't forgive him either for this." Nagi said. "I too want to find out the truth to this as much as you and your family do, Greg. But do you really think going directly to find Mantis is a good idea?"

"It could be a mistake, but…I guess you could say that I can sense that if nothing is done soon, both Yuina and Lilica will be in even greater danger than before." Greg said. "A lot is riding on this and I cannot afford to give up on them now, even if it's extremely dangerous."

"Well, seeing how determined how you want to do this, it looks like I really can't stop you, Greg." Riku smiled at him. "Of course, you've always been more gusty than some other people in my life and that's why I have to be around you to make sure you don't get into a bigger mess than the one you're already in. So, you can count on me to give you a hand through this."

"Riku, you know you don't have to put your life on the line, even if it's something that a shinobi like you has to do. The last thing I want is to have my friends caught up in some serious trouble just because of my personal problems." Greg said.

"Greg, you know you always have a nasty habit of not letting even your closest buddies help you out in times like these." Riku replied with a serious look as Greg stared at him eye widened. "Besides, what happened with this Yuina Hattori and Seraph sort of makes this quite a bit larger than just your personal problem, wouldn't you say?"

"But…!" Greg tried to answer, but Riku cut him in before he finished.

"Try to talk your way of not letting me help out all you want, but you should realize this...Lilica's a good friend of mine too, and I hate it when one of my friends gets affected by something like this." Riku said. "And if Reese is involved, I've definitely got to do something about this like you are. I want to see her safe and sound as much as anyone else in this room would want the same thing too, you know. I want to be there for her as well when you rescue her and Yuina."

"Geez, Riku...you just had to go there, didn't you?" Greg asked. Then, after shaking his head for a few seconds, he smiled a bit. "Alright then, I give up. I guess since this is now a matter that all of FOXHOUND will be part of soon, there's no use excluding you from this, is there?"

"I doubt that very much." Riku replied with a smile of his own. "Greg, you won't regret my help, I can assure you from now on this."

"Thanks then, I'll remember this, Riku." Greg replied. "I doubt I could have seen this through without your help anyway. Your help came in at good timing."

"Um..." Nagi cut in, trying to join the conversation. "Greg...I was thinking..."

"What's up, Nagi? Is something bothering you?" Greg asked.

"Yeah, it's how Mantis is the one being used to do Reese's command. Considering he's a psychic like you and me, it would seem illogical to me, knowing someone who had realized how much better it is to use your talents to help people with than to hurt them with, it just makes no sense until I found out from Maki and Nastasha that Reese didn't wanted that in Mantis when he was revived." Nagi explained.

"In other words, you want to see the resolve to this as well, right?" Greg asked.

"Yes, if you want to put it like that." Nagi nervously replied, not thinking Greg was the perceptive type.

"It's pretty obvious that everyone's concerned that way." Greg said. "I wouldn't say no to that kind of logic either...but one can't be too careful on how simple this may seems. We are probably going to face a very powerful foe here."

"If you're trying to say that if I can handle myself in a battle situation, the answer's pretty much a big 'yes'." Nagi replied.

"And what about you, Tot?" Greg turned to her, surprising her a bit. "You're going to standby next Nagi's side through this mess?"

"I'm going to help my Nagi-kun, of course!" She exclaimed happily.

"Is that the only reason?" Greg asked sternly.

"It's not just that, really. Now after knowing about what Reese had done to hurt you and hearing Seraph's story, I won't just sit by knowing this...I have to help out too, you know." Tot explained. "If one of Riku's good friends is in a situation that I don't like, I have no other choice but to pitch in. And since you have such a nice family, who wouldn't want to come to your aid at a time like this?"

Greg looked at Nagi and Tot in silence as he then looked at Riku.

"I got a question, Riku. Where did you meet such wonderful kids?" Greg asked. "They certainly know enough common sense that this sort of thing affects their consciences."

"Heh, heh..." Riku nervously replied. "Well, if we didn't have so many missions in the past apart from each other, I would have introduced them to you long ago, but I never got the chance."

"Well, that I can understand, so I'll let it slide." Greg said. "It would have made things easier if you introduced me and Linn to them earlier, but I guess there's no better time like the present."

"We'll eventually get to know each other better after this whole affair with Mantis is over and things are back to normal, to say the least." Nagi said.

"I certainly do hope so, considering what needs to be done with about Reese when the time comes." Greg said as he closed his eyes as he thought up of something. "Which leads me to my next question...if you two claim that you want to help me face the dangers ahead when its time to rescue Lilica and Yuina, are you able to back your words up?"

"I don't understand, Greg..." Nagi was confused.

"I don't mean to sound harsh when we are now starting to become good friends." Greg said. "Though I did hear some good things about your ventures, its also assuring to have some kind of psychical evidence, but it's not to say I'm that I'm having doubts your skills. So...I wonder if it's alright with you that you two take a test of your skills and abilities. It's up to you if you want to do it or not, you're still free to come along with Riku on this rescue mission, though I'd feel a little better to see that you can take care of yourselves on the field."

"A test?" Tot asked. "Well, I'm up for a little exercise anyway. I don't want my skills to get rusty for a time like this. And you, Nagi-kun?"

"I guess I have to come along too, I just want to show Greg just how good I am with my powers, at least enough for him to be convinced." Nagi said.

"I needed that kind of response from you. Anyway, there's an old training ground behind the house outside, we can use that as the testing place." Greg said, getting up. "I'm going ahead first to get things prepped up, so I'll be seeing you in a few."

As Greg stood up to exit the kitchen, Nagi leaned over to Riku.

"Riku, I have one thing to say about your friend." He said.

"And that is?" Riku asked.

"He's a really interesting fellow. A bit serious at times, but he's alright to talk to and get along with." He smiled.

"I'd thought you would say something like that." Riku smiled back at him. "What about you, Tot?"

"I agree with Nagi-kun. He's a little different from what I expected, but he's a really funny and nice guy." Tot answered.

The three youngsters followed Greg into the living room, where Rio Kinezono, Nanvel Candlestick, the emulate biodroid, Seraph and Maya Jingu and Yuji Naruo were preparing weapons and accessories for the rescue mission which will take place the next day. Rio saw Greg come up to her with am impressed look on his face.

"Wow, guys, it looks like you got enough hardware here to start a revolution." Greg said.

"It doesn't hurt to be prepared, Greg." Maya said as she cleaned her handguns. She even had a suitcase of them on the table, all customized to her liking.

"Yeah, this one may not be bringing in money, but Lilica is part of the team and is someone precious that we can't afford to lose." Yuji said. "These are the kinds of measures we are taking to see her back again."

"That is most understandable, you guys. Well, in any case, I'm just stepping outside in the back for a while to get some exercise before tomorrow." Greg smiled at Rio.

"Is everything okay? I thought I heard something fall in the kitchen a while ago." She said. In some ways, she was still worried about his powers at the moment and how he was holding up.

"Just a minor accident I caused, but it's all cleared up now." Greg replied.

"Anyway, I do hope you're not going to exert yourself like you did two days ago...I don't want anything bad happening to you before tomorrow." Rio sternly replied to him.

"Sure, I'll be careful. I'm just taking it easy for now since my body needs some serious rest later." Greg said.

Just then, Nanvel stood up to grab Greg's shirt by the collar as she pulled him closer to her before he can leave.

"Oh no, you don't, Greg!" Nanvel called out to him. "Before you go anywhere, I need to perform some 'examinations' on you in my lab."

"Aunt Nanvel!" Greg lowered his head and whispered as his face had become reddened. "Not in front of Riku and his friends, please! You're going to give them ideas."

"Oh, relax, will you? I think I may have found something that will limit the uses of your pyrokinetic powers so you won't hurt anyone if they go beyond your control." Nanvel whispered back to him so no one could hear them. "That's why I need you to test some theories out."

"Well, if it's for the sake of that, it should be fine." Greg nodded as he turned to Riku and his friends. "Ah, Riku, Nanvel needs to see me about something very important, so I'll be a little late when it's my turn to train. Why don't you go on and start without me, okay? I'll be joining you shortly."

"Okay, sure thing, Greg." Riku said, nodding to him.

"I'm coming with you." Rio got up to join Nanvel and Greg. "I need to see for myself what new tricks Nanvel has for Greg that will help him this time."

"You're welcome anytime, Rio." Nanvel said as the three left the room.

"I wonder what is it that Nanvel is going to do now to him?" Nagi asked himself.

"Beats us, I bet its something scary and probably involves something with her inventions and lots of wiring." Maya said, as she cleaned her handgun.

"Sounds a bit extreme for a psychic like him to keep in check of his powers like that..." Tot asked, sounding a bit scared.

"Hey, I was just kidding." Maya said, rubbing her head. "Well, half kidding, to tell the truth. Sometimes, it's that important that he checks in with the progress of his powers often when he stays with us, we really can't afford something screwy happening and we aren't able to counter it. I'm sure what Nanvel has cooked up has to be something that can ease his troubles for the moment, now more than ever since he needs to rescue Lilica and Yuina too as well."

"Hmmm…" Riku thought to himself as he glanced at the door where Nanvel's lab was, wondering if something was more wrong with the picture than it looked. Though he really wanted to ask what exactly was going on with Greg at the moment, he decided that at the moment it would be best to just let it slide and figure it out after things cool down. Thinking up of a plan for him and his two comrades to participate in the mission ahead was going to be his top concern right now. However, what he had heard Maki say earlier to Yuji and Maya was also troubling him.

"What's up, Riku?" Nagi asked as the three stepped outside where they were the only ones who can freely share their conversation privately. "You have that serious look in your eyes again and it is pretty rare for you to be so serious about things."

"I know now is kind of a bad time to bring this up, even when the two of you are just starting to get to know Greg and his family, but there is something I should let you know for now." Riku told them. "It seems Maki knows some details about what happened to Lucy and Kouta years ago, not to mention the murders that occurred at that time."

"Well, this is hardly a surprise, if you think about it. We are working with some of Japan's best police officers, after all." Nagi said. "Especially if some of them happens to be a special task force that has access to some pretty advanced hardware, it's no trouble for them to have not known about it."

"Yeah, but she seems a bit bothered about the murders Lucy was responsible for as well as the ones that occurred with other diclonius, thinking they were related to what happened to Yuina's aunt, though the scenarios are extremely different." Riku said. "I overheard her talking about it to Yuji and Maya last night after we got here."

"Do you think they will ask us if we know anything about it?" Tot asked her team leader and comrade.

"Most likely, Tot, sooner or later." Riku answered his tone almost grim. "Whichever comes first, I already made a promise that I can't tell on Lucy or Kohta about us knowing the truth, even if Maki and the other as well as Greg happen to be my friends. After all, Lucy and Kohta are our friends too."

"I know that you mean well and neither of us can blame you for that, Riku." Nagi said as he patted his friend's shoulder. "Still, I doubt they are the type to rat out on us if they knew the truth, they all look like good people to me."

"Nagi-kun, I think Riku made his mind up for the best." Tot said. "Even if we have to tell them about Lucy and Kohta, it wouldn't be right. And you know Lucy is the type who is pretty sensitive about her past being told to anyone she doesn't fully trust. I'm sure Riku is doing what he can for Greg's family by keeping it a secret for now."

"You're probably right. Besides, none of us want to do anything to break a friend's trust." Nagi said. "In any case, Riku, have you made your calls to your family as yet?"

"Yeah, I did that yesterday." Riku said. "I made sure to give them some details about what has happened so far, but even that was enough to give them ideas of what they should be expecting soon. Luckily, both my uncle and dad were there to hear everything we knew for now."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Flashback…

On the evening before, away from the busy activities in the safe house, Riku started to make calls to various people about the matter. The first would surely be his family and ninja clan as he found a Codec frequency that would connect him to the Uruha and Hokage clan, the first person that came onscreen was his father, Recca Hanabishi. Although he was in his early thirties, he maintained a near youthful appearance as he had black and long spiky hair and still had his bandage on his left cheek.

"Hey, Riku. It's been awhile since you contacted us using your Codec. But it's still good to hear from you." Recca Hanabishi asked. "How are things going at FOXHOUND, son?"

"Alright for the time being, but I'm calling for other matters actually." Riku said seriously. "I thought I would have to let you and everyone else at the Uruha and Hokage know about this firsthand."

Recca noticed the level of seriousness his son was speaking in and looked at him with concern.

"Riku, did something happen in FOXHOUND that we should know about?" Recca asked.

"Yeah, and it involves my buddy, Greg Kinezono in a big way." Riku said.

"Isn't he that other psychic friend of yours from FOXHOUND that met Kurei some years back when he and that Warrior group visited the Uruha mansion?" Recca asked. "Neon told me of some of the details of them coming to meet you guys there and she said they are a pretty nice bunch to get along with."

"I can't argue with that, Greg is a type you'd like to make friends with quick." Riku said. "That is exactly why Reese has done some inexcusable things to him right now."

Recca's eyes lowered when he heard Reese's name was called. He knew from then anything involving him can't be too good.

"Alright, what really happened, Riku?" Recca asked seriously. "I know about how much you and almost everyone else in your group don't like this Reese guy, but from the sound of your voice, it isn't pretty, huh?"

"Yeah, this involves one of Team Warrior's members who Greg looked up to as a sister." Riku said. "She's been kidnapped by forces which were probably organized by Reese for something sinister. Right now, I'm staying with Nagi and Tot at his aunt's place for now, but Greg and his surrogate mother aren't here for some reason."

"That's terrible, Riku." Recca said.

"Not only that, it seems our traitorous lieutenant also had some questionable dealings with our enemies, the Patriots which lead to Lilica's capture." Riku said.

"I see…so what kind of dealings?" Recca asked.

Riku sighed a bit before he started to explain to his father about Reese's involvement in resurrecting Psycho Mantis and brainwashing him to follow the Patriot's orders. Then he went into the heartbreaking details of Yuina Hattori's and Seraph's involvement in the matter.

"Damn, Riku…this is more serious that I imagined." Recca said as she shook his head sadly. "Is Greg doing okay?"

"I wish I knew, Dad, but I haven't seen him since I found out from Maki and the rest of Warrior about this." Riku said. "He will show up eventually, since I don't think he and his family are just going to sit around and wait for something to happen on Reese's part which could result in harming Lilica or Yuina."

"And what about your other FOXHOUND buddies? Do they know about this?"

"Maki told us that Garland and Venom got most of what Greg knows about the matter and for now, it will have to stay that way until Greg gets some more confirmation about Reese." Riku answered.

"I see…sooner or later though, everyone is going to find out the truth of what Reese has been doing." Recca said. "What have you decided, Riku?"

"I've already made up my mind to help Greg and his family in this and they are willing to accept the help that my team and I will give them which brings me to why I'm calling you to let you know about this." Riku said.

"And it's a good thing you did. This will eventually blow over unless we're prepared for the worst, Riku." Recca said. "Do you want me to tell Kurei about this?"

"I think that would help a lot, considering though it was only once Uncle Kurei and Greg met once, but they started out as good buddies. I don't think Kurei is going to take this lightly when he hears the details." Riku said as he stopped to think for a moment before he asked his father. "Hey, by the way, just where are you anyway?"

"Well, for your information, Yanagi and I are already here on a visit to Kurei and Neon at their mansion since early evening." Recca answered.

"Great, talk about convenient." Riku replied, with smile, glad at some good news. "Okay, I'll make sure to keep you posted on what's happening so far and I will ask Greg when he gets back if it will be okay for us to help him as well. Knowing him, he may not want us getting involved because he probably feels responsible for all that's happening."

"Let him know otherwise, Riku. All this is happening because of Reese, not him. And I know you have a way of pressing on certain matters that are important to you, since Lilica is a friend to you as well, so you shouldn't give up on helping him and his family." Recca smiled to him.

"I must have taken that certain quality from someone I know…" Riku smirked.

"Hey, I heard that, Riku." Recca said with a small laugh as the too of them laughed together.

"Anyway, we'll keep in touch. Say hi to Uncle Kurei and everyone else for me." Riku said as he disconnected.

Meanwhile, at the Uruha mansion….

"Was that our son, Recca?" A woman's voice spoke to Recca from behind him. He turned and saw an attractive and gentle woman with long, brown hair stepped up from the inside of the Uruha mansion wearing a casual dress. With her was another man who partially resembled Recca and another woman with long red hair standing next to him.

"Yeah, and it seems that he was in a bit of a jam, Yanagi." Recca replied. "He mentioned that his FOXHOUND buddy Greg was in some serious situation involving their lieutenant, Reese."

"Did I just hear you say Reese?" Yanagi exclaimed. She too knew what that man was capable of from the majority of tales and rumors Riku had told her.

"Yeah, Lilica, a member of the group that has been taking care of Greg since he was a kid was kidnapped by someone who was following Reese's orders a few days ago." Recca said as Yanagi gasped.

"Kidnapped? Did Riku say by whom?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I said it, but it was Psycho Mantis." Recca said seriously as other people came into the room to listen in. They were Kurei himself, along with his wife and Riku's aunt, Neon. Three other people were with him, all of them being females. They were wearing current casual clothing, but normally the occupants of the Uruha mansion would know them as three of the twelve, cosplaying referees for the famed Urabutosatsujin tournament some twenty years ago. One of them had hair which was long and purple as she wore a t-shirt and short cut jeans. Her friend had hair which was short and black as all she wore was a long flowing white dress. The third girl had short, dark lavender hair and was dressed in a tank top outfit with miniskirt to compliment it.

"Come on, Recca. I know that son of yours normally likes to joke around often, but Psycho Mantis has been dead for almost eleven years now." Kurei said as Recca shook his head.

"I wish I could say he was joking this time, but this is for real, guys. Besides, Riku wouldn't joke about something like this, since even he knows when it's time to get serious." Recca said. "Reese has somehow brought back Psycho Mantis from the dead to raise some hell again and this time, he has him kidnapping and murdering innocent people per the Patriots requests."

"I see…so that lieutenant, Reese, has finally decided to show his true colors at last." Neon said with some hate in her voice, as even she knew how despicable a man Reese was from what Riku, as well as Nagi and Tot had to say about him and his exploits within FOXHOUND. "What is it that he has done this time, Recca?"

"Most of the story isn't pretty to hear, I should warn you guys." Recca said to her first, as he turned to Kurei. "Some of it happens to involve your old accquaintance Greg Kinezono and his family, bro."

Kurei's eyes lowered as he heard this. Knowing Greg only for a brief time, he was wondering how he was doing since their meeting for the first time two years back at the Uruha mansion. He knew then Greg was really a good hearted person who had looked out for Riku's back more than once and the fact his family is in trouble because of Reese was about enough to worry him.

"Tell us what he told you, Recca." Kurei said seriously.

"Lilica, that hacker girl of Warrior and Greg's surrogate sister was kidnapped by Mantis, while Rio was severely attacked trying to stop him a couple of days ago." Recca said, causing the women to gasp loudly while Kurei gritted his teeth when he heard this.

He remembered meeting Lilica and Rio as well when he first met the Warrior group and would always remembered Rio as outgoing and energetic and always confident, while Lilica would be so full of spirit and happiness. As a matter of fact, those two along with Maki, had formed a secret pact between themselves and the Uruha and Hokage clan to secretly help out FOXHOUND in times of need on the meeting day, since they had relatives working in a group that will always be met with constant danger.

"No, it can't be…" Neon shook her head sadly. "Is Miss Kinezono…?"

"Don't worry, she's still alive, Neon. She managed to survive Mantis's encounter just by a hair and her injuries weren't that serious. That nanomachine technology that Warrior uses saved her life and helped her recover." Recca said, as Neon sighed a breath of relief.

"Thank God…" Neon spoke as Kurei held her.

"But Mantis' previous victim wasn't so lucky." Recca said as he remembered what Riku told him about Tokiko Hattori's fate. "A civilian woman died trying to protect her niece from Mantis capturing her."

"Damn…" Kurei growled. "Why would he do something like this?"

"I really don't know, but I can bet it's something big that Reese is preparing for and he is trying to drive us to get out in the open for his causes." Recca said while he looked at the three former referees that were listening as well.

"Is this for real? Greg and Warrior are in trouble because of his boss from FOXHOUND?" One of them asked.

"Tatsuko, Umi and Inuko…you guys heard that as well?" Kurei asked as he heard one of them asked this.

"We couldn't help but overheard it." Umi said. "We never thought it was this serious until you said what happened to both Greg and Rio-san."

"Yeah, that is what went down recently, girls." Recca said, and gave a sigh. "Wait till the rest of the gang gets wind of this, I'm sure they won't be too happy as to what Reese has been up to."

"I just hope Greg-san is taking this well, considering how affected his family must be by this." Tatsuko said.

"Did you guys meet him before?" Yanagi asked.

"Yeah, it was while Riku had brought him and his girlfriend and a few members of Warrior to visit the mansion a couple of years back." Inuko said. "The three of us were among the ones to meet Greg and Linn during their visit at the time. It was quite a memorable experience because they're very good people."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

(Author's note: Check DarkFusion's MGS fic, chapter 14 for more on this.)

Three years back during their first visit on the Uruha mansion grounds, during Warrior's visit to the mansion. Greg had just stepped out of the VR training room with Linn Aramaki and Riku Hanabishi.

"I still can't believe that this mansion houses VR simulators...I thought I've seen everything in this place." Linn spoke, while wiping her brow with a towel. She and her partners went through a hellish, yet enjoyable workout in the Zako Survival mode, to test which ones scored the highest.

At the end, Greg was the last to participate by going through post Big Shell Solid Snake's version without any kills by using only the M9, at least four Stun Grenades, one Ration and the Stinger Missile against Mech Genola. He only went after the items he needed the most for the mission and managed to get the second highest score using these items under Linn and Riku's.

"I agree with her, this mansion is more spacey than it looks." Greg replied, as he sipped on an energy drink. "Are you sure you showed us all the room, Riku?"

The young ninja laughed heartily as he heard Greg said this. "Well, not really. I'm sure we've only covered about a quarter of the mansion by now, not to mention meeting some of it occupants, but most of the ninja teams that visit or stay here or either on training, having a vacation, living a normal life or on missions for uncle Kurei."

Both Greg and Linn sighed with fatigue in their voices as Linn spoke. "You're saying we still have that much of this place to tour through?"

"And that much people to get acquainted with too?" Greg asked as well as Riku nodded to the two of them. "It's hard to believe that a mansion like this can house that many people and it's hard not to get lost around here."

"When you get used to the routines around here, it is pretty simple to get used to everything that's going on here, but then again, this is a place where all kinds of expert ninja gather, so you may get some new surprises everyday that you weren't aware of." Riku said.

"It must be really fun living here, Riku." Linn said with a smile. "With all these people here and a lot going on to keep everyone entertained."

"Yeah, but I'd prefer it better it was more like home with my mom and dad with all the peace and quiet, you know." Riku said as he noticed the silence coming from his psychic friend. "Hey, Greg, you okay?"

"Huh?" Greg looked like he was daydreaming as he suddenly looked at Riku and Linn. "Oh, sorry…my head must have gone into its little space on its own again."

"You seem to be doing that often these days. Is something troubling you?" Riku asked, his expression showing some concern.

"Well, it's just that I envy you for having such a large family, that's all." Greg simply replied. "Since I even hardly recall what my first family looked like, I thought after Rio and Seishiro took me in, it was as big as a family can get, but after visiting you guys, it seems you've got quite the family tree, Riku."

"Well, I'd appreciate the comment, Greg. Coming from someone who personally knows Geese Howard to be his martial arts student, that is something I didn't see coming." Riku said as Greg shook his head nervously.

"Oh, about Geese…it's not as it seems, okay?" Greg said. "I'm not part of any dealings he tries to get me mixed up in, I'm only his student."

"Come on, Greg. You don't have to hide the fact that you're also partly in charge for some of the actions that are responsible for the restoration of South Town after the NESTS terrorist attack on it before the Second Impact." Linn said, causing Greg to fluster suddenly.

"Linn, why did you have to go and say that?" Greg asked as Riku looked thoughtful.

"I remember the archives on that." Riku said. "Most of that city was destroyed because of an orbital weapon they used, am I right?"

"Yeah, they called it the Zero Cannon." Linn said. "I heard it crashed out of orbit when NESTS was brought down a year later after the attack. But from what I also heard is that the group is slowly reforming with new forces."

"Sometime before I joined FOXHOUND, I visited South Town a couple of times. It seemed to be doing well, though the damages were pretty extensive." Greg said. "It was then I overheard that NESTS was still plotting to take control of things. You can say that it was because of that I didn't want the same to happen anywhere else close to home, so that's why I had to join the group."

"Still, it was weird that you of all people ended up being associated with Geese." Riku said.

"Yeah, I find that hard to believe as well, even though I spent some time with you during certain of the King of Fighters sparring matches." Linn said.

"There's quite a history involved that I hope I can find the best of ways to explain to you all about it." Greg said simply. Before he went on, Umi, Inuko and Tatsuko walked in front of him wearing their outfits. One of them was wearing a purple rabbit's outfit in light pink. She even had large bunny ears to boot. The other had on something like a dog's outfit, complete with dog ears and a tail. She had on a scarf that has the words, 'Running Wild'. The third was dressed as a dragon, complete with horns and a tail.

"Hi, girls. Long time no see." Riku called out to them. "You haven't met my friends from FOXHOUND, haven't you? This is Linn Aramaki and the guy in front of you, is Gregory Kinezono."

"He's that psychic friend you told us about when you now started in FOXHOUND, right, Riku?" Umi asked, stepping closer to Greg. She was the one wearing the rabbit cosplay.

"It's him, alright." Riku said. "Come on, Greg, Linn. Introduce yourselves to them."

"Greetings to you three, it is a pleasure to meet you three." Linn bowed to them as Greg did the same.

"Yes, it's great to meet more occupants of the Uruha mansion." Greg said. "But I need to ask, are you girls part of the ninja clans here are well?"

"No, we're three of twelve former referees from the Urabutosatsujin tournament held twenty years ago. We live here. After our no good boss, Koran Mori expired, we had nowhere to stay, so Kurei welcomed us to live here as long as we want. I'm Inuko." She introduced herself to Greg and Linn. She was the one wearing the dog outfit.

"I'm Tatsuko, pleased to meet you." She shook Linn's hand. She stood upright and proud and looked rather attractive in the dragon cosplay outfit she had on.

"And I'm Umi. It's really good to meet you two finally. Riku has said some pretty awesome things about you two." Umi spoke, smiling at Greg. He chuckled nervously to this as he scratched his cheek.

"Well, I wouldn't call myself awesome really. I know I would be more suitable for the word if I was a little more skilled enough to beat the Shadow Moses Zako mission like some of my other buddies in FOXHOUND have done in accomplishing the impossible." Greg admitted. Even though he had spent enough time in the VR room since joining up, he can never get close to defeating the almost impossible to beat original Shadow Moses Solid Snake Zako Survival mode version as he would always be beaten once he had gotten to the mixed soldier and Tengu section. The only person who has made it to the end on several record times was notably Garland Durev at the moment.

"Aw, Greg, you know for sure there's more about you that meets the eye." Riku said. "There are even some things about you that are still surprising me to this day. You really shouldn't think you're not as helpful as the rest of us are."

"Yeah, he's right, Greg." Linn nudged him with her shoulder. "You really shouldn't get uptight because of how often you think about how you compare your skills to the others in FOXHOUND."

"Ah, I'm sorry, Riku, Linn. Bad habit of mine, I guess." Greg said as he rubbed his head as he faced the three former referees. "It was really nice meeting you three. I knew this mansion housed ninjas, but I never expected even you guys living here as well. This place is bigger than I imagined."

"Yeah, Kurei makes sure to take good care of those who are allied with him. He's really changed in the time we've known him." Umi said.

"Yes, I have to agree, Kurei is a whole different person than I heard of before. He's cool to hang around with from what I can tell." Greg replied. "I just have to be careful not to get on his bad side from what Riku has told me in the past about him."

"You got that right, he can be downright scary." Inuko said with a nervous grin.

Greg then looked back a bit, as he wondered if Rio and Lilica were finished talking to Kurei as yet in his room as yet, but decided to inquire Riku instead as he wanted to tour the mansion some more.

"Riku, remind me if I was mistaken, but we still have much about in this mansion to see, don't we?" Greg asked.

"That's right. And we still we have to meet my other aunts, Miki and Aki and meet back with Rio, Lilica and Maki before you leave." Riku said.

"Man, Riku, just how many relatives of yours and friends of the ninja clans staying here are there who we haven't met yet?" Linn asked which resulted in a grin by Riku.

"Oh, you're seeing about one quarter of the people who have either allied themselves with my father and uncle Kurei." Riku said and gave a light chuckle. "You should actually see the gathering when every single one of them gets together."

"We can only imagine, Riku. But it would be fun if we're invited." Linn said.

"Yeah, man, let us in on the fun when the time comes. I'm sure Rio and the others would want to meet the rest of the ninjas living here as well." Greg said.

"Okay, I'll sure to take note of that, Greg." Riku said as he stood up. "Well, Inuko, Tatsuko and Umi, we're going now to check up on the rest of the mansion, are you coming with us?"

"We'd like to, but we got errands to run for our other friends as well. We'll be pretty busy for the rest of the day." Umi said.

"Ah, that's too bad." Riku said. "Well, at least you got to meet Greg and Linn, so it's not totally a loss."

"Um, can I ask you three a question?" Linn asked. The first to reply was Tatsuko.

"Yes, Linn-san. What is it that you wanted to ask?" she asked.

"You said you were three out of the twelve referees, right?" Linn asked. "Did the rest of you dress like that during that tournament held by that Kouran Mori guy?"

"Yeah, each of us did and we would be happy to do so once more if there's something like that again. It is something we do best." Tatsuko said. "We really love our work, Linn-san. It's something really hard to break from, you know what I mean?"

"I understand. You really must enjoy your jobs as referees. It must be a lot of fun, not to mention safer than actually participating in the fights." Linn said.

"Yeah, but we still had to face some rather grotesque moments in some of the past fights in the tournament. It has its bad points at times." Tatsuko said.

"Then our roles aren't too different, huh?" Linn nodded as she then turned to Greg for a moment as a small smile crept on her face as she turned back to her new friends once more. Leaning in a bit, Linn whispered to Tatsuko a bit before they both giggled to what Linn told her.

"Sure, I can hook you up with something that he will like." Tatsuko said. "Even for someone with such an attractive built as your, Linn-san, it should be an even better fit on you."

"That's really great of you. Thanks." Linn said as she then passed Greg and Riku with a big smile on her face. "Well, come on boys, we can't keep the rest of the tour lagging."

"Wait a second, Linn. What is it that you just told Tatsuko?" Greg asked, certainly a bit oblivious to what just transpired while Riku smirked slightly as Linn waved a finger at him.

"Nuh-uh-uh. That is my little secret for now, partner." She said as she passed him while Greg looked at Riku nervously.

"Hey, Riku, can you tell me?" Greg asked as Riku smiled as he walked off to join Linn.

"Really, Greg. It is obvious that Linn asked Tatsuko to do her a favor." Riku said to his friend. "The kind of favor that I'm really not obliged to reveal to you because it will ruin the surprise for you."

"Favor? Surprise?" Greg asked as he was getting more clueless about the matter. "I still don't understand what you mean by that, Riku."

Riku simply shrugged his shoulders as he walked off, leaving Greg behind as he simply looked at the trio of referees first in silence before running in the direction where Linn and Riku went, calling out to them.

"Hey, don't leave me hanging, you two! I'm still confused as to what went on." Greg shouted. "Tell me what is it that you see that I cannot? Tell me!"

The trio of referees broke out in a laugh as they saw Greg helplessly run off to meet his friends.

"Aramaki and Greg-san are two very interesting characters indeed." Inuko spoke as she watched Greg, Riku and Linn leave the VR room. "I sensed a strong and an honorable warrior's spirit within the two of them."

"I bet if he and Kurei were to have a sparring match, it will be an intense fight." Umi asked. "I wonder which of those two is the strongest."

"Beats me, this is what make this so tense as well." Inuko said. "Oh, if only there was somewhere that had a tournament where we can use our skills again…"

"In any case, Tatsuko, what is it that Linn asked you that made Greg so curious?" Umi asked. Tatsuko smiled as her cheeks reddened a bit.

"It seems Aramaki-san wanted an outfit of her own as well." Tatsuko admitted. "Seems she wants to attract Greg somehow in the attire we have."

"Well, I can't blame her. She is a beautiful woman who happens to be a friend of Riku's in FOXHOUND after all, I think something from our wardrobe can compliment her figure." Umi said.

"We should get something ready for her by the next time any of them comes to visit." Inuko said. "Let's just hope it's anytime soon."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"I didn't know you three met Greg and his girlfriend before." Recca said.

"Yeah, and I actually found something for Linn to wear that I'm sure she will like, but a lot of time passed and they couldn't come for a visit soon after since they were busy with a lot of FOXHOUND stuff." Tatsuko said. "Still, I'll be keeping it in a safe place in once they find the time to come over."

"Still, to think this is actually happening to Riku and his comrades in FOXHOUND…this is certainly inexcusable." Yanagi said

"Kurei, what shall you do about this?" Neon asked.

"I guess it would be wise to contact everyone we know and keep them on the alert about the crisis." Kurei said. "Sooner or later, this is going to get out of Riku and Greg's control if they attempt to rescue Lilica without any proper back up or assistance."

"I get what you mean. It's time to call in the big guns, huh?" Recca said with a grin.

"Yes, brother. It seems we may have to return the clans to how it used to be from all those years ago during the tournament." Kurei said.

"Then, I'll go and find Mom and tell her of what's going down." Recca said. "Hopefully, with her resources, she can help us big time on this one."

"While I'm at it, I'll probably give Domon, Fuuko and Tokiya a call, it's been awhile since we last talked to them." Yanagi said. "I'll also tell Gennosuke-san and Oboro-san about this too."

"And I'll see what Koganei and the other ninja teams have been up to. With the skirmish going on in Tokyo-3 right now, it is most likely that they picked up some vital information themselves." Kurei said. "It would also be best to contact Kenshin about this as well."

"Okay, then. It's settled." Recca nodded. "We'll keep in touch then and get prepared in case Riku has found anything else relevant; we should be on the ready to assist him and Greg in any way when this thing hits the fan."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"So this means, that your whole family is ready to help out too, huh?" Tot asked.

"Yeah, it seems that way." Riku replied. "You know how my father and uncle are anyway. But at least Greg and Warrior won't have to go through this alone, now that everyone we know is trying to assist us get Lilica and Yuina back."

"When you meant everyone we know, would that include the rest of our nakama from Uruha Ryu?" Nagi asked.

"Most certainly, but since things are on level at the moment, I'd better let Akira and Alice have their rest time a bit longer before I make up my mind to call for their help, not to mention Kaori and the others." Riku said. "The most I can do is contact Arakawa just to be safe, but then again, she must be bogged down with extra work as usual."

"Well, we need to make sure now more than ever that our friends keep in touch and are informed of what's happening." Nagi said. "I'll keep on doing what I can here to help Nanvel track a way to find Lilica later."

"You do just that, Nagi. I think she appreciates the little help she can get." Riku said. "In any case, if the subject about Lucy comes up, let me handle the matter, got it?"

Nagi and Tot nodded in silence as they went on outside to wait on Greg who will be joining them soon.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Meanwhile, somewhere else in the country...

"The trap has been set." A male voice spoke in the darkness. He had a dark trenchcoat and hat on, a chakram decorated around it. "All that is needed now is to wait for Kinezono to arrive tomorrow and then perform my task. Killing him will be so much fun..."

"That is not your only task, Shade." Another man's voice answered from the other end of the cell phone Shade was using. "Once you get Kinezono and whoever is assisting him out of the way, make your way to Mantis and eliminate him as well. His services are coming closer to completion for my plans."

"That's a strange request...Reese." Shade retorted. "Why would you want someone as powerful as Mantis taken out? Wasn't he brought back to execute your commands to the Patriots will?"

"You need not to know...I'm just being cautious that if that meddlesome recruit gets to Mantis first and manages to reverse the effects of the Patriots' brainwashing on him, he may end up having Mantis ally himself with Kinezono." Reese replied. "That must not happen. Kinezono is a strong psychic, despite his appearance, the last thing we need is an alliance between two powerful psychics."

"Fine...I won't question any further reasons about this. I just have to do my job, and maybe earn a bonus getting Michael's attention when he learns his good friend has been killed by me." Shade smiled.

"There's another thing you must do...Kill the Ebett girl, as well as Yuina Hatori." Reese said. "They have no significant part anymore in my operation. Do whatever that pleases you to them as long all three, including Gregory Kinezono are dead." Reese commanded.

"Understood. I'm going to enjoy deflowering them while hearing their screams, before giving them a silent death." Shade said.

"Also, the 'Death Squad' is yours to command. Having the S3 logic implanted into each of their cerebrum cortex, they have honed fighting skills, much of which has been verified from the battles the White Devil incurred during the test of the program...the Big Shell incident. "Reese spoke. "These are no typical Arsenal Tengus either, although their specialty is based more on speed and an even greater agility factor than even Raiden's. They are the perfect by- products with the amount of battle data fixed into their memories that will have them unmatched among even the average 'freaks' of FOXHOUND...make good use of them, Shade. The Patriots didn't waste any effort to manufacture them to become the next breed of super soldiers."

"Oh, I can guarantee that they will be used appropriately." Shade said. (Though personally, they won't be entirely necessary. I'm sure I can deal with Kinezono and his friends easily when its time all by myself. Why is Reese going through all this unnecessary trouble?)

"That will be all. Do not disappoint me, Shade." Reese spoke as he disconnected.

With that, the conversation ended, as Shade placed the cell into his trenchcoat. His pure black eyes glowed within the darkness as he sat to meditate.

(I'll be waiting for you, Gregory Kinezono...) Shade grinned, thinking what fun way to kill Greg with.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Meanwhile, in Nanvel's temporary lab, Greg can be seen sitting down, shirtless, as multi- colored wires hooked from the nanomachines which constructed his right arm covered the entirety of his shoulder and some were even padded to his chest area. They were reading the vitals of his body and energy levels for the batteries that the nanos had even after Greg had now inherited his pyrokinetic powers once more. Rio was seen standing close by with her arms folded.

"That should be about it." Nanvel said, stepping back as she had finished placing something large over Greg's artificial right arm. It looked like a mechanical gauntlet which was connected to the wires and Nanvel placed sensors to the sides of his temple. It appeared to still be in its prototype stages, but it still looked close to a finished product. "I managed to get this all ready even under short notice."

"So tell us again what does this do, Nanvel?" Rio asked, while Greg remained silent.

"Since Greg will be using his pyrokinetic powers more often, I've created special gauntlets to limit the use in case he ends up losing control like the first time he gained them." Nanvel said. "It may not be top notch, considering we're under some serious time strains, but this is the best I can come up from my knowledge of nanotechnology and your powers in this amount of time."

Nanvel opened a storage unit close by and took out Greg's Sneaking Suit and laid it on the table in front of her as she began to place the sensors from the machine around the chest areas.

"These will be recording your vitals from now on, Greg. I've included a special unit into the specs of your suit that will detect when you should be taking those painkillers in case the time is needed." Nanvel said. "As long as you wear the gauntlets, the sensors should be able to tell you everything about them, so you don't be needlessly taking them all the time."

"I see. While it may not be the ultimate suit developed to counter the obstacles we will encounter later, I couldn't have asked for a better enhancement for the suit for the time being." Greg replied, looking at his wired covered arm. "But would the gauntlets be effective for combat use?"

"Yeah, though they really can't boost your strength unless you're using your psychic powers, but they make for good defense protection when dealing in close quarters combat." Nanvel said. "You should probably keep that in mind from now on, Greg."

"In other words, the gauntlets only act as a limiter to his powers and as a field of defense, huh, Nanvel?" Rio asked.

"That's the best way to put it." Nanvel replied.

"I'm fine with that, Nanvel. I was kind of worried if I had to go on this mission naked as I am with only my weapons to carry with me." Greg said. "But, can I ask another thing I've noticed about the sensors you put on my sneaking suit?"

"Hmm, and what is it, Greg?" Nanvel asked.

Greg lowered his head as he spoke. "Why did you have to color them pink? That kind of color designation is just going to give away my position."

"Aww, I get the feeling that you don't like it." Nanvel said, fiddling with her fingers.

"No, I never said that!" Greg looked up as Rio snickered. "Hey, sensei, what's so funny?"

"Its good to see you being teased once in a while, Greg." Rio nudged him on the chest. "And I must say, with all those wires strapped all over you like that, you do look manly in a twisted sort of way, like a famed bishonen character in bondage."

"Sensei!" Greg blushed as Rio laughed. Just then, Maki stepped into the room.

"I see that you're having fun, Rio and Nanvel." Maki said as she observed what was happening. "You okay there, Greg?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Greg answered, moving his arm along with the wires. "In any case, why are you here, aunt Maki?"

"Actually, there was something on my mind since yesterday after Riku and his partners arrived and I needed your input on something." Maki said seriously.

"And what would it be?" Greg asked.

"I want to find out if it's possible for a psychic to commit brutal acts of murder under a certain influence of mind control." Maki said, causing Greg's eyes to widen as Rio placed an arm over her shoulder.

"Maki, can you be a bit careful about what you ask Greg these days?" Rio asked as Greg looked on silently. "Hey, Greg, you don't have to answer if you really don't want to."

"No, it's okay. I can answer it." Greg said, clutching a set of wires with his nano arm. "In any case, what was it that came to your mind to have made you ask this, Maki?"

"Well, this was about a string of serial murders that happened in a rural town near the ocean several years ago before we took you in." Maki said as Greg paused to think about that for a moment.

"Now that you say it, I think I heard something like that from years ago, but…" Greg hung his head as he tried not to dwell back on his past. "I'm sorry, you know me and how touchy I get when I have to think about my past since I have a hard time trying to remember it and all."

"That's okay, Greg." Maki said. "However, it kind of bothered me as to how Yuina's aunt was killed. It seemed similar to how those murder victims were killed those years ago."

"Yeah, about that, Nanvel's been filling me in with what Seraph told her and you guys yesterday about what happened to her and Yuina since I came in here." Greg said as he shook his head sadly. "It truly was a terrible thing that Yuina had to go through this. It only makes more reason for me to help her and Seraph out in this if it means bringing those two together again."

"Yeah, I know…Still, back to what we were talking about, weren't those cases unsolved up to now, Maki?" Rio asked suddenly.

"They still are and that is what bothers me even more." Maki said as she shrugged her shoulders. "In any case, I just wanted to inform you of this as it may be important later, but for now I don't think that's our issue. Right now, we should concentrate on getting Lilica and Yuina back."

"Yeah…you're right, aunt Maki." Greg said, getting up. "Are you done now, Nanvel?"

"Yep, the tests are done. But I need you to do me one more favor, Greg." Nanvel waved a finger at him as Greg knew what she was going to do next.

(I knew there was a catch to this.) Greg thought to himself as he rubbed his head. "Okay, what is it then?"

A smile crept up on Nanvel's face as she took him by the arm and showed him to a changing room with the Sneaking Suit in hand. Without hesitation, Greg stepped in and started changing his clothing as Rio, Nanvel and Maki left the room.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Back at the Kawasaki household, Maya was standing with her arms folded on the open area with Nagi and Tot, while Riku stayed on the porch area with Yuji Naruo, Nastasha Romanenko, and Seraph. Nanvel then stepped outside first as Rio and Maki found a seat on the porch as she had an object that was just as tall as she was covered in a white sheet.

"Come on, Greg. Everyone's out here waiting." Nanvel called back.

"Ah, Nanvel…do I really have to do this?" Greg replied miserably from the background.

"It's for the sake of the mission, Greg. You did say you wouldn't complain about it since Lilica and Yuina's lives are on the line here." Nanvel said. "Now, get your butt out here so we can start the testing."

"Yes, aunt Nanvel. I understand, just don't laugh." Greg said, as he slowly walked out, dressed in his Sneaking Suit, but something was very different about it. He had on a helmet device which surrounded from his temple area around to his chin. A bulge-like armored chest plate which was fitted on Greg's chest area nearly followed the design of the gauntlets that fitted both his arms. Several wires can be attached from the gauntlets wired to his arms which were also fitted with shoulder pads.

A few seconds of silence passed until Yuji, Maya and Riku broke out laughing.

"Wow, Greg, you're truly standing out tonight." Yuji said, holding his stomach.

"Yeah, I never knew pink was the rave today." Riku smirked as Greg hung his head. The truth of the matter was that the components Nanvel added were all coloured pink, her favorite color. Greg felt very flustered in that color.

"Yeah, very funny, you guys." Greg shook his head as he looked at Nanvel. "Did you have to go and really color them this way, Nanvel?"

"But you look so adorable in pink, Greg." Nanvel hugged him as Greg sighed.

"Really, Nanvel, let's be serious here." Riku had to catch some breaths as he spoke. "Pink really is going to give away Greg's position if he was on a sneaking mission, it's not really the best choice for a camo option on a battlefield."

"I know, I know. I just wanted to tease Greg a little." Nanvel said, pressing a button on a remote as the amour components on Greg's Sneaking Suit started to alter color from pink to dark grey to match the color of the suit. "The nanomachines I've installed into the components can shift the color according to the situation, as well give off certain properties."

"A Sneaking Suit with the ability to shift its camouflage color?" Greg asked. "Do you have any idea what you just did, aunt Nanvel?"

"Of course, it's a breakthrough in stealth technology!" Nanvel cheered. "Isn't it neat?"

"Yeah, you can say that again." Greg said.

"Which leads me to ask, is all of that necessary, Nanvel?" Maya asked.

"Since we're dealing with both of Greg's psychic and physical strengths, I had to take certain steps to make sure they can be analyzed more efficiently at the same time. That gave me the idea for this slight enhancement of Greg's suit." Nanvel said. "That way, it wouldn't be much of a problem to see ahead if something wrong is going to happen, not to mention Greg give an upper hand on some points on the battlefield."

"In other words, this is a possible next evolution of the Sneaking Suit?" Tot asked.

"You can say that, but for now, I thought Greg would have made an adequate test subject for the prototype, considering his abilities." Nanvel said. "Right now, this is just a test due to the time constraints and sudden emergency."

"Well, at least it shows just how Nanvel is so resourceful when it comes to gadgets and other scientific stuff." Rio nodded as she patted her friend. "But, Nanvel, wasn't there something else you had to show us as well?"

"Yes, I'm getting to it." Nanvel said as she got out a remote and cleared her throat. "Okay everyone...allow me to introduce to you, the next generation training simulation dummy, the N- 001 Alpha...THE NAN-BOT!"

She pulled over the sheet to reveal a metallic replica version of herself, armed with two tonfars, and was also packing a handgun to its side. It had a pale green tone of skin and it seemed that it needed power to start up.

Everyone in the area, expecting Greg had big sweat drops on their heads.

"Umm...that's quite an invention, Nanvel." Nagi replied nervously, seeing the robot had matching chest size to the real thing.

"This is certainly something I didn't see coming. It almost looks life like." Greg spoke. "But while we're on the subject...you said this thing's a training dummy, right?" Greg asked.

"Of course. I had only completed it about a month ago." Nanvel replied happily.

"It would have been better if you just told me and Rio something about it beforehand, aunt Nanvel." Greg said. "It would have made things more convenient for me if I were to train before the mission, you know."

"I'm so sorry, Greg. I guess, I kind of forgotten, especially with everything that has happened." Nanvel blushed heavily while she clasped her hands together in a prayer like fashion to Greg, who simply smiled as he simply shook his head silently first before patting her shoulder.

"It's understandable, at a time like this." Greg said sullenly. "This thing with Lilica, Yuina and Mantis is affecting me in its own cruel ways too, you know. I really don't blame you for not saying something before, aunt Nanvel. But still, I think you've done a good job putting all your dedication in creating something like this. Again, you've done me proud with your genius."

Nanvel's cheeks redden as she placed her hands over her face. "Aw, Greg…if I didn't know any better, I'd say you're trying to flatter me, aren't you?"

"No way, aunt Nanvel! I didn't meant it like that!" Greg said quickly. "You know this is not one of the first times your inventions has helped me for the better. It was just a compliment after all."

"But still…to hear you say that about my inventions…" Nanvel said, shaking herself. "It's a really good feeling, Greg. I needed the little encouragement. And normally, you're the one who worries about appealing to women."

Greg stepped back as he started to blush himself, realizing Nanvel's little joke. "Hey, you were just teasing me again, weren't you? Cut that out, will you?"

"Ah, so naïve to your own gifts as usual, aren't you, Greg?" Nanvel snickered as Greg shook his head. "That what makes you so lovable."

"Can we hurry up and get back to the business at hand if you had enough fun, aunt Nanvel?" Greg said as he was flustered for the moment while Riku laughed.

"It must be tough on you having being teased for things you don't know you're capable of that make people laugh, isn't it, Greg?" Riku asked. "Most considerably if it's by your own family no doubt comprising of WARRIOR."

Greg simply folded his arms as he looked up to the night sky. "I just know they are only doing what they can to make me feel better…which I know is quite true."

Maki and Rio smiled to each other, knowing Greg was accurate with knowing of their plan. He had been staying with them long enough to know their routines to make him temporarily forget his pains, whether they are both past and present ones. The tone of his voice sounded like a need of guidance and support from his loved ones that he will surely need for the mission to rescue Lilica and Yuina soon.

"Fine, all jokiness aside, let's get the show rolling." Nanvel said as she looked at Greg. "So, Greg what was it that you wanted the Nan-bot to do tonight?"

"Actually, it would prove interesting if we all saw what Nagi and Tot have to offer in their combat skills while we see your creation in action at the same time." Greg said. "Unless they have any objections to it, that is."

Nagi shook his head as he and Tot nodded at each other. "Our minds are already made up, Greg. We won't mind having to duel with a robot to show our skills."

"Yeah, so let us show you that we mean it, okay?" Tot asked.

"Alright then. Then I'll be rooting for the both of you." Greg said as he took a seat on the porch. "Nanvel, you can start at any suitable level for them if you want."

"Got it…starting boot up combat system on Normal mode." Nanvel said, as she activated the robot.

Nagi sighed heavily first as he whispered over to Tot. "When we start, we'll attack it at the same time when it's vulnerable. I'll guard you from the sidelines."

"Okay, got it, Nagi-kun." Tot smiled, taking out her Muramasa. Nanvel then got busy into starting up the Nan-bot, which eyes lit a bright yellow.

"Good evening, Nan-bot." Nanvel said happily.

"Good evening, master Nanvel. To what service can I be of to you?" Nan-bot replied.

"I need to see how capable these two youngsters are in battle, so show them what you got and don't be hard too on them, okay?" Nanvel said.

"Affirmative, master." Nan-bot replied, getting into combat posture.

"Here it comes!" Nagi called to Tot. He ran to the side where he had already charged up an energy ball and as he stopped running, he threw it at Nan-bot's direction. It got an effective stun on its chest area, as Tot had already waved her katana at the robot, several slashes of moisture can be seen hitting Nan-bot before it realized what was happening.

"An effective blindsided attack…" Nan-bot muttered, staggering a bit.

Greg can see what Nagi and Tot were planning, as two on one attacks are a rarely seen thing in the combat arts among FOXHOUNDers these days.

(I see, so they do work best in a pair.) Greg thought to himself as he lit a cigarette to smoke for awhile.

He could see Tot stopping her attack midways and canceling it to return her sword into its sheath, then giving Nan-bot a shove like kick to keep a distance away from the combat robot. But the robot was far from defeated.

"Paradise Shock!" Nan-bot said, firing a laser beam at Tot, who rolled under the beam and was prepared to counter the attack.

"Not yet!" Tot shouted back, forming three final slashes to create a long snake made out of water that rushed towards the robot. "Water Snake!"

Greg got a good look at the snake apparition and nodded his head. (And Tot's rather efficient with that sword of hers as well. Being able to create chi or elemental attacks with a weapon is something rare among us.)

Nan-bot got punished by the long distance attack and staggered once more. Nagi saw another opportunity to throw an even larger sized energy ball that hit the robot near its circuitry board.

"Electric Field!" Nan-bot cried out as a force field generated by the electricity from Nan-bot formed up near Tot's body, and missed her by some inches. Tot breathed some relief and focused on the opponent in front of her. Her previous attack must have messed up its rotor control a bit that the attack missed her.

"That was close..." Tot said to herself. She took advantage of the lapse time Nan-bot had when she performed her Electric Field move and drew her sword in front of her, while she charged at the robot.

"Circuit Graze!" Nan-bot shouted, executing an aerial spinning blow with her tonfar, but Tot simply passed through the rising uppercut Nan-bot performed and ended up behind her, allowing her to ambush the robot with another attack.

"Mizuchi (water dragon)!" she shouted, and started to vertically attack the vulnerable robot, while combining the force of her slash along with the moisture in the air when attacking her opponent. Nagi saw the chance to press on his attack as well and charged up an even larger energy ball to throw at Nan-bot with.

"Psyche Shot!" Nagi shouted, firing his energy ball at Nan-bot which took the hit. But the robot still had some fight in it left.

Charging towards Nagi right after, it leaped over his head and swung its tonfar at him while producing an electric shock. Luckily in time, the psychic dodged the move and even produced a force field of his own to deflect the attack. When it landed on its feet, it was wide open for another counter attack by the two FOXHOUNDers.

"Rising Crow!" Nagi shouted as he lashed at the robot with psychic energy surrounding him with an ascending attack.

SMACK!

While in was in mid-air, Tot then delivered another Water Dragon attack to finish the fight.

"Mizuchi!" Tot shouted as the slash connected and disabled the robot to combat any further. The robot then began to power down.

"Warning! Warning! Damage level has already reached critical point!" Nan-bot shouted. "Unable to continue combat due to detected foreign element materials in mainframe. Activating the automatic shutdown sequence."

Nagi and Tot panted as they saw the Nan-bot stopped moving in front of them as Nanvel stood up as she was satisfied for the moment to seeing the results of seeing her creation in action. She got up and patted the robot.

"Nice job, Nan-bot. You did well for now." Nanvel smiled. "So, Greg...did they pass your test?"

Greg nodded silently as he put the cigarette out in an ashtray nearby before he approached them. "They certainly convinced me alright, Nanvel."

"See, Greg? Those two know how to deal with the battlefield as much as the rest of us can, so you can put your worries aside." Riku said.

"Okay, I'll take your word for it, Riku. I am no longer in doubt." Greg replied. "Especially with Tot's handling of her sword, I liked that trick you did with it, Tot. You really know how to use it well."

"Well, thanks to some of Riku's friends and relatives from his clan, I was able to create some useful styles with the sword." Tot replied.

"I see, those are some effective moves back there. I think you'll do just fine when its time for the mission." Greg said, as he faced Nagi. "And Nagi...you're rather good yourself. You must be a specialist with long distance as well as close quarter combat attacks of your powers. You must have had a good teacher."

Nagi slightly chuckled to this. "Well, it's probably the only most useful thing that my former master taught me to use. But..." Nagi paused for a moment before continuing. "…he died some time ago before I joined FOXHOUND and met Riku."

"I see. Sorry if I had to bring it up. All I had was Rio's and Seishiro-san's training, as well as certain others along the way to help me cope with my powers." Greg folded his arms. "If you'd like, I can share a couple of pointers with you that I've learned in the past that can help you. Would that be okay with you for now, Nagi?"

Nagi nodded at him. "Sure, I can use some of your advice a little, Greg. I'm just a bit curious on what you have to offer that can inspire me to be a better psychic."

"Well, even if you say that, I doubt I've got what it takes to show you that I'm practically useful with them, but I am set to give something back to you and your partners for all the trouble I've caused you." Greg said.

Rio noticed Greg sounded troubled still over what's been happening and decided she should give him some encouragement as she stood up and walked over to him.

"Hey, Greg, don't you have something you want to show us yourself?" Rio asked, winking at him. "Come on, this is your chance to make a good impression on Riku's partners."

"Hey, sensei. Remember why I decided to go through the lengths for rescuing Lilica and Yuina." Greg whispered low to her. "I really don't like flaunting my powers anyway, you know that."

"Aw, come on. What's the little harm in that?" Rio shrugged her shoulders. "Think of this as a way of showing everyone you meant business this time around."

"But…" Greg tried to speak as Rio placed a finger over his lips.

"Please, Greggie. I really want to see how you've improved." Rio asked, with shakiness in her voice. "If not for us, then for Lilica, please?"

Greg sighed as he shook his head. "Alright then, I'll give this thing a practice run myself, but only because you asked me to for Lilica's sake. Just this once, alright?"

Rio smiled at him as she stepped back a good distance from Greg. "Alright, give it your all, Greg."

Sighing heavily, Greg then rubbed his neck before looking at Nanvel. "Is that robot of yours still operable?"

"Yeah, it can still run like normal with its minor damages." Nanvel replied.

"Alright, let me have it then." Greg said before he leaned closer as if to whisper to her. "Oh, and can you set a timer on the match please? I want to time myself for the intervals that I would need to take my medicine."

Nanvel looked at him blank-eyed first, before they lowered sadly. She knew the extent of the risk that Greg was taking with his powers that now he needed to calculate the time he has while in combat from now on. Nodding sadly, she replied by reactivating the robot once more.

"You sure about this, Greg?" Nanvel asked.

"Yeah, I sure am." Greg nodded. "Don't worry; everything's going to be fine for now. A good fight is what I need right now to get out of this temporary slump we're in."

"Okay." Nanvel said, gulping and changing the difficulty on Nan-bot. "Setting it to Special mode set under specific conditions."

Greg looked on in silence as he took out another cigarette and lit it as Nanvel was busy setting the configuration of the difficulty settings.

"Bzzt. Reconfiguring prime difficulty setting. Loading the Special difficulty duel mode." Nan-bot replied.

Greg remained silent as the cigarette continued to burn on his lips as he examined the gauntlets on his arms and checked his nanosuit for any signs of mishaps later.

"File uploads complete. Running systems spec…" Nan-bot reported. "Increased parameters of defense to both psychical and elemental attacks as well in stamina recovery rate, check."

"Looks like you shouldn't waste any time on this fight, Greg." Nanvel said.

"I know…but it's not my intention to waste any precious seconds in it while my life's on the clock anyway." Greg said as he looked at the powered up Nan-bot. "Well, let's get the match started, shall we?"

"Good luck then, Greg!" Nanvel backed off as Greg dropped his half finished cigarette, then got into a fighting stance as he placed his right nano fist over his face where only his eyes can be seen, while his left arm stretched to his lower abdomen area.

"Static Wave!" Nan-bot shouted as Greg suddenly rolled out of its way. Suddenly standing up, he was ready to counter attack, but the robot was already close enough to him that he didn't sense how fast it moved at him.

"What the…?" Greg said as he was taken by surprise when the robot knocked three critical hits into his abdomen as small electric jolts surged through his body.

"Damn, it caught Greg off guard!" Maya said.

"Electric Field!" Nan-bot said as it generated its electric current shield and tried to fry Greg with its multitude of electricity attacks. However, Greg knocked the Nan-bot in time and gained some distance from it before he got hit. Holding unto his stomach, Greg felt his body suddenly going numb.

"Man, to think Greg would fall for something like that so easily." Yuji said. "Hey, Riku, is this how it normally is when he spars with your other buddies from your group?"

"Yeah, I hate to say it, but Greg often doesn't stand much of a chance against either Garland or Michael in this current state." Riku said.

"Damn!" Rio gritted her teeth as she stood up and started to call to Greg. "Come on, Greg! Is this how you normally get kicked around in FOXHOUND all the time? Show us what you got, stop kidding around!"

"Rio-san! What are you doing?" Seraph asked her.

"She knows what she's doing, let her be, Seraph." Maki simply said. "Its okay, this is exactly the push he needs right now."

"But…" Seraph said as she looked on at Greg, who staggered to get up. Wiping his mouth, he looked on at Nan-bot with determined eyes.

"Are you going to let a tin can like Nan-bot show you how weak you are? You won't be able to save Lilica and Yuina like this if you plan on losing to Mantis, Greg!" Rio shouted. "Make a stand and fight like a man!"

"Sensei, please…don't go saying such things in front of my friends." Greg said, as he got into his posture once more.

"What's that supposed to mean? Have you suddenly become a wuss all of a sudden?" Rio called out. "If you're having trouble focusing, I know just the thing to help you."

Rio suddenly ran back into the house as everyone looked on with quizzed looks on their faces while Greg knew what she was going to do.

"Oh, no…don't tell me she's going to…" Greg muttered as she suddenly came back out with a portable music box set and a cd. Popping in the music disc, she pressed the play button as a simple electric guitar melody started to playing, before it was joined by a catchy frenzy mix of party techno and hard rock.

Greg almost fell over as he noticed this was Rio's theme for Warrior, aptly named '_Show Time_!' It was the track from the first mission from one of the greatest games of all time, Devil May Cry 3. She knew Greg would get some blood pumping from hearing this song.

"Now, Greg, I'm certain this would do the job for you." Rio said to him, as Greg shook his head.

"You've really done it now, sensei. I feel so embarrassed." Greg stretched open his arms as he suddenly got into his posture once more and faced Nan-bot once more. "Alright, let's continue this."

Nan-bot suddenly charged at Greg once more as it dashed at him, swinging its tonfars at him, but the psychic countered by foot sweeping the robot and as it was picked up off the ground, he sent a flying knee into its side, and then performed an outstretched flying kick that sent if higher than his body.

"Judgment Kick!" Greg shouted as he raised his body and spun it to perform a single back kick that landed dead mark on Nan-bot's chest with his leg, knocking it on the ground.

"Impressive." Seraph said simply, noting Greg's skills.

"Yeah, but he's far from being serious as yet. Just wait a while longer." Rio spoke while observing the fight. "He's only getting warmed up."

After landing on the ground, Nan-bot stood up and swung one of its tonfars near Greg's face, but Greg gritted his teeth and crossed his arms together as the tonfars were deflected in five consecutive successions, creating white sparks each time he guarded against them.

"What was that, Rio? I've never seen Greg do anything like that before in FOXHOUND." Riku asked.

"Just a little something Greg managed to work on while developing his psychic training not so long ago." Rio replied. "It's a self defensive ability that helps him stores his power without taking too much damage. Neat, isn't it?"

"Yeah, but he certainly can't keep on doing it as much as he wants, can he?" Nagi asked.

"You're pretty observant. As useful as his psychic defense techniques are, they run a bigger risk of him losing more of the stamina he needs to sustain control of his powers each time he uses them. It's a double edged sword for him, basically." Rio said.

Several more strikes from Nan-bot were pressed on to Greg as he then to punch away all of the attacks before they reached his body. Then just as he saw an opening between the spaces created by Nan-bot's tonfar strike, he made a straight jab into its stomach, before switching to his right nano fist and delivering a right hook at it, sending the robot several feet from him, giving him a chance to breathe now.

(How much time passed since this fight started?) Greg thought to himself. (My body is still numb from the previous attack and already I feel my stamina is running low. But I got to press on, for only a couple of minutes more before I can take the painkillers.)

The _Show Time! _Song ended on cue and then the next track to play was _Taste the Blood_ from the same game as Rio couldn't help but nod her head as the beat started up before the main song played. For some reason since the time she spent with Greg, she ended up liking the song as well since it helped him in his training in the past.

"Wow, Rio, I never knew you shared Greg's tastes in music." Yuji said, as Rio shook her head.

"I can't help it; it's really popular and catchy." Rio shrugged her shoulders as she faced Greg once more. "And sides, with a song like this stuck in Greg's head, he is sure to get really serious now."

Greg remained silent as he knew what Rio was up to and simply focused back on the fight. He has to make this quick before the negative effects of his powers kick in.

"Electric Field!" Nan-bot shouted, creating its energy field and throwing it near Greg.

"Here it comes again." Greg said as he simply sidestepped from the attack, while Nan-bot rushed him, performing a jab with its tonfar. Greg grabbed it with his right nano wrist and lifted himself over its body to land behind it as he used his body force to push it back, then striking at it with an uppercut from his right fist, sending it flying.

Suddenly recovering upon landing on its feet, Nan-bot then charged at incredible speed and used its Hapless Surprise in an attempt to trick Greg, but he managed to see through the Electric Field attack and was able to counter it.

"Panther Cut!" Greg shouted, attacking the robot with his right fist, as he shifted to attacking with his clenched left fist, then turning his body before he used a one legged spin kick, then switching back to his right leg to send it crashing down on it, knocking it down.

"Is this really Greg in combat?" Riku asked. "I doubt I've ever seen him this focused before in all those times during sparring fights."

"Because he knows what's on the line now, Riku. He knows that Lilica and Yuina are out there, unsafe and are probably seeking our help. I doubt he is going to let himself falter no matter what when he's like this." Rio lamented as Greg leapt over the Nan-bot as it got up and performed another standing uppercut and followed in mid air as he performed a haymaker blow, then before it landed from the blow, he performed a spin kick at it to send it crashing to the ground.

Greg landed to stop and look at his watch. One minute gone and so far, no signs of his powers going out of control yet. Seeing it stand up once more, he can see this fight is far from over and he had to finish it soon.

Sighing heavily a bit, Greg closed his eyes as he began to motion his arms, focusing his thoughts of summoning his pryokinetic powers. Soft murmurs in Japanese began to whisper from his lips as a strong gust of wind started to blow around the training ground.

"What's with this wind?" Nagi asked before thinking to himself. (It feels gentle and strong, yet unnatural and a bit menacing. Is this Greg's true essence as a psychic at work?)

"What is that he's doing?" Tot asked while Riku continued to observe what was going on, and his eyes narrowed slightly. He then looked at Rio.

"Rio, you and Greg weren't just looking for information yesterday, were you?" He asked as Rio nodded at him seriously.

"I've got to give you credit for seeing through my little surprise, Riku." Rio said as she shook her head. "I'm sorry that we kept this from you until now, but the truth of the matter is that this thing about Greg's powers really bothers him a lot that we had to seek out a way for Greg to equal his strength against Mantis by having him summon his forbidden powers that he had sealed for a long time now. The same guy you see before you is capable of creating fire as you can, just not as powerful, but still on extremely dangerous levels."

Riku remained silent as he looked on at Greg's face before he asked Rio. "So you had it sealed away because it normally was giving him problems with his health…are you sure unsealing it was a wise decision?"

Rio looked in silence as she tried to find the answer, but she couldn't come up with any at the moment. "Greg, as well as everyone in Warrior here had good reasons for doing what we thought was right, Riku. That time when he first manifested his powers was a painful time for all of us. You have to understand, Riku…Greg really doesn't want anyone to get hurt because of his own powers, but he had no other choice when he had to do this."

Riku stayed silent as he noted Rio's sadness and he felt there was something very oddly wrong with how Greg was acting up to late.

(Of course, this is what Maya was saying about him earlier tonight. Is this thing about Greg's powers THAT bad? Could it have something to do with what happened to Seishiro-san as well?) Riku thought to himself. (I'd better not press the matter further and hope whatever happens won't have Greg put himself in any danger than he already is.)

Greg reopened his eyes as his right nano wrist open and a small energy globe with red and white flames swirling around it began to form around it.

"Cursed Guardian Flame, I call upon your power to guide me in this battle." Greg muttered, opening his palm as the orb expanded and the flames began to encircle his arm. "Bestow upon me the strength to vanquish my foes and safeguard those around me as I call upon the curse of my blood and the serpent that represents it."

The two differently coloured flames began to encircle one another as Greg raised his arm over his head as the gust began to swirl around the orb in a small energy whirlwind.

"This is my Kinezono Style Crimson Gale!" Greg shouted as he raised his fist and swung it at the direction of Nan-bot who was partly seared by psychic his mix of wind and flame attack. Pulling back his flame engulfed artificial arm, Greg then charged at the robot as he kneed it once more, causing it to rise above him, before pulling back his body and performing a straightforward haymaker punch with his right fist.

"Kinezono Style…Fiery Blow!" Greg shouted as the punch made contact on the body of the robot as during the attack, he suddenly grabbed it with his right arm, raising it off the ground. There was a monotonous look in his eyes as he looked at the Nan-bot.

"This is the finisher…Kinezono Style Grand Destruction!" Greg muttered as suddenly he grabbed his head with his left hand as his body trembled slightly for a few seconds as if he was in pain, before he looked at the robot once more as he began to perform a series of fiery roundhouse kick from both his legs, before switching to a sequence of inverted punches as he repeatedly turned his body to push Nan-bot away before he fired an invisible psychic blast that exploded on the robot before it regained balance.

"That was…" Maya muttered as she saw the attacks Greg used.

"It seems he is still using what Iori and Kyo-san taught him in order to utilize his powers better for now as well." Rio said as she then saw Greg collapse on his knee, holding unto his right arm in pain. "Hey, Greg, are you okay there?"

The psychic simply nodded weakly as he did a thumbs up at her as he took out his prescribed painkillers and started to swallow a few. Just then, Nan-bot spoke once more. "Error! Error! Blue screen of death! Unable to proceed combat due to excessive damage!"

"That's my cue then." Nanvel said. She quickly typed in the 'Emergency Shut Down Program' on her remote. She walked over to Greg, who was panting heavily, still on his knee. "So, did you enjoy your workout?"

It took a moment for Greg to speak normally as he had a little trouble breathing soon after treating himself. "Well, I did get some good exercise, yes. I hope I didn't damage your robot too much."

"No worries, it may have suffered some dents, but its still operable." Nanvel said.

"Alright, that's good to hear. I really tried my best to pull my punches, but it seemed I must have gotten a bit carried away." Greg rubbed his head as Rio came over to him. "But, sensei, you really shouldn't have pushed me so hard back there, it was really unnecessary for you to do that."

"Come on, Greg. I really couldn't bear to see you getting beat up like that, it's starting to look bad for even me and I'm the one who trained you." Rio said.

"I still have a long ways to go before I can become a better psychic, Rio, so don't go saying such things for now, please." Greg said seriously. "At least give me some better encouragement next time, okay?"

Rio smiled as she helped picked Greg up and dusted his Sneaking Suit as she helped him looked more proper in front of everyone. Then the two looked at Riku and his group as the blonde policewoman leaned in closer to talk mentally to Greg.

(How are you holding up?) Rio asked him.

(Fine for the moment, but my hands hurt like hell now and some of the nanomachines must be fried by now.) Greg replied as he noticed Riku coming over to him. (Say, Rio…did you say anything to Riku concerning my powers before?)

(Well, he had an idea basically that you were capable of creating fire all along, he just has little idea of how it came to be.) Rio said.

(No, really, sensei, what is it that you told him? By having me train like that in front of them and Seraph, the big secret I'm trying to keep from everyone else is now out.) Greg thought as Rio looked on sadly. (Now we may as well have to start answering his questions about this which I really don't need right now.)

(I'm so sorry, Greggie…but I really don't want to see you calling yourself incapable in front of everyone with this power you have.) Rio replied. (You're important in this as well as everyone else who decided to help us out. The last thing I need for you is to keep doubting yourself because you think you will only hurt those you care about because of your powers. You have to understand, I was only trying to help you gain some confidence.)

(Sigh.) Greg simply let out a breath in thought as he patted his surrogate mother's shoulder. (Well, at least give me a warning about your plans next time, okay? I kind of appreciate what you did; it kind of helped me get some bad vibes out of my body. But, please be a bit more careful about letting me know when its time for me to reveal my powers like that next time, okay?)

(Greg…) Rio sighed as Greg walked on over to Riku who was the first to talk.

"So, my guess was right. Something was bothering me about you for the longest while and seeing what you did just now confirms it." Riku said seriously as he folded his arms. "How come you never told me that you're capable of creating fire like I can, Greg?"

"Hey, Riku. If you let me explain, I had several good reasons why I never said anything about this to you before and why I chose now to be the time to reveal my secret." Greg said. "Some of them involve some painful memories, but I really never intended to really rely on it. It was just that the situation regarding Lilica and Yuina came about and I felt weak against the odds, I needed to get this strength to make the chance of seeing Lilica safe once more. You guys have got to be reasonable with me here, it was my only option that I had at the moment because I was desperate."

"He's right, Riku. He was even pleading for help from Geese when he was looking for a way and this is what he got." Rio said to him seriously. "That was where we were yesterday, seeing if Greg was strong enough to handle those powers of his as he spent time training with Geese."

Riku looked on at his partners first before speaking to Greg once more. "Well, with the way things are now, I really can't afford be angry at you guys for holding out on a secret like this on me, but it would have helped if you said something before, since I'm a flame-wielder myself, I can help you a bit on controlling them, Greg."

Greg smiled at Riku first, before bowing to him. "I'd appreciate it, man. I'll be sure to ask for your help if I have any problems. But I already told myself I'd refrain from using them too much and I intend to keep it that way. Besides, I'm not like you where you're in charge of holding up to eight living dragons out of fire in your body; I doubt my power could even reach to that level, Riku, no matter how hard I will try to become stronger."

"True, but the problem you must have with your powers is probably the ability to concentrate while wielding them." Riku said to him.

"Easier said than done, Riku…I don't think it's me who has the problem with my powers, but more like the other way around." Greg said as he shook his head. "Look, you don't need to worry too much about my health; I got the medicine to take care of me for the time being. But I will still think about your offer once this mess is over."

"Come on, Greg, its time to get out of that suit, I need to start analyzing that battle data before the night is over." Nanvel said as Greg nodded to her as they went inside the house, leaving Riku to think a bit.

"There's that look again. Something definitely has to be bothering you, Riku." Nagi said.

"Well, I can't help but think about what Greg was saying about his powers, it's as if he wasn't all too happy even having them." Riku said. "I can sense Rio share his sentiments as well."

"Well, something about the way he fought just now was different than I expected from him." Tot spoke.

"That's just my point. He's never fought like that before, even in a sparring match." Riku said. "Something is definitely going on that we don't know and it's not just this whole matter about Reese that's affecting him either."

"So, what do you intend to do, Riku?" Nagi asked.

"I know he's my friend and comrade, so I will be getting to the bottom of this and get some answers, once this matter regarding Reese has been resolved, that is. I don't need to pressure Greg and his family as they are right now." Riku said.

"That's probably the right thing for now. We understand that as well." Nagi replied.

"Come on then, we should probably enjoy the night air some more and even give a three on one with Nanvel's invention, how about it?" Riku asked as he looked at Nan-bot who was being observed by Seraph rather closely.

"So lifelike in details and movement, it acts like an ancient predecessor of my types." Seraph said as everyone then had large sweat drops on their heads.

"I think it would be best to leave Seraph alone with her new friend for now, Riku." Maya said nervously.

"I…I think I get your point there." Riku replied, as everyone were still getting used to Seraph being around them.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Later that night after changing, Greg returned to his casual clothing and spent at least one half hour training with Nagi. It gave him a good chance to know the Japanese youngster better for the time being, as well as his effectiveness in battle. When it was getting close to time for sleep, Greg felt quite restless, so he got up and walked outside on the walkway near the forest at the hot springs.

As he walked, Greg thought back on the training session and remembered how Nagi was able to create his own projectiles using his own power. He had to admit that the young psychic was very talented for his age, which made Greg wonder if Nagi knew very well what he is capable of even before joining FOXHOUND. Greg felt assured somehow that he was having the chance to exchange some of what he knew with Nagi. He no longer felt like the only psychic in the group any longer.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Psych Shot!" Nagi shouted, throwing a ball of his psychic energy at Greg as he observed the projectile coming towards him.

"Guard!" Greg shouted as he raised his right nano arm in front of his body to parry the projectile. He felt the sheer power of Nagi's power as he felt the shock transfer through is arm, yet Greg seemed hardly fazed by the attack.

"It's pretty rare for someone to even absorb my psychic attack like that and not act like he's hurt." Nagi said to Greg.

"You're right, it does hurt a bit." Greg winced some. "I think even my defensive techniques needs more working on. But I must say that your power is very effective as expected, Nagi."

"If only we had more time to spar and see about that." He said to him.

"Maybe, but its best we leave it off for a better timing." Greg said, taking a seat close by. "Let's call it a five for now, you've shown me how good you are, Nagi. I see why Riku rests his faith with you most of the time. I do hope we can do the same working together in the future."

Nagi sat nearby Greg to relax as well. "Yeah, I hope the same thing too. You're about as good as Riku says you are, but every time I look at you, it's hard to believe that you're psychic. You really appear to be like everyone else and act differently than I imagined."

"Well, I have to apologize if I gave you the wrong impressions before, Nagi. Let's just say there were experiences in my life that kind of straightened me out for the best for now, but I still think I have a long ways to go before I can meet everyone's expectations." Greg said as he took out a pack of cigarettes and was about to light one when he saw Nagi looking at him. "Ah, does this bother you?"

"Well, it isn't any of my business, but I really don't think it's good for your health, Greg. I know you and I are now getting to know each other, but I know a couple of friends outside of FOXHOUND who smoke and even I couldn't tolerate that forever when I'm with them." Nagi said to Greg, who lightly grinned at him and put back the cigarettes in his pocket.

"I'm sorry, I'm not really into secondhand smoking too, but you do have a point." Greg shrugged his shoulders as he sat back. "I'm just a bit worked up about what's been happening lately. I hardly got any good sleep recently because of all this."

"Everyone else is, because we all know the enemy too well." Nagi said.

"That's true, but if only we knew his intentions and stopped Reese before, Lilica and Yuina wouldn't be in this mess and her aunt wouldn't have died." Greg said.

"It couldn't be helped or prevented; there was no way we could have known." Nagi said.

"That's the case, Nagi. Knowing that just makes me even more miserable." Greg said, shaking his head.

"We're only human, Greg, nothing more." Nagi said, standing up. "I guess that is a cruel and unfair course of life that we must be a part of. The only thing we can do is learn from these experiences and try our best not to let it happen again to other innocent people who are targeted by the likes of Reese."

Greg looked at Nagi seriously and nodded. "You're right about that."

"Well, it's getting pretty late; you should turn in for the night soon." Nagi told Greg.

"I will soon, I just want to take in more of the night air and think over things some more." Greg said. "It was nice talking to you anyway, Nagi. I'm glad we had this talk, it got some heavy air off of my chest."

"Hey, you know Riku's habits tend to rub off on people. Guess that's his way of helping others in need." Nagi said as he walked off. "See you tomorrow, Greg."

"Sleep well, Nagi." Greg waved to him as he walked into the house. Greg looked up at the moon and after some silence, reached into his pocket for the cigarette pack.

"Greggie?" A female's voice called out from behind Greg. He turned and saw Rio walking to him, wearing her long pink robe, her blonde hair loose and covering her entire back. "What re you doing up still? It's pretty late; you'll need the energy for tomorrow."

"That's what's causing me to stay up...tomorrow." Greg replied as he returned the cigarette into his pocket once more. Rio stepped up closer and looked at Greg.

"Yeah...the day we finally go to rescue Lilica is finally here." Rio said in a low tone. "Is that what's been worrying you?"

"The part when we run into Mantis does...I'm having a really uncomfortable feeling about this, Rio." Greg spoke. "Sensei...you do know that if I go off to fight Mantis by myself...it could very well be...my last battle?"

Rio's heart began to thump faster. She knew what Greg was saying could be the truth.

"I may be rushing things ahead, but…I need to know for myself why Reese has committed all that he has done up till now before it's too late for Lilica and Yuina. I need this matter to be resolved by having Mantis answer the questions I have for him, even if it means getting them by force and even if it means putting my life on the line." Greg said, looking into Rio's eyes.

"But, Greg...what will you do when you eventually find out?" Rio asked.

"For years, I've wondered about my past, the bits and pieces that were missing from it and I'm sure Reese has done this in order for me to pursue it. The answers to my long awaited questions are probably in Mantis' possession." Greg said. "Surely, the reason why my mother and younger sister were killed along with my father and I was sent here had to go along those lines. I just want to rest more easily with the knowledge in finding out the truths of my past, nothing more."

"What about Mantis? Are you hoping to rectify what damage has been done to him?" Rio asked.

"I have to, Rio. For all I know, Mantis may be as innocent as the people he captured because the Patriots brainwashed him against his will." Greg said. "It's not going to be easy though, but I cannot give up on Psycho Mantis."

"Well, as long you don't plan on chasing after the people who made this mess in the first place, I guess you should be okay for now." Rio rubbed her head.

"What's that supposed to mean, sensei?" Greg asked.

"Ah, it's nothing. Must be my old age talking." Rio slapped his shoulder. "Just remember not to let this get to your head, okay?"

"I will, sensei. A matter like that is usually the least of my worries anyway; I'm more concerned with how I'll hold up with my powers in the future when this is over." Greg said to her.

"And enough with this 'sensei' business, I'm not only your instructor, but your guardian." Rio smiled at him, with a blush on her face. "The most you can do is start calling me 'Mom' from now on."

"You know I really can't do that, sensei." Greg stuttered.

"Greg, I won't replace your real mother if that's what you're worried about. It's good enough that you're adopted by me, but for once...I would really feel better if you started to look at me as the woman who helped you all these years." Rio said.

"Oh, geez, Rio..." Greg sighed. He really didn't want to do this, but it would be nice if for once he called Rio 'mom'. It would be enough to make her smile to when he calls her such a sweet word.

He simply took Rio in his arms and hugged her, a tear of joy streaming down his face. "Okay, here's the deal…we get Lilica and Yuina safe and sound from this mess, settle this matter with Mantis and when all's said and done, I'll start calling you mom, how would you like that?."

"That's a strange and unexpected answer...but I like it." Rio replied, and then started to wipe away Greg's tears with her hair. "What is it that made you cry, Greggie?"

"Nothing really...I just love spending times like these with you, that's all." Greg replied.

"Even more than being with Linn?" Rio tilted her eyebrow and stared at Greg, who started to fluster.

"Cut that out, Rio. How can you bring up her name at a time like this? Now all you did was just ruin the mood." Greg rubbed his head. She simply smiled at Greg and laughed a bit, as did Greg.

"Speaking of Linn...does she know about Reese and everything related to it?" Rio asked.

"I doubt it...sometimes I think its better she doesn't for her sake." Greg said, getting serious once more. "But who knows, by this time tomorrow, she and everyone else will know."

"Maybe it's best she does...she may worry a lot about you. She usually does if you're away from her too long." Rio said to her surrogate son.

"Sensei, something is wrong with you tonight." Greg said, holding Rio's shoulders.

"Why do you ask that?" Rio asked.

"I'd never thought to hear that from YOU of all people. I thought you were always a bit envious of Linn because she gets to spend more time with me than you guys since I'm part of FOXHOUND and all." Greg said.

"True...but I am being serious here. Maybe you should tell Linn about tomorrow. It'll make you more relaxed." Rio said. "Well...I'm turning in for the night. Make sure to catch some sleep soon, okay?"

"I will. Good night, sensei." Greg smiled at Rio.

"Yeah, good night to you too, Greg. Don't stay up too late." Rio kissed Greg lightly on his cheek and walked off to her room. Greg turned back to the moonlight and sighed a bit.

(Maybe Rio's right...a talk with Linn should help me sleep better...I wonder how she will take the news?) He thought to himself. (One thing is for sure, she won't be so pleased to hear that I'm going off to do this crazy mission…its so much like the other times in our relationship that it's becoming routine now. I sometimes have the worst luck keeping a relationship…)

With that, Greg stretched his arms and walked to his room, where he stopped to see Seraph staring into the night sky herself.

"Oh? Seraph. Why are you still up?" Greg asked. "Eager about what's happening tomorrow, I see."

"Yes, that is correct. Yuina is a really good friend and is in a great need of support at times. I often worry for her most of the time. I do hope she is safe." Seraph replied, still in her biodroid outfit.

"Yeah, I'm hoping the same for Lilica as well. I do hope they are both okay." Greg said, before he looked at Seraph once more. "Tell me something...if she's your master that can summon her talents because of you, can you get any idea of where she can be if you can mentally trace her thoughts somehow?"

"I certainly have tried that, but I can't get through somehow. Her mind is probably weak after the shock after seeing her aunt die in front of her, and Mantis must have taken advantage of that." Seraph said.

"I see...I remember Nanvel telling me the story earlier tonight. You and Yuina have my greatest sympathies, Seraph." Greg simply said. "You did your best with Nanvel's and Nagi's assistance and we're still able to keep on tracking them, so I guess it isn't for naught. But, we're not going to give up on finding them even if it means pulling an all nighter from now on to do so. Now that both part of FOXHOUND and Warrior are working together on this, we at least have a stronger chance to finding a clue to their whereabouts."

"I'm sorry if facing Mantis requires this amount of dexterity for you to face him in order to secure Yuina's and Lilica's safety." Seraph said.

"Look, Seraph, didn't I tell you before back at Police Town yesterday? I said I would find and rescue Yuina for you on my word as an agent of FOXHOUND. I don't mind going through all this trouble for someone else in need." Greg said. "And now, I'm sure Riku and his partners feel the same, along with WARRIOR that is helping you. We'll be reunited with them before you know it."

"I appreciate the dedication you've put towards recovering Yuina and Lilica. But I need to know something that's been slightly disturbing me." Seraph asked.

"What is it?"

"You do not find my presence here unusual?" she asked.

"Well, once you have seen and gone through many things in the past with FOXHOUND and the world around you like I have, you tend to get used to it." Greg said. "Though a biodroid is a first for me, so I was kind of bewildered by the fact such creations exist. But that really didn't matter to me since you came to us asking for help, I kind of jumped at the opportunity that can help me get Lilica back."

"So, you're also the type who thinks a lot of others despite where they originated from." Seraph smiled at Greg, causing him to look at her with a quizzed look.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Greg asked.

"For someone who has been in contact with the infamous Geese Howard, you're more different than most people, including how I had initially figured you to be." Seraph said to Greg.

"So, you found out about that minor detail, huh?" Greg asked. "I can't say I'm too pleased with myself about it though."

"Nanvel has briefed me about the common and current most wanted criminals that have taken the crime syndicate over the years." Seraph said, causing Greg to stare at her wide eyed.

(Aunt Nanvel, what exactly did you tell Seraph about my involvement with Geese? She must be still watching that DVD set of _'The Shield' _I sent her and Rio some time ago.) Greg thought as he cleared his throat. "Don't get me wrong, I never wanted to be in with the likes of Geese in the first place. He was just able to get me the right connections I need for the painkillers I need for my powers. The doctor who used to be regularly supplying me with these died in a hit and run a few years ago and I was desperate."

"There was no one else I can turn to get me the medicine to keep my powers in check. Geese found use of my talents in exchange of my medicines. It may sound like a dirty deed, but I had to get used to it to get by. He later applied some of his fighting techniques to my knowledge of psychic combat to enhance my concentration levels a bit, but I still needed to take that medicine." Greg finished.

"I see. Your intentions are understandable, though you could have found better resources." Seraph said.

"I know. That is why I'm making sure not to be too close to Geese too much or else people will start to think differently about me. I'm still in the search for a better resource to help me with my powers at the moment, but I can't complain about the medicine's capabilities for now." Greg said. "You were thinking the reasons I'm hanging with Geese were for something else?"

"At first, but I doubt anyone with a noble and kind heart such as yours would do otherwise, or else you wouldn't have been so quick to help me." Seraph said.

"You think so?" Greg asked as he looked to his side. "After what Nanvel told me about what happened to you and Yuina earlier, this only means that I need to try my best tomorrow even more if we are to help Yuina who's in a bigger bind than I originally thought. Don't worry, Seraph, we'll see to it that she will be returned to you and we'll also do what we can to help her out, so try and get some rest. Everything is in good hands."

"I most certainly will. Thank you for the assurance, Greg." Seraph said.

"It's the most we all at WARRIOR and FOXHOUND can do for you for the time being. It is part of our job." He simply replied. "Good night, Seraph."

Seraph returned the bow to Greg with a small confident smile now. "Well, good night to you as well, Greg. I shall see you and the others in the morning."

Unable to tell Seraph anything else as she left because of what she told just told him, Greg looked at his right hand as he clenched it and closing his eyes for a moment.

(A noble and kind heart, huh?) Greg thought as he looked up to the night sky. "Well, I guess I should be hitting the sack then."

Greg started to walk back to his room, but before he got any further, his legs suddenly cramped as he felt the rest of his body soon began to throb. He clutched a nearby tree with his right nano wrist and clawed into the bark in extreme pain as he fell on his knees.

(No, not now! Not this again!) Greg thought to himself, clutching his chest. (My body feels as if its on fire…my head's spinning and I'm losing consciousness…it's starting again. He's calling me again…)

Greg tried to reach for the medicine in his pockets in time, but before he knew it, he had already lost the strength and already blacked out into darkness. The next moment before he knew it, he found himself in a small dark room. The only light that made it bright was from a single four pane window.

"Where…where am I?" Greg asked himself as he looked around, it looked desolate and truly bare of anything. Then to his shock, she then saw a young boy with light dark skin, standing over a beautiful woman of the same skin color and long dark black hair wearing a long white long dress had collapsed before him. Blood covered the right side of his face as tears rolled down his face when he kneeled to hold her as her hair covered most of her face. It was then he realized something as he then saw the boy turn around to face Greg.

"That is me, isn't it?" Greg muttered as he tried to reach out to him, but something was holding him back for some unknown reason. "Why am I brought here?"

"It will be okay from now on, mother." The young Greg spoke almost melancholy. "I don't need him anymore. We don't need him anymore, right, Mother?"

Greg looked on as she saw the woman barely moved to touch Greg's younger self on his shoulder, as the woman began to hold her face with her hands and started to cry. Her sobbing growing louder by the second that it started to echo the room Greg was trapped in. The only thing he can do is shake his head in disbelief

(Dammit, don't make me remember this!) Greg thought to himself. (Just stay out of my memories, do you hear me? Stay out of my head!)

The young Greg knelt down to touch his mother's face, despite the fact that the right side of this face was covered in blood.

"You just leave…everything to me from now on. I'll take care of both you and my little sister, so don't cry anymore, okay?" The young Greg said to her, now embracing her.

(No, I didn't ask for this!) Greg fell to his knees and cried out. (I only wanted to protect them from him! Why can't you understand that? Why do I have to remember this?)

"Oh, get a hold of yourself. Why must you keep on running away from the truth?" A voice asked him. "I get it now…you're still afraid of losing what's important to you, is that it?"

Greg looked up and faced his mirror self once more, who had on black clothing with traces of gold outlines across the chest area of the outfit he was wearing, while the right side of his face had markings made from the nanomachines.

"Haven't you tormented me enough?" Greg spoke as his dark personality who referred himself as Violent Greg shook his head sadly.

"It seems you still haven't seen the full picture here, my disillusioned psychic." Violent Greg replied, turning to Greg's memory. "Do you think going after Mantis is going to rectify what happened at that time? You should know its hopeless doing the impossible, why even bother trying?"

"Because I promised everyone they will see Yuina and Lilica again. I'm not going to back down on my word, even if it will be bringing me pain I won't be able to bear." Greg answered as Violent Greg stood closer to his counterpart and grinned at him.

"Making a promise like that isn't going to really help now, is it?" He asked mockingly. "Even if everyone's going to help you out, you will end up failing anyway. You're still not strong to save those dear to you, Greg."

"I don't need to hear your lectures now of all times. Just leave me alone!" Greg shouted angrily.

"But you know that is true…even that curse you bear isn't enough to help you, yet you went ahead and released it for the sake of rectifying what Reese did to Mantis and Yuina." Violent Greg said. "Do you even question your own actions, Greg?"

Greg remained silent as Violent Greg laughed at his face and walked around him.

"You try so hard to be as close to everyone else to be accepted among them, but you've always been an outcast, Greg. These people will never look at you as normal if you pull this stunt." Violent Greg said. "No, the fact of the matter is that you'll be branded as an enemy capable of hurting those closest to you. You're rather good of gaining people's trusts, but you'll do even better at breaking them, I bet if given the chance in the near future."

"I told you to shut up." Greg said to him. "If you say that will be the case, I'll see to it that it will never happen."

"And how will you accomplish that, I ask?" Violent Greg asked. "I bet you'll seek the help of your family and friends to help you? Don't make me laugh. This is something they can never free you from, Greg. We're in this together until the end. Without me, you will never fully remember what happened to you all those years ago."

"Why do you insist on hiding it from me anyway?"

"You'll know soon enough. All I can say is that I'm concerned for your well being, Greg and I don't want anything bad happening to you for now." Violent Greg said.

"Liar. You wouldn't be saying that if you had to bring me here, wouldn't you?" Greg asked as Violent Greg smiled at him.

"You're so observant. I have to commend you on that." Violent Greg said as he turned his back to his counterpart. "Well, I don't want to have you be discovered unconscious by morning like the last time, so I'll let you have a peaceful sleep tonight. After all,you have a big mission tomorrow and I wouldn't want to get in your way. But remember this, Greg…the next time we meet, you'll surely will be asking for me to take full control of you. Despair is the only means out of your misery and I'm your salvation from the pain you have to endure. I'll be seeing you then."

"Wait…!" Greg stretched his hand out as he tried to grab Violent Greg, but a bright flash suddenly enveloped everything around him as he suddenly found himself back to where he was before, at the backyard of the safe-house. Greg looked at his hands which were still trembling from the experience and groggily stood up.

(What was that about just now? Was that a warning of something in the future?) Greg thought to himself as he managed to swallow some pills. (Seems to me I can't sleep easily now because of what he just told me. It's beginning to bother me because it sounded so serious.)

Shaking his head and regaining his composure, Greg began to trek back to his room in silence where he would get some sleep at least. He'd rather focus on an effective plan for the next day if he has to see Lilica and Yuina safe at the end.

"Greg! Greg!" Rio's voice called out to him as she came running to him while still wearing her robe. Greg looked on at her and placed his arms on her shoulders to calm her down as she looked distressed.

"Sensei, take it easy." Greg said to her, trying to calm her down. He hoped she didn't see him get into another relapse with his powers just now. "What happened?"

Rio swallowed first before talking to him. "It's Nanvel…she was just going over her computer before she went into bed and she found a beacon on the GPS that was hacked into our satellite from an unknown location."

"And?" Greg simply asked.

"Greg, the beacon was a distress homing signal from Lilica!" Rio exclaimed as Greg looked at her with his eyes widened. "She's found a way for us to trace her!"

Greg's heart began to race in anticipation and hope on hearing this. "Is this true, Rio?"

"Of course, Nagi is with her now, helping her confirm the location." Rio said as she grabbed her surrogate son's arm. "Let's go, everyone's in her lab."

Greg smiled a bit as he saw Rio's face lit up and carried him inside back into the house and straight into Nanvel's laboratory where everyone dressed in their nightwear and pajamas were surrounding Nanvel and Nagi who were busy at work on the massive computer systems Nanvel had. Seraph was seated as her arm was connected to the motherboards that were set up, while Nanvel was furiously typing away on her keyboards, while Nagi used his powers to type and search for data at the same time without touching the keyboard he had. Rio and Greg now stepped in to join everyone else who was waiting for some good news.

"Greg, we were looking for you when Nanvel found out about this." Yuji said before yawning loudly. He even had his camcorder on the ready to film the Warrior girls in their nightwear if he got the chance.

"I was having some night air when Rio just came and told me about it." Greg replied as he observed what was going on. "Well, Nanvel, what's the word on this signal you found?"

"It seems it was on the GPS signal from the satellite for almost half a day now, so it's safe to say I only found out about this only recently." She replied, her eyes set on the monitors around her. "I'm trying to locate a source of where is it in the world our Lilica could be."

Several maps of Tokyo 1, Tokyo 2 and Tokyo 3 were set up on some of the monitors as Nanvel continued speaking. "According to the beacon, the coordinates of where Lilica is supposedly being held is a probability of one of these locations. I'm having Nagi assist me in matching the coordinates right now."

Greg looked over to Nagi's direction and as almost stunned to see what the young psychic could do with his powers as he continued to hack into the system, the keyboard he was using typing quicker than the eye could follow, yet Nagi's eyes showed concentration so as to ensure the work on his end was both quick and efficient. Riku and Tot were in the room with him as well as Greg leaned over to his ninja friend.

"Riku, you never said that Nagi's good at hacking too." Greg said as he folded his arms.

"This must be a surprise for you to see someone use psychic powers to access the computer, isn't it, Greg?" Riku asked smiling.

"Yeah, it sure is a first for me." Greg said.

"Nagi's powers are helping me quite a bit along with Seraph's help, but if only we could determine just how to find Lilica and Yuina with little problems." Nanvel said.

"There's also the strong possibility of a trap set up by Reese." Maki spoke, who was wearing a purple long robe over her sleek night wear.

"Aw, Maki, did you have to go and say that just when we got some good news after all this time?" Maya groaned, who was wearing nothing but a tight grey vest which hugged her cleavage and matching underwear.

"She's got a point there, Maya-san." Tot said who was wearing spare blue and white striped pajamas. "Reese and the Patriots could have sent that signal to trick us into more danger."

"She has a good point, we can't just go and take the risk of not actually confirming if it was Lilica who sent it or not." Riku said which made Maya scream in agony.

"Agh, I can't take this anymore! So, how are we going to know if this is a set up or not?" Maya shouted, waving her fists as Greg looked on at the monitors then at Nanvel, Seraph and Nagi together, thinking to himself.

(There must be something I can do to help.) Greg thought as he sighed loudly, then kneeling close to Seraph. Rio noticed the serious look in his eyes.

"Greggie?" Rio asked him simply. "What's up?"

"We just need to know if this is Lilica's handiwork or not to confirm, am I right?" Greg asked. "How about I try to use my powers to amplify our chances on locating Lilica as I try to detect the truth behind it, would that be okay?"

"Is that even possible, Greg?" Maki asked as he lowered his eyes sadly.

"There's a small chance it would even work, but it's better than nothing. It's probably the best out of my controllable aspects of my powers at the moment, being able to tap into other people's minds and emotions temporarily." Greg said. "I just need to go through Seraph's memories of Yuina and that can help me out as well while I'm looking for Lilica. It's worth a shot."

"Still, it is dangerous to attempt this, even with your powers as they are right now, Greg." Rio said to him. "Do you really want to go through this?

"Please, Greg, it is alright that you proceed." Seraph suddenly answered for him.

"Seraph?" Greg asked simply.

"You just told me that you don't mind going through the trouble for helping me out, even if it is truly dangerous along the way. As long you're determined in finding Yuina as well as finding Lilica, I will do my best to assist you as I have with your comrades thus far." Seraph smiled at him. "So, please, I ask of you, Greg Kinezono of FOXHOUND, seek out our loved ones with your powers along with my guidance. It may be the crucial key to help us confirm their whereabouts."

Greg took a few seconds to let Seraph's words sink into his concentration as he knew she thought highly of his promise to her often. Nodding his head once, he held out his left arm.

"Alright then, I'll make sure to see how Yuina's doing. I promise I won't pry into your mind too much." Greg said as he simply touched Seraph's temple and shut his eyes as he entered darkness for a second. Soon, he found himself near on the streets of a deserted city, one that looked familiar to him somehow.

"I see a city…a quite desolate one that is." Greg muttered loudly so everyone can hear as he proceeded in his vision as he walked around and then stopped at a prohibited 'No Entry' zone of a large open waterway with old train tracks leading from it. He looked up to see a sign of the area he was in.

"It starts there…an entry to one of the recent underground subways for the city. The sign says it's under construction, but it looks pretty dated." Greg said as he walked into the open tunnel. Halfway into the darkness, he saw a door barred by steel locks. Touching the door, the locks fell off and the door opened as Greg stepped in and noticed he was suddenly on a long winding passageway. The other end had running water that sounded more like a current from the ocean.

"Now, it's an underground sewer system that goes further below." Greg walked on as he reached the end of the passageway and saw a large steel door in front of him. The door was constructed in such a manner that it looked so modern. The water seemed to have been building up in front of it, but it was being drained at the sidewalls inside the sewers. Greg took a closer look and saw that it was a mechanized door.

"Something doesn't fit here…why would a door like this be down here?" Greg asked as he knocked on it. It felt there was a large chamber behind it as he felt the power was still active through the door. He also felt a familiar presence from behind the door. "Wait…I can sense someone from within…I'm going in deeper."

Pushing his concentration slightly, Greg traced the beacon signal to its source, a music player that was connected to a fluorescent light in a holding cell. He can see Lilica sitting there on the bed, hugging her knees to her chest and praying.

"Oh my God…" Greg muttered as his body shook seeing her like this.

"What is it, Greg?" Rio asked.

"I see her! I can see Lilica!" Greg shouted as everyone looked on in shock and surprise.

"Really?" Maya said. "Is she okay, Greg?"

"Hard to say…I'm losing a bit of focus here. She looks a bit under the weather, though, but so far, she looks unharmed." Greg gritted his teeth as he tried to stay in check. "But I know now that our little lilac's responsible for sending us that beacon, she's using a music player to hack into the system, Nanvel."

"Oh, thank God." Maki sighed with a smile on her face as she and Rio held onto each other.

"She seems so close, yet so far…if only I could have said something to her to let her know everything's going to be alright…" Greg said as a tear dropped from his shut eyes.

"Please, Greg…can you find Yuina?" Seraph asked now.

"I'll try, but I doubt I got much time left." Greg said as he had to focus his powers and remember Yuina's face from what Seraph had described to him. "I can't seem to locate her anywhere near Lilica…this place where she's held is being protected by a strong force to protect itself from mental invasions."

"Mantis' doing, no doubt." Rio said.

Greg moved from Lilica's view and looked around the passageways as he saw the area was brightly lit and that Tengus were guarding the facility.

"This place has some advanced technology that I've never seen before. It's a secret base of some sort, guarded by Arsenal Tengus." Greg said.

"Did you just say Tengus were guarding the place where Lilica's being held?" Riku asked.

Greg nodded as he stopped in front of a large door where he can hear Yuina's voice as she sobbed from behind the door.

"I can't see her, but I can hear and sense Yuina in a separate area." Greg said as Seraph gasped. "She's still in a lot of pain; I can even feel it from here."

"Oh, Yuina." Seraph said sullenly.

Before Greg could touch the door, suddenly he had to pull back because he saw Mantis enter the room and was about to enter the room, where he stopped and saw where Greg was seeing through. The younger psychic froze as Mantis started to come closer to him.

"Oh, no! Mantis has spotted me!" Greg shouted as he tried to pull out of the mindscape when he realized something was wrong. "What the…? I can't pull free out of here!"

"So, you dare try to enter the world of the unknown, Kinezono?" Mantis warned him. "You really shouldn't have ruined the surprise, you know."

"Riku, Maya, help me out here!" Rio's voice called out of the background as Greg was frozen in place, unable to move because of Mantis' influence.

"Now, I'll shall give you a taste of my power, youngling. Do you think you have what it takes to stop me?" Mantis raised his left arm over Greg's temple.

"Okay, everyone, on three!" Maya's voice called in now. "One…"

Mantis hand began to generate energy as Greg began to give a cold sweat.

"Two!" Riku called out as Greg heard his voice from within.

"Now, Kinezono, you shall know true fear!" Mantis said as he opened his palm, as Rio called out the final word Greg could ever hear before everything went black in front of him.

"Three!" Rio shouted as Greg was pulled away from Seraph from the combine might of Maya and Rio, while Riku was holding unto Seraph, who seemed a bit dazed from Greg's attempt. Greg and his two surrogate female relatives toppled behind everyone and crashed on top of each other in a loud thud.

"Owww, that hurts like hell." Maya said. "I think I may have busted my backside there."

"Me too…now I got a splitting headache." Rio lamented as she then looked around. "Hey, where is Greg?"

"You're sitting on top of him." Greg simply said from underneath them as Rio and Maya found themselves sitting on his back as Rio's robe was partly open. Yuji suddenly whipped the camera and took the shot; while Nagi and Riku blushed trying their best not to have seen Rio's shapely figure in front of Tot.

"Greg, you lucky son of a gun! I knew you had skills when I helped raise you right from all those years ago." Yuji said as Rio did a rising high kick at his face.

"Cut it out, you perv!" Rio screamed as her faced reddened along with Maya's while Greg stood up, panting for his life.

"Sensei, Aunt Maya, are you two okay?" Greg asked them, as they nervously nodded their heads at him.

"Yeah, just peachy, Greg." Maya said grinning, while Rio fixed her robe and tried to lighten her reddened face in silence, while Greg looked on seriously at everyone else.

"Okay, can someone kindly explain to me what just happened there?" Greg asked.

"Well, since you were so busy going through Seraph's mind back there, it was probably easy for you to have lost track of staying conscious and that's when I felt something was wrong." Nagi was the one to say this.

"Wait, you sensed that while you were still hacking, Nagi?" Greg asked.

"I am a bit more powerful than you imagined, Greg. Besides, I know from experience and fact that it is rather risky in that going into someone's mind has its dangers and you probably fell for one of them. Also, what you were doing is a bit similar to something a friend of mine can do." Nagi said. "That's when I told Rio and Riku to get you awake as soon as we found something relevant for finding Lilica and Yuina."

Greg stepped back far enough until his back hit the wall. He knew it was dangerous attempting this stunt, but he only wanted to help out too. Had he not been saved by Nagi's warning, or had he taken the necessary precautions beforehand, he may have put both himself and Seraph in serious danger.

"How stupid I must be for not seeing this before." Greg said, slapping his face. "Mantis saw me at the last moment and almost ended everything just before I got pulled out."

"What? You saw Mantis?" Maki asked.

"Yeah, I did. And from the looks of things, he is more powerful than what we read about him." Greg replied. "I'm even still shaking in my shoes just remembering his face."

"Oh, Greg." Rio muttered as she held unto his shoulders. It was then he noticed tears were streaming down her face.

"Sensei Rio?" Greg asked as suddenly she embraced him, crying loudly in front of everyone.

"I can't believe that…you managed to find Lilica!" Rio muttered. "I always blamed myself for what happened since that day Mantis attacked us, that it was my fault for not protecting her, but now…now that my own darling son managed to go through so much just to see her again."

Greg simply smiled as he placed his hand on her head as she wept. "It's alright, sensei, you know it wasn't your fault to begin with. She's okay, and now we know she thought of a way for us to find her. She hasn't given up on us yet. Come on now, for a strong woman like you, it's rare that you usually cry like this. But it feels good, right? Because like all of us, we were hoping for Lilica and Yuina to be okay and they both still are, so it's alright to let out those feelings. We will need you to be tough as nails when its time to rescue them."

Rio continued sobbing as Greg comforted her as he looked on at Maki. "So, do you think we can locate where I described, Aunt Maki?"

"Yes, there are in fact a number of abandoned city projects that are located in only old Tokyo, Neo Tokyo and Tokyo-3." Maki said confidentially. "We just need to find some based on the underground subway tracks and sewer systems by accessing the networks for public services."

"I'm already on it." Nanvel said, showing some lists of the projects that were in duration and incomplete ones. She didn't want to waste time now that she confirmed Lilica was the one who sent the beacon signal. "Chances are that the incomplete projects are the ones we would probably find where they are."

"Search for any project that started work near the oceanic areas, prior, as well, post Second Impact." Maki said.

Nanvel nodded as she started analyzing the listings for anything close to what Greg described. It didn't take long for her and Nagi to sort the possible clues to fewer numbers to work by. About fifteen minutes later, Nanvel seemed to have hit something big.

"I think I found it!" Nanvel called out to everyone as they huddled over her. "Out of all the projects that were related to underground developments in the surrounding cities during the past fifteen years, we've finally narrowed the search to one."

The overhead map was brought up on a monitor, as well as exclusive archive photos accompanied it.

"It's located at the base of old Tokyo, it was part of a subway development program that was to have access from there to another region of Japan since only a quarter of that became unfit for habitants since the seawaters rose." Nanvel said. "From what I read, the passageway began construction from there and somehow came to a halt when the government called off the program as the tunnel was getting near completion."

"I remember hearing about that. The rising waters were also part of the reason they stopped most of the projects, but the actuality of it was that the project had failed in funding its contractors in continuing the operations for that city." Maki explained. "Which leads me to why would they shut down something this important along the way?"

"Maybe they were being ordered by a higher authority to cease the operations?" Maya asked.

"Could be, but you haven't heard anything yet." Nanvel said as she cleared her throat. "This one and only expressway that was abandoned in old Tokyo was also the only one in the entire country that was to have transported people and goods to none other than an organization named Gehirn headquarters, located somewhere in the same region underground."

"Located underground?" Rio muttered. "And what the hell's Gehirn anyway?"

"Well, maybe this will help you get your answers." Nanvel said as she brought up another map onscreen. "This is the current map system we all use. Now, match it with this one and we'll get this."

Nanvel used her mapping technology as the two maps came together and to everyone, they got a bit of a shock as the truth was revealed to them.

"Is that Tokyo-3?" Rio asked.

"Yeah, it sure is." Nanvel said. "Of course, I traced the subway system from the point of origin to where it will end. However, the course of the track ends midway just underneath Neo Tokyo and Tokyo-2."

"So in short, Lilica and Yuina could be held underground between those places, huh?" Yuji said as he held his bleeding nose from the kick Rio just gave him.

"Yes, it's the best lead we have for now." Nanvel said. "Somewhere in that unfinished passageway should have entries into the sewer systems below, since Lilica's beacon signal comes from further below ground. That's where we're getting the strongest feed from anyway."

"Well, Nagi, do you think Nanvel's assumptions are right?" Riku asked.

"Yeah, I have traced some of the archives myself though I don't think they shut it down just because they were told to, something bigger has to be behind this." Nagi said. "This may as well be part of the Patriots at work here, you know."

"Look, kid, we're not doubting you this time around, but now that we all know that Lilica is the one who sent a signal asking for help, we can't just ignore that, you know." Rio said to him.

"Hey, sensei. Be careful what you're saying about this, okay?" Greg asked carefully. "Even if now we know of Lilica and Yuina's whereabouts, we got to think this through and not rush it, even though we have little time to spare anymore."

"Yeah, yeah…I know." Rio muttered, folding her arms. "So, Maki, what do you propose?"

"Well, its best to sleep on it for now and see what happens tomorrow. Since everyone's pretty tired, we all the rest we can as well to prepare ourselves by the time this Shinsengumi group gets here." Maki said. "I will see to it if I can coordinate a proper plan for all of you to work with by then."

"Okay, sounds good to me." Maya said, yawning loudly. "Well, I'm heading off to bed now, so good night, people."

Everyone else said their good nights to one another as Greg and Rio walked to their separate rooms where Rio stopped before entering her own.

"Greg?" Rio called out to him.

"Yeah, what is it, sensei?" Greg asked.

"You think we'll be able to get them back okay?" Rio asked. "Sure, we're walking into a trap, but it can't be help or avoided, I guess. All that matters is getting to see Lilica back with us safe again, as well Yuina's rescue, that is all. How about you, Greg?"

"I feel almost the same as you are, especially since I made that promise with Seraph." Greg said seriously. "I don't think I could afford to let anyone down when its time to go and rescue them, not ever. I can't allow myself to give up if even we are to go up against the impossible, there's no way I will when Lilica's life is on the line. That's just how I feel, basically."

Rio stayed silent a bit as Greg suddenly looked at her and nodded.

"Hey, now. You know the two of us are practically a powerful team together, you know that." Greg said to her. "And with Riku and his partners helping us, I don't think we'll encounter too much problems tomorrow. Just try to keep a level focus like I do and everything should work out, okay, sensei?"

"I got you, Greg." Rio smiled at him. "Well, then, you should get some sleep then. Say, how about you sleep in my futon with me tonight, just as you used to when you were a kid, huh?"

"Sensei!" Greg's face flushed red as he heard this as he fumbled for the door and opened it. "Will you please cut that out? I doubt you'd like my bedside manners anyway, I'm a bad sleeper, you know."

Rio broke out laughing as Greg suddenly shook his head. "Well, if you don't mind, good night then."

Watching him shut the door behind him, Rio smiled to herself and let out a loud sigh as she knew with Greg around, everything's going to work out fine from now on.

"Hang on, Lilica and Yuina. We'll be coming to get you tomorrow, that we will promise you." Rio smiled confidentially as she closed her room's door.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The next morning came quickly and everyone was up bright and early prepping themselves for the mission when they will rescue Lilica and Yuina, as well seeing to it to find a way to restore Mantis back to normal and getting to the bottom of the mystery.

Just outside the safe-house, a dark brown coloured SUV stopped midways in front of the house as three attractive women took their time and stepped out, carrying equipment with them. One of them looked at the house with a concerned look on her face.

"This must be the place then, just as we were told." A woman in her late twenties said as she her two other female partners nodded at each other before stepping up to the temporary safe-house's doorstep. After pressing on the doorbell once, Maya Jingu opened the door soon after.

"Good morning, what can I do for you?" she asked, wearing her own Team Warrior outfit. She appeared to be set for the mission already.

"Good morning to you too. I'm Dee Starling, a person who you contacted yesterday." Dee smiled at Maya. She was the shortest of the trio, about five and a quarter feet. She had on dark-colored t-shirt, blue jeans, and sneakers. Her face has a slight tan to it, and her eyes are soft brown. She had long hair that reached to half of her back, and her bangs cover a portion of her face. "I'm the 'help' that was supposed to pull a hand with you."

"Oh, yeah...talk about good timing; we were kind of expecting you. Come on in and make yourselves at home." Maya let the women in as all of them were carrying suitcases and scabbards.

When they entered, they can see several other people preparing themselves in the living room. Riku Hanabishi was checking his M9 as well his shuriken and other various ninja equipment into his inventory, while Nagi Naoe and Tot were busy equaling medicine kits and ramen noodles for the group. The three FOXHOUND youngsters were already in their coloured Sneaking suits. Rio then entered the room wearing her own WARRIOR suit and was drinking a cup of coffee when she encountered the trio of women.

"Oh, you must be the group my son's friend must have talked about, aren't you?" Rio asked Dee replied with a silent nod.

"You're right, Garland told us about who you people are as well as the situation that you're in." Dee said.

"So you're friends of Garland too, it's just like him that he would send in some kind of assistance as well for this. Are you ladies mercenaries or something?" Tot asked.

"You can say that along the lines, Tot, one of FOXHOUND's current best sword wielders." Dee smiled at the young girl.

"How did you know who I was?" Tot asked, almost in a tone of admiration after knowing her name was known outside of FOXHOUND by people who worked with Garland outside of the group.

"It's pretty easy to say that Garland would speak highly of you whenever we meet, though it's rare we see each other these days." Dee replied. "Not to mention that we share a common trait among the four of us. We're actually the famous Shinsengumi swordswomen group."

"Hold on, you call yourselves the Shinsengumi as well?" Riku asked, and then grinned as Dee nodded in reply, almost fighting the urge to laugh as the name came to mind. "I happen to know someone from my school who happens to be in charge of a special response morality patrol unit consisting of five girls from other various schools who goes by the same name."

"Are you referring to Ryoko Mitsurugi of Daimon High School, current K-Fight champion?" Dee asked simply. "It's really no surprise we've heard about her and her skills, but we're actually surprised that you know her, Riku Hanabishi. I must say that you're really fortunate for that though the fact of the matter is that there's a big difference from our group and hers."

"Yeah, at least we don't go around beating up on street punks for the sake of justice." Pei, another of the three women spoke. "What's also different from us is that we mainly use a sword to deal with business."

Pei, a 29 year old full-blooded Chinese warrior, and the most attractive out of the three bowed as she spoke to the Team Warrior/FOXHOUND group. She had on an oversized black sweater or hoodie with black pants and shoes, which made her look rather non-feminine. Still, her beauty still stood out through her baggy clothing.

Kanashii, a 28 year old tomboy of Half Chinese, half Japanese descent smiled at the group and bowed as well. She had her shoulder length hair loose and down, a black bucket hat, and red sunglasses. Black slacks and Vans cover her lower body, while she wore an amaroon short sleeve button-up (but it wasn't not buttoned up) that covered a purple-red tank top. Her face is similar to Starling's, slightly tanned and with chocolate brown eyes. She is the leader of the group.

"In any case, you need not to worry about paying us expenses for this. Any friend of Garland's who's in trouble need not to trouble him or his family any further for our assistance." Kanashii said. "Think of this as a favor for Garland we're doing on his behalf.

"We really appreciate that, but we don't really want to trouble you with everything that has happened so far." Rio said.

"No, really, Miss Rio. This really is not a problem to us and it will be good exercise for the three of us since it's been awhile we're in action." Dee said. "In any case, where is this son we're told about to meet?"

"Oh, yeah. I bet he must be sleeping in this morning since today is a big day and all and he must have been worried himself to sleep from last night." Rio placed the empty cup of coffee down as she stood up. "I'll be going for him now."

The blonde point leader of WARRIOR made her way to Greg's temporary room where she took a deep breath and called out to him.

"Greggie, are you awake yet?" Rio's voice asked as she knocked on the door where his room was. "That Shinsengumi group had arrived."

"I'll be there in a moment, but you can come on in, I'm almost done preparing myself." Greg replied to her from inside as she nodded and entered his room. She stopped at the door to see Greg was fully dressed in Nanvel's custom made Sneaking Suit and was in the middle of arming himself with the gauntlets now.

"Good morning, Greg. You look like you're ready." Rio said to him smiling.

"Yeah, good morning to you, sensei. I've been up a little earlier than usual because today's the day and I wanted to make sure I haven't forgotten anything." Greg replied as he checked the gauntlets Nanvel prepared for him. They were fitting as snug as possible to both arms and he was making some adjustments to his right nano arm since he would be relying on it more during the course of the mission.

It was then Rio noticed the almost tired look on Greg's eyes and came closer to him. "You look like you hardly got any sleep last night. Had a rough night, eh?"

"You can say that, but I should be fine, really." Greg said simply, trying to suppress any emotion that will lead to suspicion about what his counterpart told him the night before. But the ever vigilant Rio can see that something was bothering him greatly and it wasn't the fact this mission was going to ride on him mostly.

"Greg, if you think you can't go through with it, I can understand." Rio said to him as she touched his back. "We can save Lilica and Yuina by ourselves while you take a break and stay here to give support on Codec. You are still recovering from that training session you had with your powers after all."

"I wish I could do that, but really, sensei. I'll be okay. I want to be there for them as well too." Greg innocently smiled and looked at her. "I know you can't help but be worried about me, I can understand that. It's just that I'm a bit nervous of what will be happening and all."

"You're not the only one, Greg." Rio said, sitting on his bed. "We're all a bit nervous of what we should be expecting today. Are you sure we'll be able to do this even with all the help we're getting?"

"Things may not go according to plan, that's for sure. We may run into surprises." Greg said.

"Yeah, we always get that feeling before a mission, that's why we should expect the unexpected." Rio said. A brief moment of silence passed before Greg spoke once more.

"To tell the truth, sensei, I'm still a bit frightened." Greg said sullenly. "The nagging feeling that something is going to happen beyond our control keeps growing and just keeps on gripping my doubts even more. Do you think we can get through this without any of our teammates dying?"

"Is that what you're afraid of, Greg?" Rio asked him as he silently nodded his head.

"It's rare that I have to be part in these kinds of missions and I always fear the worst will happen if I make a mistake. I really am not cut out for situations like these until I know any better." He rubbed his head with a sad smile as he flexed his fingers which were clad in the gauntlets. "But this is a bit different, Lilica is in trouble and I really can't afford to have any doubts now about my leadership skills."

"Maybe after when this thing is over, you can always seek Seishiro-san's help for advice on that." Rio said with a grin. "Come on, Greg, lighten up. I know you're the serious type, but I never saw you this moody before. Cheer up, we will be saving Lilica and Yuina because you're with us and that's enough to push us ahead."

"You really have that much faith in me, don't you, sensei?" Greg asked as Rio wrapped her arm around his neck and rubbed his head.

"You're my number one student, of course I know you won't let us down." Rio smiled at him. "But…I want to tell you one thing before we head out."

"Sure, what is it?"

"Greg…if anything serious is bothering you…anything regarding about your powers that is, I want you to be honest as always and come out and tell me something, got it?" Rio said. "I know what's been troubling you since yesterday and I didn't want to pressure you further with what's going on already, but please, consider what I just told you. You know we're always there if you need someone to talk to, even if it's something you don't like doing, talking about yourself and your past."

Greg looked at her silently first, before nodding at her. "Alright, we'll do it first thing once this mission is over."

"Huh?" Rio looked on in surprise, not expecting this from Greg. "Are you serious?"

"Of course, I don't want to stay in the dark about myself forever." Greg replied. "It may be bothering me for the longest while now, but I'm sure when we get this whole thing resolved, maybe we can focus a bit about my past and how come I couldn't remember anything until I met you guys."

"You're probably right…well, if you're so determined about it, I will be there to help you in anyway I can, Greg." Rio smiled at him. "But for now, let's focus on reuniting our family by saving Lilica, alright?"

"Not to mention doing the same with reuniting Seraph with Yuina and fixing this problem with Mantis that Reese started." Greg said as he took up a cache like suitcase where most of his items were stored. "Let's go downstairs where we will meet up with the others and coordinate a plan. Knowing Maki, she may have worked up one hell of a plan that should work for the time being."

Rio nodded silently as she followed Greg out of his room as she pondered what he just told her.

(Greg, in all the years since we started to take care of you, there were things about you that made you so unique, even if you didn't have those cursed powers. You were always a bit pure-hearted, headstrong and always considerate about others than yourself in most situations, but then again, you also were a bit naïve, frightened and mostly lonely whenever you have to face yourself.) Rio thought to herself. (Even after you've grown to be a stronger man than you are now after this, you'll always be my son and that is enough to make sure I'll help you deal with your problems, no matter how complicated the problem looks. You have my word on it that I will see to it that your curse will not trouble you forever, Greg.)

The two eventually entered the living room where they met everyone else consisting of Team Warrior, FOXHOUND and now, the Shinsengumi swordswomen group.

"Good morning, Greg Kinezono." Pei stood up to introduce herself to Greg. "We're the special team that was sent to assist you on this mission."

"You should have heard them before talking to Riku and Tot, Greg. They happen to be the famed Shinsengumi." Maya said causing Greg to nod.

"I didn't know that Garland had such deep connections. Anyway, it truly is an honor to meet the famed swordswomen that I've only heard about." Greg said as he bowed to the three women.

"We were just telling your mother that we won't trouble you for financial support because of this, we're only doing this since you're a friend of Garland's, so we hope our assistance would be of a great benefit from you." Kanashii said as Greg nodded.

"Much appreciated. I highly doubt any of you would let me down when we will need your help as the situation calls for it." Greg replied as he looked back at Rio. "Hey, I don't see Maki or Nanvel anywhere."

"Oh, they've been busy coordinating a plan for the mission before some of us woke up." Rio spoke as she was done checking her USP as well her tonfars when she noticed the two of them enter the room with Seraph and Nastasha. "Speak of the devil; we were just talking about you guys."

"Sorry for the delay, everyone, but I do hope now you all are gathered and ready to listen to what I have to say to you." Maki said seriously as she cleared her throat. "Alright, it is time for the plan to rescue Lilica and Yuina to be revealed. Nanvel, show everyone the map please."

"Got it." Nanvel said as she pulled open a map, revealing red circles and 'x's drawn about various places while Maki talked. "As of last night, we've confirmed the location where Lilica is being held. It happens to be two hour ride from our current location now to the edge of an abandoned area of old Tokyo. The passageway runs from there to two points of the city, Tokyo-2 and Tokyo-3. Both points leading to the two cities have been sealed off, but I have reason to believe that our destination is midway between those areas underground."

"So, we're going to the underground layers of the sunken parts of old Tokyo where Mantis is supposedly hiding, huh?" Rio asked.

"Yes, that's it." Maki replied. "According to what Greg saw last night, there must be an underground fortress or a citadel that would make the perfect place for him to hide out. You'll have to use the sewers in the city areas to get there."

"How will we know exactly where Mantis will be?" Dee asked.

"Don't worry, we already pinpointed the exact location where the beacon Lilica sent is and we really don't doubt it since it was confirmed last night." Maki explained. "However, don't expect to just waltz in without some kind of resistance from the enemy."

"Of course, he may have reinforcements waiting to ambush us, so we need the extra manpower to take out the pesky Tengu wannabes that may try to stop us." Rio said.

"That and even more probably, sensei." Greg said seriously as he folded his arms. "Don't make it sound like an average WARRIOR mission, we could run into some powerful foes later."

"Yeah, you're probably right." Rio said. "That is why we got the extra help, right?"

Greg nodded as he faced Nagi, Riku and Tot then at Maki once more. "So, what should we do, aunt Maki?"

"Riku, from what I've known about you thus far is that since you and your partners work the best altogether in a mission, you'll be a Support Team of sorts. Your point in this mission is to provide secondary back-up for Rio and Greg." Maki said to him as the ninja complied.

"We got it, Maki." Riku nodded his head.

"Miss Kanashii, it would be best for you and your partners to assist them as well, just in case." Maki turned over to the Shinsengumi group. "You'll be acting as a Striker Team until the need for a shift in the role is needed."

"Alright, we understand as long we can still help out." Kanashii simply leaned back and nodded, while her partners agreed along with her.

"And Rio, you, Greg and Maya will be the Attack Team. As usual, you'll take point." Maki said.

"Understood, Maki." Rio said as she smacked her fists together. "This should get my blood pumping after being out of action so long when Mantis put me on the critical condition list a couple of days ago."

"Nanvel, Nastasha and I will be providing services over the Codec, such as giving intel, mostly providing all of you with much needed intel and directions to the point where Lilica and Yuina are being held. The frequency is 146.90." Maki spoke as he turned to Seraph. "Also, you will be pleased to hear that Seraph has decided to be part of the Codec team for today as well."

"Really, Seraph?" Tot asked surprised as the biodroid nodded.

"That is correct, Tot-san. I know I may not have intelligence in the military arts as you have, but the most I can do is temporarily give you some comfort and inspiration when you think the situation gets too hard for you. It's the most I can do for everyone who has helped me so far." Seraph said as Rio nodded.

"Well, I think that's rather nice of you, girl." Rio said. "But I know you're probably eager to see Yuina again, so it's understandable that you wanted to help out with the support on the Codec crew so you can see her from here. Rather sneaky, but convenient, I must say."

"Also, I will be responsible for transporting you guys to and from the sneak points." Yuji said. "Just leave the flying to me, everyone."

"We're counting on you, Yuji." Maya said, smiling at him before looking at Maki. "So, Maki, what do you suppose should happen when we get to Mantis?"

"Hmm, good question, Maya." Maki said as she looked at Greg who was sipping coffee. "Why don't we ask Greg?"

At the mention of that, Greg swallowed more than he can handle as he started to cough harshly while Rio tapped his back. When Greg relaxed himself, he suddenly looked at everyone.

"Hey, you really don't mean that I should have a plan for that, don't you think, aunt Maki?" Greg asked.

"Yeah, Maki. That was a bit too harsh, you know." Rio said. "He's just as nervous as everyone in here about the mission."

"I know, but I just want to be assured that whatever Greg has in mind won't lead to disaster later." Maki said seriously. "But, Greg, this is a chance for you to ask Mantis what went wrong that led to all of this, so just consider everyone else around who is helping you and their safety as well as their cooperation. Don't go facing such a powerful foe like him by yourself."

"I know, aunt Maki. You have my word I won't do anything reckless." Greg said seriously. "Besides, there's too much riding on this, all I want to do is try and right the situation and just move on, I really don't have any intention of killing Mantis since he was a victim in this to begin with."

"He's really serious about it, Maki. Geese made sure to give him a stern talking about how he should use his power before we came back and Greg took everything to heart. I doubt anything wrong will happen since it's everything should work out fine." Rio said as Maki sighed gently.

"Well, if you say it like that, Rio. I have faith in Greg too." Maki smiled at Greg then at everyone. "Please, all of you, be careful out there and try your best to support one another."

"The time is now seven minutes past ten, so you'd better start your traveling if you are to get there on time." Nastasha said. "It is a two hour trip after all to the destination after all."

"So, by the time we get there, it will be noon time, huh?" Rio asked as Greg muttered something that caught her ears.

"'Advancing Towards Twelve O-Clock'." Greg said simply as Rio looked at her surrogate son.

"Huh? What was that, Greg?" Rio asked as he simply shook his head and smiled lightly.

"Ah, its nothing, sensei. It just has a good ring to the mission, we should refer to this as from now on, that's all." Greg said as Rio held her squeal when she heard this and began hugging him in front of everyone.

"Oh, Greggie! You come up with some of the greatest things to say sometimes!" Rio said as Greg suddenly wrestled his way out of Rio's grip, catching his breath.

"Sensei, please! Not this again." Greg's face started to fluster as everyone laughed lightly to this while he fixed his Sneaking Suit. "We should be on the way to the sneak points already."

"Okay, fine then, Greg." Rio said getting up as before they left the room, Maki's voice stopped them.

"Hey, Nanvel, wasn't there something you're supposed to give to Greg?" Maki said to Nanvel. "Give it to him."

"Okay." Nanvel smiled and took out a long silver casing with a leather strap from one end to the other. "You would probably need this, Greg."

Greg noticed the casing and looked on at his surrogate aunts. "You don't mean…it's really okay that I can use this?"

"Thought now's the right time for you to start using more often." Nanvel said.

"What is it, Greg?" Riku asked.

"Oh, this? It happens to be a trump card of mine." Greg simply said as he placed it over his shoulder and the long casing lied vertically across his back. "You all will get to see what it is, but I myself am hoping I won't ever have to use it unless the situation calls for it."

"I see then." Riku replied. "Well, just don't keep us in suspense with what other surprises you have, alright?"

Giving his friend a silent nod, Greg fixed the strapping of the casing before facing everyone.

"If that's everything, we can start gathering our equipment and head out of…" Before Greg finished, he noticed Nanvel was crying silently behind him. He turned around to see her in tears.

"Aunt Nanvel? What's wrong?" Greg asked.

"Sorry...I was just thinking about how I could have helped out in the field today, but..."she sniffed. "...I still don't understand why I must stay here. Lilica's my friend too. I deserve to be with you guys and back you up."

"And that's what you are doing. But no one can really tell what could happen here while we're gone for the rescue mission." Greg said, trying his best to comfort her. "Maki and you are the best known for holding the fort at times like this and supplying us with information that we will need. Besides, you're much safer here than we're going right now."

"I hope that…I'm not being a burden to you, or Rio and Maya, or Riku and his partners. The only thing I'm good for is inventing stuff, not combat." Nanvel said, hanging her head slightly.

"And just how many times has your intelligence has pulled our chestnuts out of the fire in the past, hmm?" Greg asked, resting his nano hand on her shoulder. "Right now, you're just as valuable here with us when the fighting starts. But, we need an extra set of eyes and ears to look out for trouble that may catch us off guard. You're like a fifth wheel to us right now, Nanvel...you're the only one who can warn us beforehand of whatever dangers we run into. Please, Nanvel...don't kick yourself at a time like this. I bet Lilica's depending on you too to help us out. You know for sure we're counting on you."

"He's right, Nanvel." Rio nodded behind him. "You've never failed us before and you sure as hell won't start now. We need you more than ever to cover for us."

"I can vouch for Rio as well, Nanvel." Riku said. "You were there for information when I needed it for my one my own missions and not just because we at FOXHOUND nearly don't have minds as brilliant as yours, but simply because I trusted you for getting it no matter what, not to mention you're Greg's family. Not to mention a gadget you lent me then probably saved the life of a friend of mine. You're the best of your field to do this for us, even at a time like this."

Nanvel looked at everyone who nodded at her and then back at Greg as she smiled weakly at him. "Thank you…everyone. I'll see what I can do. You can count on me."

"That's good to hear." Greg nodded at her. "Everything will be okay...we'll get Lilica back for you and everyone else, I promise. Maybe if you do well, I'll get you your favorite snacks to celebrate the victory."

"Please make it Moxodamari cream puff this time, huh?" she smiled at Greg, before giving him a tight embrace.

"Sure. I'll do my best to accommodate that for you." Greg nervously said, knowing the cost of such confectionaries. (Though, it may take a majority of my remaining pay from FOXHOUND just to get it.)

"It will be all worth it." She replied.

"Alright, you guys…we're behind time here. Shall we get going?" Dee asked.

"Of course, we have no time to waste. Our friends await our rescue." Greg as he then looked at Seraph. "Don't you worry, Seraph. Just leave it to us to get Yuina back to you, everything's going to be okay."

"We'll make sure to take good care of Seraph until you come back, Greg." Maki said as she, Nanvel and Nastasha stood around a comfortable looking Seraph.

"Please, each and every one of you, do be careful." Seraph called out to them as they leave.

"We'll do just that, Seraph." Greg said nodding to her. "See you later with Yuina then."

As the party group of part FOXHOUND, part WARRIOR and whole Shinsengumi left the room in an orderly hurry, Nanvel sighed to herself as she turned her focus to the monitors in front of her.

"Well, guys…let's say we get down to business and start helping out as well, shall we?" Nanvel said to the deck of computers in front of her. "We've got a lot of work ahead of us."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

About two hours later, the group had found the appointed coordinates where Lilica and Yuina were reported to be held captive. But they didn't know it was part of the murky sewers of old Tokyo. Going underground below the abandoned streets was no easy trek, as they had to wade through the dark and enter some near hazardous zones, as they progressed closer to their objective.

"Damn...this place is dark, wet, and miserable...why did Mantis have to pick out a place like this to hold Lilica?" Rio complained to herself. Right behind her was Maya, and Greg. "He should have picked someplace like Acapulco or something warm?"

"Don't complain, Rio. Any bad guy can pick an even much worse a place for holding someone we hold dear." Maya said. "So try to be grateful for that, okay?"

"Or more likely used this place as a perfect set up for a trap." Greg said simply. "According the GPS locators that Nanvel installed in our Soliton radars, we've gotten quite a distance to cover still from our pickup point."

"At least we used them to get us to the right tunnels…it's like a labyrinth down here!" Rio exclaimed.

"Now, now, sensei Rio…we'll be there shortly, just be patient a bit longer." Greg stopped for a moment to survey the area. He felt a presence close by and looked around.

"Anything wrong, Greg?" Riku asked somewhere close by to his position.

"I don't know...I just had a feeling we're being watched by someone." Greg sneered, looking into the darkness as he shook his head, trying to shake off any bad feelings he had at the moment. (Can't go thinking like this right now…I got to keep my focus for later.)

"Let's get a move on. The longer we stay linger around here; the chances are higher for the enemy can catch us before we can do anything to them first." Kanashii spoke.

"You're right." Greg replied as the group continued to trek some more into the depths of the sewers. Just after walking some more, he heard his Codec rang. He placed a finger on the call button.

"Psychic Panther here." He simply replied.

"Greg? It's me." Nanvel's face appeared on the screen. "I'm calling up to tell you that the satellite's picked up strong enemy activity several meters from where you guys are."

"Could it be Mantis?" Rio spoke.

"No...that's really the strangest part. It seems to be more than one of them." She replied. Then Maki's face appeared on the screen.

"Rio, Greg...you guys take caution ahead. I don't think Mantis is going to just let you enter without having a fight with some of his protection." She spoke.

"Can you tell how many are there, Nanvel?" Maya asked.

"About a number of seventy five, possibly more." She replied.

"Did Mantis have an army waiting just for us?" Rio exclaimed.

"Don't be discouraged, Rio. We believe in you and your comrades' abilities to see through this in order get to Lilica and Yuina in time." Seraph's face appeared on screen.

"Thanks for the pep talk, Seraph. We're advancing just more cautiously from now on." Greg spoke.

"Greg...you guys just continue to be careful out there. I have a gut feeling that...HEYYY!" Just then, her end of the Codec was cut off as Greg glared at the other screen in shock.

"Nanvel?" Rio shouted in panic. "Greggie...what happened? Her frequency just got cut off!"

Maya looked on in shock. "Don't tell me she's been kidnapped again!"

"I highly doubt that…I still sense her frequency online, but she's not able to reach us somehow." Greg said seriously. "Was there probably interference from an outside source?"

"Who the hell can be listening on us right now of all times?" Rio asked. Just to answer her question, the Codec rang once more as Greg answered it quickly.

"Good day, Kinezono." A face that Greg and probably, the remainder of FOXHOUND hated so much appeared on the Codec screen. It was Matthew Reese. "How goes your...'vacation'?"

"Reese." Greg simply said as he growled at the older man. "Why are you calling me up? And more importantly, how did you get my frequency?"

"Just checking up on how you've been, that's all. Now that I know that you all are probably in the middle of a mission to rescue someone dear to you like family." He replied, with almost no remorse. Greg wasn't surprised Reese knew about this.

"Don't try to act innocent, you traitor! We all know now who you're really working for!" Greg shouted. "You're the one who started this in the first place."

"So you're the freak who had started all this mess!" Rio's face appeared on the screen. "When we're done here, we'll be coming after your hide next, asshole!"

"Temper, temper, Miss Kinezono. You know what they say about bubble brained, blonde bimbos with large chest sizes who get mad." Reese said with a near lecherous grin and laugh at Rio.

"What did you say?" she exclaimed. "You got a problem with my looks, you senile, heartless, twisted freak!"

"Rio...I know how much you want to tear this guy up for all the things he has done, but you shouldn't worry." Riku said in his screen. "He has enough of his rotten self to go around for everyone who wants a piece of him, so be patient."

"Don't count on it, young Hanabishi." Reese said. "I'm sure youngsters like you will never comprehend the status of power I'm at above all of you freaks."

"Freaks? Some of us have no choice but to live like this. What we do with our powers shouldn't be any of your concern or that of the Patriots'." Riku stated.

"And what just what do you intend to do about it, hmm?" Reese asked. "Certainly, you feeble youngsters aren't thinking of challenging us, aren't you?"

"If it has to come to that to set things straight, then we'd be happy to try, with you as starters, Reese." Rio said.

"I must commend all of you for finally catching up with the truth, but what good would THAT do for all of you if you are to attempt anything?" he replied back.

"Oh, a whole lot can do wonders, old man." Rio growled at Reese.

"Just tell us one thing: Was having Mantis kill off Yuina's Hattori's aunt while she was protecting her niece from him part of the Patriots orders?" Greg asked sternly.

A small grin approached Reese's cigar stained teeth. "Not theirs. Actually, the order came directly from me."

"What?" Tot exclaimed. "So you're responsible for murdering her, it is the truth, isn't it?"

"But why did you do it?" Riku asked, in a demanding tone now as Reese coolly replied to everyone else.

"All I did was order Mantis was kill off anyone who got in his way and leave Yuina alive and unharmed...for now." Reese spoke. "And like an obedient dog, he has obeyed rather well to his masters."

"That's just wrong! You're actually tarnishing the good name he has by having him murder an innocent." Nagi exclaimed. "We won't forgive you for that, Reese."

"I'll admit it was odd that he spared Kinezono's master, since it wasn't part of the plan." Reese said. "Yet it seems that he did the right thing when he created the perfect trap for all of you later on."

"You have no conscience at all, don't you? You senselessly go about ruining people's lives for the Patriots needs, like they are not that important." He said. "Just be warned that there are people who will hunt you down for what you've done…you won't be able to hide from them forever."

"Your words can't faze me, Crow. My position rises even more higher than the likes of you feeble recruits that you can't do a thing against me." Reese said.

"I have had just about enough of listening to you talk." Nagi said bitterly. "I'm sure everyone who knows you agrees with me as well."

"Crow…don't try to waste your energy getting sense into him." Greg said as his eyes lowered and came close to that of an evil look at Reese. "I bet he must have some sick sexual fetish seeing young people like Yuina Hattori suffer."

"WHAT!" Reese exclaimed in anger. Greg was actually embarrassing him in front of his friends and was now really angry. If anyone around Greg who have never seen him angry before, this was a first for them as his mild and calm expression changed quickly to that of intent to kill the person he was speaking to on the Codec. "How dare you say such things...?"

"Shut up!" Greg shouted back. "If you say anything more, I'll change my mind and come after you myself, you dirty, old pedophile. But then again...I have no time to waste with the likes of you. If I won't come after you, then I'll just leave it to my friends in FOXHOUND, who will surely be more than glad to hurt you a lot for all the things you've done."

"Hmph. You think you 'freaks' can touch me as you are?" Reese replied.

"Underestimate us and we'll do more than touch you." Greg said at Reese. "Why you even exist in the first place escapes us all, but I'm sure we'll be solving that problem soon enough when we get to you."

"You're willing to go that far to stop me? You're welcome to try, but I don't think killing me will stop what the Patriots have in store for all of you." Reese said. "That is, of course if you'll live by that time."

"What the hell that is supposed to mean?" Rio exclaimed.

"I have my very own welcoming committee that has orders to deal with Mantis once and for all. He no longer is useful to me, as the same goes for Ebett and Yuina Hatori as well." Reese smiled.

"You sick bastard! So you were using Mantis all along until you really didn't need him anymore, is that it?" Nagi shouted.

"So, what about it?" he replied. "Mantis...Kinezono...they are the same breed of freaks that share something that no other commando in FOXHOUND ever had. Super soldiers that make up the new anti-terrorist group...ha! That's quite a fairy tale. I have seen all of what every one of you is capable of, and I intend to do something about it...starting from you, Greg Kinezono...or should I put it...Gregory Matthews?"

"Don't you ever dare mention my real name! You have no right to say it! It's because of evil people like you…my mother and even my younger sister had to die for NOTHING!" Greg shouted over the Codec and was even on the verge of tears.

"They were worthy sacrifices for the Patriots causes, nothing more." Reese said, causing Greg's heart to suddenly drop heavy with emotion.

"SA…SACRIFICES!" Greg exclaimed over the Codec.

"Yes…over the years, this has been one of the many courses of how the Wisemen's Committee were successful in gaining control over the years. Your family is among the many to be part of the Patriots long list of 'deeds' for a creation of a better humanity." Reese said.

"You're just a bunch of murderers, and that's all you'll ever be!" Greg shouted, his hands shaking and his voice trembling. Fear, anger and despair were starting to overwhelm him that it started to affect his better judgment.

"Really, now. Don't make me laugh, Kinezono. The only murderer around here is you, having served my purpose for all this time since you've become part of FOXHOUND, but now, your usefulness has come to an end. Consider this your permanent termination from FOXHOUND. You could have been well behaved enough for my appreciation, but there's nothing I dislike the most than having a colored outcast such as you in my group posing a serious threat to my plans." Reese said. "Farewell."

With that, the Codec shut off. Greg can be seen clenching his fists, tears welling up in his eyes. Rio looked at Greg with a sad look in her eyes.

"Greg...I...I don't know what to say..." she muttered. Suddenly, she heard Greg started to breathe heavily as he was crying bitterly, slamming his fists hard against the dirty and mucky sewer walls as if he wanted to injure himself.

"Why…? Why didn't we sense this before?" Greg cried out as he started to double fist the wall next to him repeatedly. "How foolish of us that we didn't see the signs before this happened!"

"Greg! Get a hold of yourself. This is exactly what Reese wants." Rio said as she stepped closer to Greg to pick him up. "Don't let what that wankster said get to you…he's trying to get your spirits down before the big fight."

"But…" Greg tried to speak, but Rio simply took his fists and gently placed them together while holding them as she smiled at her son.

"Besides, don't go destroying these precious fists of yours. You will need them to protect Lilica and Yuina as well as helping Mantis out." Rio told him.

"She's right, Greg. Now's not the time for you to be timid or to have any negative thoughts…we need you to keep your focus with us right now to continue this mission." Maya said.

Greg looked at Maya and Rio for a moment, before nodding his head a bit. "Sorry…for letting all of you see that…my weak side. The stress must be getting to me now…but if only I knew why would someone like Reese hate people like me so much? Is it because I simply exist that he must hurt me like this?"

"I wish I knew too." Rio said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "But we can deal with him after this mess is done. We have to rescue Lilica."

"You're right...Reese can wait, this is a more important matter we must deal with." Greg said as he reached for his pouch of pills. After taking some antidepressants, he snapped back his head and breathed deeply for a few seconds until his mind was clear once more.

"Feeling any better, Greg?" Riku asked.

"Yeah…a lot more better I was before Reese called." Greg replied, getting himself back to focus.

"Hey, now that Reese has come out in the open with everything, maybe we should let everyone else at FOXHOUND know about this as soon as possible." Nagi spoke.

"You think that is such a good idea?" Maya asked him. "There's a good chance Reese or maybe even the Patriots could still be listening in to us."

"As Maki said, we have to step up a bit on being cautious from now on. If Reese has managed to contact us, I can imagine what else he is capable of for jeopardizing this mission." Rio said.

"He would want us to contact the Colonel, which would make it easier for him to get to us with his forces." Greg said. "However, he failed to forget that I've got other contacts we can rely on as well…"

With this, Greg got on one knee and contacted Nanvel once more. Her face reappeared on screen.

"Nanvel? Are you okay?" Greg asked.

"Yeah...it seems like that Reese cut off my frequency and butted in." she said.

"Did you at least get a trace of his location, or at least the relay point of where he was conversing from?" Rio asked.

"I tried that, but it seems that the system for the GPS was overloading with too much data at the time. I couldn't get a fix on is location." She confessed. "I'm so sorry, Greg."

"That's okay...it was expected, but you at least recorded the conversation data?" Greg asked.

"Every word he said." Nanvel said confidentially.

"Okay...make a copy and connect me to frequency 147.72." Greg said. "Tell the person on the other end to let every FOXHOUND member hear this and contact me afterwards."

"I got you, Greg." Nanvel replied, connecting the frequency to NERV'S Lt. Maya Ibuki's. Just then, she answered.

"Lt. Ibuki here...Psychic Panther, is it really you? What is it, is something the matter?" Maya Ibuki asked.

"Miss Ibuki, I'm in a middle of a jam right now and I'm sending something important to you." Greg said. "Get everyone else from my group to listen in. They need to know how important this is."

"Okay...I'm receiving the file now." Maya said, seeing the uploading of the file was close to completion on her NERV console. "But why won't you contact them yourself?"

"I really can't go into details right now, the conversation alone will tell the whole story." Greg replied. "Have them contact me right afterwards."

"Alright then...I'll make sure the message gets through." Maya said, switching off her Codec. Just then, she saw Michael Hansen stepped into the Command Centre with Garland Durev and Dr. Ritsuko Akagi.

"Michael, you're here just in time." Maya stood up to talk to him. "Your teammate, Gregory has just sent something that you all should hear. He wants your other friends from FOXHOUND to gather around and listen in as well. It sounded pretty urgent."

"Sounds like something big have started to happen on his end." Michael said.

"Yes, I can only guess what Greg is up to now." Garland said. "I'll go get Linn and the other children right away."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Back at the underground sewers of old Tokyo, almost seven minutes later, much deeper in the sewers...

"How far again do we have to go until we find someone to shoot at?" Maya said, holding unto her sniper rifle.

"Our buddies back at FOXHOUND haven't called back yet, Panther." Riku said.

"I bet it won't be much longer that we have to wait for them, they will call eventually." Greg said as he was keeping a close watch of his surroundings. Then his Codec rang again. "Good timing."

"Greg! Are you okay?" Linn exclaimed over her end of the Codec.

"I'm fine, Linn. So far, nothing has happened to us yet, but you can bet this won't be the case for long." He replied seriously.

"I just heard everything from Garland and Michael then we heard Lt. Ibuki's recording. You know I had to call you. We are really worried about you." She said.

"Hey, if Riku and his partners along with my family are with me, you know there shouldn't be any reason to be." Greg replied.

"I guess you're right, but still…." She nodded her head, a bit more relaxed than before.

"We heard the conversation between you guys and Reese…we know everything now, Greg." Garland said as Greg simply remained silent.

"We know we should have suspected this of him before, but none of us were prepared for this." Nagi spoke from his Codec as Michael started to speak now.

"That may be true, but really, we can't dwell on what we should have done in the past." Michael said. "Certainly if we all knew Reese was posing a threat all this time, we could have done something to stop him before he went through with this."

"He's right, you guys. We can worry about what we can do about Reese later, but what's more important is what you're guys doing to do now." Garland said. "Especially you, Greg…have you made up your mind to confront Mantis?"

"Greg...you're really going to do it, aren't you?" Scorpion asked now.

Greg remained silent for a bit as he clenched his fists and after looking at his comrades, he sighed a bit to continue talking.

"I wished there was another choice, but it looks like thanks to Reese, we've come to this." Greg said. "We've come fully prepared for the worst case scenario that he may throw at us, but it doesn't hurt for back-up from your end at a time like this."

"Really, Greg…what would have happened if you hadn't asked for help?" Michael said to him. "We told you before, we're willing to pitch in anyway we can, even if we are not close to you."

"Thanks for the sentiments, guys. Let's focus on the mission like we always had when we're together." Greg said, as he switched frequencies. "Nanvel, how's the situation thus far?"

"Well, I got some good and bad news." Nanvel she reported. "The good news is that there is a tunnel clearing only about two more kilometers from your position where I'm reading some heavy activity from the enemy. They must be planning an ambush."

"Certainly the bad news can't be worse than the good now, can it, Nanvel?" Rio asked.

"Actually, it's the opposite…the entrance you guys came in is now sealed off and now the enemy has sentries posted around it." Nanvel replied.

"So much for using that path as the escape route…" Maya said.

"Don't give up hope, the sewers must have many accesses back to the outside, give me some time to find some routes that you can use." Nanvel said. "In the meantime, I'll stay online to keep giving you guys support."

"You're doing a great job with that so far, Nanvel…keep it up." Greg said to her, causing her face to redden a bit.

"Gee, Greg…how can you say that with such a straight face?" she blushed.

"Rio! Are you there?" Linn exclaimed. Rio's face appeared on one of the screens of Greg's Codec as she started to speak to Rio now.

"Hey, Linn...long time no see." Rio sarcastically said.

"I thought because of you, Greg was going through so much...but the real enemy is Reese." Linn said in a mellow tone. "If it's not too much trouble...please, look after him through this mess."

"Yeah, sure. I'll be sure to do that." Rio said. "Nothing will happen that will take him away from you...or me. I can promise you that."

"...Thanks, Rio." Linn said. "I know he's in good hands with you...some of the times."

"Hey, don't forget about us, you guys." Riku's voice cut in. "Me and my partners will do our utmost to help Greg through this…you have my word of honor as an shinobi of the Hokage."

"We can vouch for Riku and stand by his word. He really means what he says." Nagi said.

"Thanks, Riku. And the same goes for his two partners whom I've heard about." Linn nodded to him with a confident smile. "I trust all of you to help Greg through this. I do hope we all get to meet each other once this mess is over with."

"Yes, same here, Aramaki-san." Nagi said with a grin. "After all, Riku's always spoken highly of you as well."

"I've heard quite a bit of good about you two from your leader and I don't think I should doubt your abilities to help my boyfriend out." Linn replied.

"Well, thank you, Aramaki-san." Nagi said, feeling a little embarrassed.

"Please, we're all comrades and friends here…you can just call me Linn, Nagi." She winked at him, causing Nagi to blush a bit.

"Nagi-kun…" Tot stared at Nagi a bit, causing him to gulp.

"Sorry that I have to interrupt this little happy-get-together conversation, but I'm reading something approaching your way at an insane speed!" Nanvel exclaimed. "It's heading straight for..."

"Sensei Rio, look out!" Greg shouted. Just then, he took out the weapon from the casing wrapped around his back and it revealed a long, metallic pole-arm that had markings running down on its hilt and a three jointed spear at the end. He spun the Lance in time to deflect a circular, metallic object which came at them from the deeper areas of the sewer tunnel from Rio's body. He then turned his back and stepped a stance to deflect a dark wave of energy which was thrown at Maya using the weapon, but the power of the wave sent him sliding on his feet some distance away as he turned his body to stop sliding and landed on one knee, before he faced forward and quickly drew his SOCOM into the darkness, firing three shots blindly at it.

After a tense moment of silence, Greg suddenly reloaded his gun while holding unto his lance like weapon while he glanced at Rio and Maya to make sure they are okay.

"What the hell…?" Greg shouted as he rested on one knee, still aiming his gun at the darkness. "Maya, Rio, are you two alright?"

"Yeah, we're fine, thanks." Maya said.

"Okay, what just happened?" Rio asked still in a daze.

"Even if it was just for a split second, I can clearly tell that it was a chakram." Kanashii said seriously. "And it was used by a very skilled person who knows how to use it well."

"A chakram?" Greg asked turning to the Shinsengumi group. "Isn't that supposed to be a circular bladed throwing weapon used in mythical times? You're saying there's someone who exists who knows how to use it?"

"Yes…only one person alive can be capable of that, Kinezono." Pei told him. "He's a highly dangerous and talented mercenary who goes by the name of Shade."

"No, not him again of all times." Riku muttered silently as Greg noticed the distressed look on his face. Before long, they heard a lecherous, twisted laughter from the depths of the sewers before them. Soon after, the darkness before them somehow started to envelope them as if they were part of an illusion.

"Ha ha ha…and here I was expecting a second rate psychic. You're a whole lot better than I expected, Greg Kinezono. But there are much more skilled soldiers of your type who could have done better than that showy performance you just pulled." The voice was male, but even from a distance; it intimidated the group with a cold and dark tone, as well as Greg, who only reacted by drawing his weapon again.

"Show yourself!" Greg demanded. "Who the hell are you?"

"You heard the young lady, I'm known as Shade." The voice replied, now it seems it have somehow surrounded the group with its echoing, foreboding presence. "I've heard much about you, Kinezono…the second psychic ever to join FOXHOUND. You've gained quite the reputation, though you have many years to catch up to the likes of Mantis."

Greg remained silent as he tried to analyze the new enemy before him. (Dammit…what is with this guy? I can't seem to make a single thing out of him. It's as if he's part of the shadows themselves. I can sense some forbidden arts in this act he's putting up as well.)

"Oh, give it up, Kinezono. I know what you're trying to do…but it's impossible for you to tell where I am and what I'll do next." Shade's voice said to him.

(So much for reading his thoughts…he must have some immunity for psychics.) Greg thought to himself. (Still, to think someone this day and age would go through the trouble of using mind tricks like this…he must really mean business if he's trying to stop us from getting to Mantis.)

"So, young Hanabishi…it seems fate has drawn us together once again to meet. I shall not forget that I still owe you and your friends for facing me two years ago both back at the Mikage base and boat." Shade drew his attention to Greg's friend now. "I'm hoping you, the psychic, and the girl have improved since the last encounter we had. If you haven't, well that's too bad for you. At least with you three males out of the way when I'm done with you, I can be more assured of having quite the time with the ladies that are accompanying you on this mission, before I go to complete my own."

"This won't be like the last time, Shade. The three of us have gotten stronger and you're going to have to deal with more people this time." Riku said sharply. "We have Greg with us now…don't you underestimate his skills as he will find a way to get through this mission."

"As always, you make me laugh, foolish child ninja. But then again, I would love to see what your psychic friend has in store for me." Shade said. "I'll be waiting for you all, so if I were you, I would use the time to make your final prayers short and swift."

"Wait, Shade!" Greg shouted, but all he got was a dead silence before him into the darkness. Silently pulling back his gun, Rio then broke the silence among the group.

"Riku, you'd better start telling us as much as you know about this guy before we start wetting ourselves." Rio said to Riku. "That pervert seemed to know you and your partners better than we do right now."

"Yes, Riku. It's best you start telling what you know about this guy." Greg said seriously.

"We first encountered Shade two years ago during a mission for FOXHOUND." Nagi spoke out. "He's an experienced high level ninja whose side job is a mercenary. He's very skilled in the killing and fighting arts, meaning he's been in the battlefield more than any of us put together."

"He's also got hidden powers as well. One of them is the power to regenerate lost tissues and limbs at inhumane speeds." Riku added. "I've heard other rumors that he's got other powers at his disposal, but he somehow sticks to using his brute strength, his techniques and brains to fight…its as if he's reserving his most powerful skills in reserve in his sick game of hunter and the hunted."

"Is he really THAT tough?" Rio asked in bewilderment.

"Very...if we had more time, I could tell you guys how much trouble it took just for not only us, but other people who were involved in the mission where we first met him, who even had to help us take him down for a count just once, which wasn't really enough." Riku continued in a miserable tone. "I know I said earlier the three of us have gotten stronger since then, and we have you guys here to help, but I doubt that could even help. To put it simply, Shade's practically unstoppable in a fight."

"Riku, are you're saying that this guy is even stronger than Garland in terms of power, skill and technique?" Greg asked suddenly. Now he was beginning to feel uneasy.

"I hate to say it, but yeah. He's even more powerful than when Garland is in his True Dread or Berserker Demon state." Riku said. "To put it simply, that guy is the next closest thing to invincible, Greg. It won't be so easy to stop him without at least getting seriously injured, and that's just trying to survive meeting that guy."

"Damn, I knew I should have brought my compact claymore mine rocket gun and beta class type grenades for a time like this. It normally tends to get the job done." Maya Jingu whimpered as she huffed, her chest jiggling along as well.

"You'll need a better gun than that to even come close to hurting that guy, Maya. He's also someone…you don't want to meet in a dark alley either." Nagi said, with some sadness and bitterness in his voice. "He gets his kicks out of tormenting people's lives and that includes torture, which is known to be one of his recreations. Another one of them includes…the brutal and savage raping of women."

Maya and Rio looked at each other in frightened silence while Greg clenched his teeth when they heard this as he suddenly noticed Tot's face. Tot had shut her eyes at the mention of that as she remembered meeting one of his victims, an American woman they rescued during the C-Project mission whose name was Gladys Smithson.

"He is a living monster." Tot said quietly. "A monster that just won't die…"

Greg's eyes lowered the instant he heard this and then looked at Rio and Maya in silence.

"You two know what this means, right?" Greg simply said seriously. "If this Shade is tough enough to pose problems for all of us, then this just changes everything we can do about the mission."

"Greg, surely you heard what Riku and his friends told you." Michael's voice said from his end of the Codec. "If Shade is going to be your enemy soon, the best choice is to retreat from him as soon as possible."

"And leave Lilica and Yuina behind? I don't think we have an option here in this to give up on them now, do we!" Rio exclaimed, but Greg put an arm in front of her.

"Rio…ever since I've been in FOXHOUND, I've trusted Michael's better judgment for situations like this, but it looks like we're in a hopeless situation here now if we're going to face Shade just to get to Lilica, Yuina and Mantis." Greg said. "Still…I can't back down because of this man who is probably ten times stronger and better than us in the battlefield. I promised Seraph as a member of FOXHOUND that I will get Yuina back to her, and since Lilica is practically now family to me, there's no way I would give up so easily without a plan to get through to them."

"So just how do you plan to do this without getting anyone killed by Shade's hands?" Michael asked. "Greg, I know how determined you are in this, but you have to think this through if you have no other choice than to face Shade."

"Mr. Hansen, I know this may sound like suicide here, but…" Maya Jingu cocked her handgun and fixed her gun holsters with a big grin. "It's like Greg said Lilica's family to us and there's no way in hell I'm backing down just because we've got to face a guy who is really strong like Riku says he is. My mind is made up to help Greg get Lilica and Yuina back and I don't intend to back down now. I'm prepared for the worst, but I'm not prepared to get myself killed before I see Lilica again. I'll do what I must to see her alive and well."

"Maya, Greg, you do know that we're now stacked against some impossible odds here, right?" Rio asked. "We really didn't count on this last minute problem to show up now of all times to start giving us doubts about advancing further."

"Yes, but I don't ever recall once you being a quitter in the times I hung out with you either." Greg said without turning. "This Shade may be powerful, but are you going to let that stop you from being with Lilica or being with everyone we cherish again?"

Rio twitched her eyebrow as she shrugged her shoulders. "Ah, fine. Not that I was planning on abandoning you guys anyway. I just hate having to fight perverts, but since this guy has his head set on doing things that even Yuji wouldn't approve of if we fail this mission by losing to him and he goes after Mantis, we can't afford failure now, can we?"

"I heard that, Rio!" Yuji shouted from an outside Codec line.

"I guess the only choice left is to devise one hell of a plan to get it through that thick skull of that Shade guy, that we're not going to be so easily intimidated by the likes of him since an important member of family needs to be rescued and things needs resolving while trying to get as little injuries as possible." Rio said, smacking her fists together. "What do you say to that, my student?"

"Sounds like the best option we got if we were to stand a chance against him." Greg said, taking out his combat knife. Sticking it to the wall next to him, he got to one knee and took out his inventory kit. He began to re organize the items and weaponry he was carrying with him as he spoke.

"Riku, since you know about this guy more than us, we will have to switch teams, meaning I will need you with me from now on." Greg said looking at his ninja friend. "Sorry if I have to separate you from your partners, but your help is needed if I have to fight my way through Shade to get to Lilica, got it?"

"Okay, Greg. It's not a problem for me, as long I know I can be of some assistance in any way." Riku replied. "Besides, considering Shade's a master of ninjutsu, I'll at least be able to be of some help in dealing with him."

"Don't worry…this will be temporary for now." Greg said, as he looked at Maya now.

"Maya, I will need your explosive power with me as well. Since we can't actually kill this guy, the most we can do is surprise him and slow him down enough just to get to Mantis location." Greg said. "I'm depending on you to hit him hard and heavy with everything you got."

"Sure thing, Greg, you can count on me." Maya said, smiling at him.

Greg began looking thoughtful for a second, until he suddenly looked at Nagi and Tot.

"Usagi, Crow…you two will be our back up along with one of the Shinsengumi." Greg said, looking at Pei. "From what I got to glimpse from last night, Tot is skilled in the bladed weapons area, so a team of two blade wielders and a psychic like Nagi should be sufficient in covering me and my team when it gets tight."

"What about me, Greg?" Rio asked.

"Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about you, sensei." Greg said, looking at her. "You're in charge of cleaning house…I'm sure there are more eager boys under Shade's command waiting to confront us, so you and the remaining two Shinsengumi can handle them until I can call for assistance from any of you."

"The thing is that we may need each other's help at some point, so we have to be on guard when we're ready for assistance." Dee said. "Greg, I do hope that this does work."

"We got Michael ready on the Codec to give us some pointers as how we can deal with Shade. Don't you, Venom?" Greg asked

"I have faced Shade countless times before I joined FOXHOUND, but even up to now, I can't say I know of an exact way to defeat him." Michael confessed. "Had I sensed what kind of being he is, I could have prevented him from killing my unit and my fiancé, Maria...I wished I had a definite way of telling you all on how to fight him, but all I can do is watch from here and be sure none of you make any disastrous mistakes."

"That's okay; man…you backing us up is more than enough." Greg said as he looked at his inventory once more. He had a fair share of ammo for his grenade launcher, consisting of grenades and shells and several rounds of ammo for his assault rifle. He then looked on and saw that he had some medical equipment, an assortment of bandages, suture kits, painkillers, antidepressants, serums. It was just about enough for everyone with him, but he considered why he had to pack light.

"I didn't really plan on bringing too much with me…I wasn't planning to focus entirely on fighting today." Greg said. "So far, I've brought more medical items and ammo to use, but I need to conserve these for later."

"It will be impossible for us to try to get through Shade without getting injured too much if we attack him directly." Riku said. "When this guy starts fighting, he never lets off and demands a real challenge from his opponents. Meaning any fight with him will drag on until the opponent is dead."

"That's why we should make this quick, I have no intention of wasting time here or else it will be over for Lilica and Yuina." Greg said. "Nanvel, I'll need to start using the gauntlet set from now if we are to get through in this, so can you start configuring those nanos from now?"

"You will have only thirty seconds until they are fully activated and the rest is up to you. Use the time well, Greg." Nanvel said to him.

"I surely will, Nanvel." Greg replied confidentially, knowing he will have to bear some pain as to make the gauntlets work. He then started to look thoughtful for a moment, before letting the cloak tied around his neck out into the open and used it to cover his entire body to conceal the gauntlets Nanvel made for him. He would know for sure when they have become activated to be used, but he needs to save them for when its time to face Shade.

"Ready, everyone?" Greg asked which got several confident nods from the people around him. "Then let's move out…Yuina and Lilica are counting on us to get to them."

Cautiously, Greg and everyone else drew their weapons on the ready, as each assigned member of the group was with their team set for the encounter of Shade and his command squad. Entering the trail, they finally entered a clearing where several train tracks entered double tunnels.

"My, my…aren't we in a hurry to die today." Shade's voice returned as he suddenly appeared from the darkness of one of the tunnels. He was dressed in a full dark trench coat, but it was apparent that he was surely wearing a protective or a combat outfit under it. "You all saved me the trouble of finding you, Kinezono, now you've made it easier for me to have my fun by killing you and even having my way with the women in your company."

"So, you're Shade." Greg simply replied, his dark brown pupils sternly fixed on his new enemy. Even though he can sense a foreboding sense of evil from Shade, he can't be unfazed by the fact that this man is even stronger than any opponent his friends have faced. The fact that Lilica and Yuina needs to be rescued made his iron will stronger to confront him with least worry now. "My partners told me much about you."

"Oh, they have, have they? And I am quite pleased that they did…remembering how I struck fear into them by my very presence is enough for them to remind them how unstoppable I am." Shade said with a confident grin. "What about you, Kinezono? I'm sure when they told you about me; you must feel some kind of despair at the idea of even facing me, right?"

"Actually, I am, but right now I can hardly afford to do so because I'm more worried about other important things at the moment." Greg replied, clenching his gauntlet equipped fists tighter. (The countdown's getting close to zero, so those nanos will kick in any time soon.)

"Too bad. But no matter, you will soon experience just why my reputation fits my name." Shade said as he raised his hand. "And if you must know, my men have already located the two girls and Mantis; I've sent a squadron to prevent any visitors from entering down there until I meet them personally."

"Shit, he's already a step ahead of us!" Rio exclaimed silently to herself.

"That leaves you and me with some personal time to get to know one another quite well." Shade smirked at the group before him. "I do hope you won't disappoint me, Kinezono."

Greg remained stern and focused as he began to clench his teeth. "I should let you know something from now, Shade…I never fight to disappoint anyone, even someone with high expectations and skills such as yourself. Fighting me will not simply be a pushover."

"Heh, we'll see about that. I'll show you personally why I'm so feared among your friends. Then, I'll enjoy taking your little 'lilac' and pluck her petals one by one!" Shade said, getting into a pose. "I'm sure the little resistance she and her captured friend will put will be most entertaining."

Greg simply leaned his head towards Maya, who was behind him as she nodded to him, knowing it was some signal to begin their plan.

"Like hell we'll let it happen!" Maya said, casually dropping a stun grenade in front of Shade, who only had time to block his sight from it.

"What the…!" The ninja exclaimed.

"Greg, now's the time to spilt up!" Rio shouted.

"I got it! Everyone to their groups!" Greg shouted as the team used this chance to exchange and split up into the groups for the encounter, while they made the retreat away from Shade. The ninja looked around and simply smiled as he knew how this was going.

"I see…you want to play a game of cat and mouse, is that it, Kinezono?" Shade asked. "Well, I'll play along, but I'm quite the excellent hunter and finding each and every one of you will be no problem."

Shade then noticed a red cloak lying on the ground, and as he picked it up, he saw some drops of fresh blood on it.

"This must be Kinezono's indeed…he was wearing this before." Shade said to himself. "I'll track him down and finish him before he can cause any trouble, then finish my job by putting Mantis down."

Shade began to proceed to the tunnel where Greg and his team ran into, with intention of fighting with them to prove his strength and reputation, though the battle will be to his advantage. The battle between these two men will be but a prelude to the real showdown ahead. The question is, will Greg and his friends be able to get through Shade and the Death Squad to find Lilica and Yuina before it's too late, or will they die trying?

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ShardclawK: That's it for this revised and much added chapter. I'm sure from the looks of things the upcoming battle will surely show the true essences of Shade, as well with this time everyone else working together to combat Shade.

Some of you may have noticed that I didn't do a KOF section for this revision, but don't worry, I have a proper timing and arrangement for the appearance later in the story as soon things have calmed down for Greg and the rest of the heroes in the story. Also, to those who may or not have recognized the change in the chapter's title would notice it's the same name for a particular music theme from one of my recent favorite PS2 rpgs from Namco, Tales of Legendia. I just couldn't help it as I have been using the soundtrack from that game and others to help me with my fiction up to late and that song was one of best I've heard in any game for awhile not to mention that quote Rio used to comfort Greg after Reese reveals himself was something similar to what Chloe said to Senel in Jay's character quest.

Anyway, I've already begun revision on the next set of following chapters, so you can expect an upload of another revised chapter (or even two, if I work fast enough) soon.


	9. The Inner Shade

ShardclawK: So far, it seems that a lot of you are enjoying how these revised chapters are coming, so I'll make sure to continue doing my best to keep the success up so I can get back to updating this monster I created pretty soon. I'd greatly appreciate the supporting comments, keep them coming. Anyway, here's another revised chapter dedicated to a much more intense battle between some of the good guys for this story against one of GreyWolf4's powerful OC villains, Shade with lots of new added twists, turns and interactions. Also, this chapter's got some special references based on both Ayashi no Ceres and from the recently released King of Fighters 2006 game in a flashback section of this chapter that most of you will like.

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Metal Gear: Soldier X

Chapter 8: The Inner Shade

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"Ocelot...it has begun." Solidus Snake's voice spoke, as he was seated behind Keele Lorenz's desk in SEELE headquarters. He was looking over a monitor that was recording the details of the confrontation of the fight between Gregory Kinezono and his group against the mercenary called Shade and his Death Squad unit. Revolver Ocelot entered the room after being called in.

"What is it now, King? I haven't finished interrogating Lorenz yet..." Ocelot complained, as he saw the images on the screen. "Ahhh...it's about time Kinezono started this. Reese was right about his arrival on schedule."

"He appears prepared for the battle ahead…" Solidus said. "Are you certain the Patriots have foretold about this, Ocelot?"

"I'm pretty certain about it. This is part of the plan, remember?" Ocelot replied.

"Certainly, this can only mean that Kinezono will have a bit of a difficulty against Shade's experience, reputation and abilities." Solidus spoke. "This could turn out into an intriguing battle, indeed."

"What happens if Shade gets carried away?" Ocelot asked. "His talents as a soldier go beyond that of even the top members of the old FOXHOUND and the members of the Cobra unit put together. He is a legend unto himself after all with all of his…unique battle capabilities."

"My, wouldn't it be a shame, then, if Kinezono and those who are accompanying him were to die before the real show begins and they wouldn't be around to attend it, right, Ocelot?" Solidus asked. "I do hope Reese knows what he's doing having Shade work for him like this."

"And what should be done about Yuina Hattori's fate?" Ocelot asked.

"She has her role to play as well in all of this. Things will certainly get more interesting from that point when Kinezono gets to her." Solidus said. "So...what's the word on Reese?"

"I got a report that he was found out by Kinezono himself moments before meeting Shade. That was expected, though...Reese's arrogance would soon lead to his own downfall if he intends to glorify himself by betraying his comrades." Ocelot said.

"Speaking of which, Greg has contacted his other comrades about Reese. I take it that Reese was nowhere near their headquarters by the time discovery was shared with the rest of FOXHOUND, am I correct?" Soldius asked.

"That is the case. He has taken care of recovering the data Dr. Clark has about Dr. Matthews' theory, so trying to emulate the same perfect gene that gave Gregory the power he has now shouldn't be a problem." Ocelot said.

"And in the case that if any mistakes should occur?" Solidus asked.

"You worry too much, King. Mantis has his share of the same data that Reese has, so obtaining it from him in case something happens should be no problem. Of course, part of the reason why I'm expecting Gregory Matthews to survive this encounter with Shade is to finally learn the truth about his past and what his father had done." Ocelot said, taking a seat. "In the meantime, let's enjoy the show."

"Too bad we have no popcorn to help ourselves..." Solidus said. "I'm betting Kinezono and his friends won't last more than forty seconds against Shade and this Death Squad."

"Fifty and you'll pay me double." Ocelot replied.

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Meanwhile, in FOXHOUND/Philanthropy headquarters on the other side of the planet...

Roy Campbell had had it up to his neck with Lt. Matthew Reese. After receiving the Codec data from NERV headquarters some twenty minutes ago from Lt. Maya Ibuki, he was now infuriated with the actions that Reese had been revealed to have partaken in, all in order to cause this situation for Greg. Now he was going to deal with the treacherous lieutenant personally.

Roy had taken five other fellow agents of FOXHOUND with him, all of them armed with average Berettas, who were assigned to arrest Reese for the actions he committed.

They all gathered outside Reese's own personal office and made no hesitation to wait for Campbell's command. They immediately forced open the door and three of the agents entered with their guns pointed outwards around the room.

Campbell entered soon after, expecting to be the one to tell Reese his rights, but to everyone's surprise, he was nowhere to be found. His laptop, his box of cigars, which he used to decorate his table with, was no where to be seen as well. The modem to his laptop was missing too.

"Find Reese at once and have him arrested! He shouldn't be too far away!" Campbell ordered the men in his room. They nodded to his command and exited the room. Roy sat down and started to shake his head in disbelief.

(How could I have let something like this happen?) He thought to himself. (Why didn't I sense this before if his actions were obvious?)

Knowing that he couldn't sit around and mope about this, Roy stood up and started to walk back to his office, when Mei Ling appeared before him in a look of panic on her face.

"Colonel! You have to come and check this out!" Mei-Ling exclaimed.

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"This can't be happening...this can't be happening..." Linn Aramaki said to herself over and over in a mantra like tone, her hands covering her face and shaking her head. Behind her, Garland Durev was trying to keep her calm, while Michael Hansen, James Masterson, Mana Kirishima and Kari Mondeau were standing near Lt. Maya Ibuki's console to watch the images of the battle ahead. Dr. Ritsuko Akagi, Emma Emmerich, and Shigeru Aoba were also watching the action on his console screen as well.

"This can't be happening!" Linn shouted aloud, letting everyone from both NERV and FOXHOUND listen. She was in a deep state of panic over the matter and only her comrades were there to try and calm her down. Just then, Solid Snake and Meryl Silverburgh entered through the door, while Misato Katsuragi entered behind them.

"What the hell's going on here?" Snake shouted, having overheard the ruckus. He was dressed in a NERV soldier's official uniform with a grey beret to match it.

"It's Greg...he and several of his partners from FOXHOUND have gone off to face Psycho Mantis to rescue his surrogate younger sister." Garland explained.

"Did you just say Mantis?" Meryl explained in shock. "How come he's still alive?"

"More importantly, how come we're being told of this now?" Snake asked.

"It's a long story. We only found out about it ourselves a couple of days ago." Michael replied. "The one responsible for this was Lt. Matthew Reese himself."

"Meryl, isn't he that old geezer who was also in charge of the new, current FOXHOUND?" Snake asked. "The guy who doesn't seem to be very popular with most of the members?"

"If one of those people included me, then yeah, that's the same guy." Meryl said seriously.

"He did some really atrocious acts recently to seal his confirmation as a spy for the Patriots." Michael said as he went on to explaining to Snake, Misato and Meryl about how Reese had resurrected Mantis and brainwashed him for his and the Patriot's needs, thanks to their assistance. When Michael got to the part when Mantis murdered Yuina Hattori's aunt, and then proceeded to kidnap her niece, it got Meryl into a fixed state of emotions.

"That's one of the most horrible things I have ever heard..." Meryl shook her head. "Mantis would never do that after what he had discovered before he died back at Shadow Moses."

"I have to say I can't help but agree with you there, Meryl...it seems Mantis has been refined into being even worse than he was when we first met him thanks to that Reese guy." Snake replied.

"That's not the half of it." Garland said, then explaining how Greg's family was attacked and now Greg, along with the help of Riku, Nagi and Tot, Team WARRIOR and members of the Shinsengumi, had set out to find Lilica Ebett. During the course of the journey, Reese had called and told them about his plan. Snake felt revolted to hear this was happening in FOXHOUND while Misato shook her head silently.

"This sounds really bad for you guys, huh?" Misato asked Meryl. "And here I thought NERV had it rough while the former Commander was still around."

"Well, it looks like we've got at least one thing that both our organizations have in common from now on…a traitorous superior." Meryl said bitterly. "Do you guys have any evidence about Reese's involvement with the enemy?"

"We have the conversation on tape. That's evidence enough to put him away for a long time, but I'm sure we all will need more than that." Michael said. He then saw the image screen flashing, indicating a call from FOXHOUND headquarters. It was Mei-Ling.

"Mei, what is it? Did you guys get Reese?" Michael asked while looking through the video screen of Maya's console.

"No, unfortunately, we didn't, Venom. Boy, the Colonel is not too happy about this...he just sent five armed soldiers to Reese's office for an arrest, but no one was there." Mei Ling answered. "There's another thing you guys should know...Reese hacked into Greg's records, and now they are nowhere to be found in any of the databases! It's as if Greg never joined FOXHOUND or existed to begin with!"

A loud gasp was heard from Linn. "Oh, no..."

"This really is bad." Michael said. "Where the hell could Reese be?"

"That old wanker must have known he would be found out, so he must have prepared himself for the worst and skipped out." Scorpion said.

"If we only knew Reese was this bad from before..." Kari shook her cotton glove wearing fist. Mana only placed a hand on her friend's shoulder.

"No one could have known, Kari. But as Michael stated, we have to do something about this..." Mana said.

"I agree. Someone like Reese means trouble for us if this continues." James, otherwise known mostly as Silent Scorpion said seriously.

"Commander Ikari, while he was still alive, would pale in comparison to this Reese after what he has done..." Misato said. "So, what are you guys going to do to help your friend right now?"

"I should be there helping him! I'm going to get the Harrier and travel there right now!" Linn stood up from Makoto Hyuga's seat. Before she charged out, a hand stopped her. It was Garland's.

"Garland! What are you doing? Let go!" Linn said. "I have to be there to help Greg and the others."

"Linn, we all know you want to be there just as badly as the rest of us do now. But even if it's you flying the Harrier, you won't get to Greg in time." Garland said.

"But..." Linn asked, but was stopped before she spoke any more.

"Listen to him, Linn." Snake stepped forward and patted the younger woman. "That jet's not fast enough to get to where Greg is in time and what if this was a trap that Reese has set up for you?"

"I know about the possible dangers, but those are our comrades fighting a very dangerous man!" Linn cried out. "I'm supposed to be out there helping them..."

"All of us want to do the same right now, Linn." Scorpion replied. "But, we did hear Riku's voice over the Codec earlier. If he's there with Crow and Usagi, everyone on that side should be fine."

"I do hope so...but I hate to say it to everyone here that Shade is not the type to be taken lightly. I'm now starting to have doubts that this would turn in Greg's favour when he faces him." Michael said, knowing his old enemy quite well enough to know the hard truth.

"So, we're supposed to stay here and just watch them get killed by this sadist?" Linn exclaimed.

"Linn, take it easy." Mana said to her, trying her best to ease her stress. "We're just as worried about them as you are too. The most we can do is just support them from the sidelines for now and hope that nothing happens which can put Greg and his comrades in serious danger."

"Greg…you idiot! Why did you have to go and do such a crazy thing without telling me first?" Linn shut her eyes as tears fell down her cheeks, as she had given up hope in believing that Greg and those who tagged along with him would make it out alive if they had to fight Shade. This was too much for her as she silently walked out of the room in a fit of emotions, trying her best to hide her tears.

"Linn!" Scorpion called out to her as he started to follow after her as well.

Garland was about to follow them as well, but he remembered he had to stay and help Michael give instructions to Greg and those with him when its time they encountered Shade.

"Mana, Kari, you should go with Scorpion and try to keep Linn company through this." Garland said seriously to the two girls. "We'll contact you if there's any good news from Greg's side."

"We'll do what we can for Linn, Garland. But to tell you the truth…we're just as worried about Greg, Riku, and those with them." Mana said to her comrade.

"I am too, Mana, but we can only pray for the best results if the Shinsengumi is with them." Garland replied. "Only a miracle can get Greg and Riku and those with them through this alive. We might as well start working on one that can work against the likes of Shade."

Mana gave Garland a sad and silent look as the two girls nodded at him before and left the Command Centre together. Garland turned to Michael as he was focused on giving Greg some useful advice on whenever he would run into Shade and what to avoid doing which could lead to dangerous consequences.

"My only regret is not being there in person to help them out, now that he's involved in this." Michael said sullenly.

"I know…I feel the same way, Michael." Garland patted his comrade's shoulder. "We can only tell them what it is about Shade that they have to be aware of before they make any grave mistakes."

"Greg's not willing to give up because of what Reese has done and he may need answers, I can support him because of that. But I do hope he's careful in not letting it get the best of his emotions and judgement." Michael said. "Considering he's still as a child, Greg is one to learn quickly from certain convictions."

"So, he may have a chance against Shade?" Garland asked.

"A small one at that, considering how much is riding on this mission Greg has taken up to rescue his loved one which is better than none." Michael said, turning his focus back to the monitor.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Hmm, this can certainly complicate things." Nastasha Romanenko voice spoke in a sullen and serious tone as she, Maki, Nanvel, and the biodroid, Seraph, were overlooking the progress of the team sent to rescue Lilica Ebbett and Yuina Hattori, acting as the Codec support crew for Team WARRIOR for the day. After just hearing the details of what Riku and his partners knew about the highly skilled enemy named Shade moments before, she began to have some doubts.

"Is there something about this Shade character that's bothering you, Nastasha?" Maki asked, noticing the look on her friend's face.

"Yes, it seems from the description that the FOXHOUND shinobi has provided Greg and Rio about him, it appears we will be having some problems if they run into him again." Nastasha said. "I have several reports confirming the existence of this man and some of his past activities with several governmental organizations from years past, he's always worked for the highest bidder. In the end, he's just another willing and loyal agent for the Patriots, just as Reese is, but with more of a better reputation than most spies ever recorded throughout history."

"Nastasha, what else about this guy you know?" Nanvel asked.

"As far as I know it, he also has taken part in several dirty jobs in the past around the world. Shade has worked as a mercenary and assassin for a variety of countries and other people and gained a reputation for being an exceptional but very brutal mercenary. He happens to have a list of some high profile among his list of victims." Nastasha spoke.

The two Warrior females in the room along with Seraph stared on at Nastasha in silence as she continued.

"Most of his crimes have even put him on the FBI's, CIA's and NSA's most wanted list for several decades running as some of them that he has under his belt included a fair amount of high profile victims, including past exploits in the Iraq war as well any related conflict that would employ harsh and brutal conflicts against insurgents sanctioned by the CIA. I should also note he has a vast experience in flying various warcraft." She said.

"So, this fiend also has experience in flying aerial crafts as well, am I right?" Seraph asked Nastasha.

"Yes, it appears so, Seraph." Nastasha replied.

"It's hard to believe that the same man who was responsible for it all is the one Rio, Maya, and Greg, as well as the others with them has to face." Maki spoke, placing a finger near her lips.

"Shade even had a record in Eastern Europe where he destroyed villages who helped his employers such as for instance, a village in former Yugoslavia who was helping the Croatians or Muslims for example and Shade would torch and burn the village while killing everyone in it, even the women and children weren't spared." Nastasha spoke.

"I remember hearing similar reports of something like that over the years." Maki said as she shook her head. "So, my fears surrounding Greg and those with him confronting Shade are now becoming true."

"Is this for real, Maki?" Nanvel asked. "Do you think Greg and everyone else stands a chance against that guy?"

"Well, Nanvel, this is a likely situation we have to face since this is probably outside of Warrior's routine of dangerous criminals and the like." Maki said. "To think someone like him actually exists…we'd better keep on our toes for other people like him from now on in case any other powerful foes with strengths like his may appear and become obstacles in the future."

"Does this mean that Greg and his friends that are helping him are going to have serious problems dealing with this foe named Shade?" Seraph asked.

"It seems that way, from what Riku and his partners mentioned before." Maki replied. "I know this may be hard to accept at the moment, Seraph, but this is a situation that I doubt Greg and everyone else will have an easy time accomplishing in this mission because of a foe like Shade confronting them."

Seraph looked on at the monitors in silence, before she nodded at Nanvel.

"I see, but even so, I have a feeling that they will have to get through and make it to Yuina and Lilica somehow." Seraph spoke. "Even if this man is stronger than anything they claimed to have faced before, there has to be a way for them to get to our loved ones. Even if it's just a faint feeling, I can still feel that Greg and the others will survive this encounter long enough to accomplish their mission."

"That's easier said than done, Seraph." Nanvel said. "But even you have to understand how powerful this Shade can be…do you really want to keep having faith in Greg and everyone else who are helping you get Yuina back?"

"I just know that Greg and those with him won't fail on their promises to me. My short time spent with you all has brought back the feelings I've lost when Mantis came into our lives in order to destroy Yuina's happiness and possibly her future. And now that you've gone through this much to help me, I must have faith in them for the sake of seeing Yuina again more than ever." Seraph said. "Something about the look in each of their eyes, as well as Greg's, tells me that they will not betray the promise they made to me."

"Seraph, you're really feeling that way about them, aren't you?" Nanvel smiled at the biodroid. "Well, I share your sentiments just as strongly. We can't afford to give up on Greg and the others at a time like this. Now I see what it was that Greg and the others were trying to let me know before they left about my capabilities. I really should thank them for the encouragement."

"Alright, Nanvel, since there's much about this Shade character that still mystifies us, we have to do something to level the playing field for Greg, Rio and the others." Maki said. "Nastasha, would you assist Nanvel in the information department about what you know about Shade and relay it to Rio and Greg?"

"Most certainly, my old friend. It is my forte." Nastasha said with a smile. "However, there is still much about him that I wasn't informed of, so even I am bound for some surprises if he pulls anything from his sleeve."

"I can use the reports you told us about him as a starting point and see if there are any connections." Nanvel said as she faced her monitor. "It would also help if he has a criminal record or two somewhere on the databases that may be of some help."

"Chances are that his tracks may have been covered by his employers in the past, but they could be several loose ends that they must have missed." Maki said. "Search every available option, Nanvel."

"Right, I'm on it." Nanvel replied, before snapping her fingers. "Oh, I've now remembered of something really important I should have actually told Greg before he left."

"What was it, Nanvel?" Seraph asked.

"Well, I don't know if this is a good time to tell everyone that I just recently stumbled on some helpful data for Greg that can give him a bit of an edge against this Shade guy and still stay in one piece by the time he reaches Mantis." Nanvel said, nervously rubbing her head and giggling. "I wonder why my timing of information some times has to be so bad sometimes."

"Contact Greg and the others right away and keep the line open." Maki said strictly. "We have to see their progress with our own eyes while hoping for the best for our team."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Back in the sewers, the team of Greg Kinezono, Riku Hanabishi, Rio Kinezono and Maya Jingu were in a tunnel that was dimly lit, but was also barely used as a part of the sewage system. Considering that they were in a bit of a confined space, the group had to move fast before Shade caught up to them as they moved altogether in a sprint. They recently separated from five of their other comrades that had joined them for the mission. They were Nagi 'Mystic Crow' Naoe and Tot aka'Usagi Ninja', Riku's two partners who were part of FOXHOUND as well, along with the trio of the Shinsengumi swordswomen comprising of Dee Starling, Pei and Kanashii who trailed with them in the hopes of lowering the chance of being found by Shade altogether.

"Have we lost him yet?" Rio asked as Greg and Riku were trailing right after her with Maya Jingu tagging along as well.

"A good distance, but I can bet he's going to run into us pretty soon. He seems like the athletic type, meaning he's probably a faster runner than all of us." Maya said before catching a glance to Drakken. "Riku, do we really have to choose running rather than fighting this guy for the time being?"

"It's the only appropriate outcome if we want to come out of this alive, Maya. I did say that it was impossible to even kill this guy before, and I wasn't kidding." Riku replied. "I'm sure anyone else who has faced him before and has managed to live to tell about it would tell you the same thing."

"Well, this just sucks ass big time." Rio grumbled. "I knew from the start that we would be expecting some kind of problem, but this Shade guy sounds like we might as well be dealing with all of them rolled into one pretty soon. Are you sure you haven't left anything else out that's important that we all should know about him, Riku?"

"From what I've experienced while facing him, he has somehow involved himself in some forbidden and hidden arts of mysticism. I can go as far to say that he's managed to master most of these arts that even clan members from the Hokage and Uruha won't even dare to use, or even arts that we haven't heard of." Riku spoke.

"So, you're saying this guy is a collector of various, or if not all available jutsu arts as well?" Greg finally asked having been silent the entire time trying to get his body adjusted to Nanvel's custom enhanced Sneaking Suit and gauntlets, as well as analyzing the situation regarding Shade.

"It sounds pretty hard to believe, but it's the truth, my friend." Riku said solemnly. "He's likely even better at most of the techniques that I've managed to master and take them to new heights, making any encounter with him even tougher."

"Well, from all what I heard about him today, he sounds like one sneaky bastard, I can say for sure." Rio gritted her teeth. "So just how are we going to deal with someone with that amount of knowledge and strength to boot?"

"For one thing, we certainly can't go charging in fists first against him. He seems to be the type who is always thinking five steps ahead of us and one of the worst parts is that he's not vulnerable to psychics like me and probably Nagi too." Greg said as he glanced at Maya. "Aunt Maya, just how many weapons do you have with you?"

"Let's see…" Maya Jingu said as she looked up as if trying to remember what she had in stock for the mission. "I made sure to bring along at least five of my custom made handguns, three of them are Police Town licensed, while the others are two Warrior custom firearms. I also brought several flash grenades along with some hand and incendiary grenades as well. Also, I've got some other new prototypes I've been working on too."

"Wow, Maya, it seems you've been stocking up a lot on the explosives just for this mission." Riku said in an impressed tone. "But even so, it's going to require more than grenades to stop Shade."

"What is it that you had in mind, Greg?" Rio asked.

"Since we can't actually kill this guy, my plan is that we have to hit him hard and heavy enough to give us at least some running distance if ever we run into him again." Greg said seriously. "We are STILL on the start of a mission to save Lilica and Yuina, after all."

"You're right about that part. We need to conserve as much of our ammo, supplies and strength by the time we get to Mantis." Rio said. "So in short, we shouldn't waste too much effort keeping him down, right?"

"Yeah, but I'm sensing that he's the type who won't be letting us off that easily." Greg said looking at Riku once more. "Riku mentioned him having regenerative abilities which will just make this even tougher for us. Our stamina won't be able to last for the duration of the mission if we fully confront Shade as planned."

"I wonder if it would be alright if I used some of these babies to blow off an arm or a leg from that Shade guy. That can always work to at least slow him, right, Riku?" Maya asked holding up several explosive grenades as Riku rubbed his head.

"That sounds a bit tad extreme, but it will only work for awhile." Riku said to her. "Shade can regenerate very quickly…"

"Now, wait a minute! What do you mean by 'a while'?" Rio asked. "You're saying even if we blow off a couple of his limbs, he's still gonna be after us?"

"That's why I said that it's impossible to stop this guy. His will is as strong as the powers that are protecting him." Riku replied. "You can't afford to treat this guy like an ordinary person. Doing so will only buy you a quick ticket to the afterlife if you're lucky."

"Dammit! NOW this really sucks ass!" Rio shouted as Greg looked at Riku before coming over to him.

"Riku…" Greg said before patting his partner's shoulder with a serious look on his face. "I know this sounds like a lot, but we're counting on you to help us through this since you said you may know what kind of ninja tricks he is capable of while some of us don't. So, don't fail us, okay?"

Noticing the determined look in his psychic friend's eyes, Riku nodded to him. "That's not my intention today, Greg. You guys can definitely count on me to help you out. Besides, like I told you before, I am thinking of Lilica and Yuina's safety just as you are. I want to be there with you guys when they're safe and sound from this nightmare."

"Yeah, I feel just as strongly about that as you do, Riku. Thanks again for the willing help." Greg said before facing Rio. "And sensei…try your best to not to let that guy get to you emotionally, okay?"

"But how can you say that so calmly, Greg?" Rio asked, putting her hands on her hips and tilting her head. "This Shade guy has every intention of murdering the guys on this mission and getting into the women's pants without consent. I really am not in the mood to become that creep's sex toy and all you can do is just tell me about how I would react when we run into him again?"

"Sensei Rio, I really am not too comfortable about this guy being a serial rapist just as you and aunt Maya are right now. I remember some of the times I hung out at Police Town with you and the others during my teenage years, and I've actually seen several victims of that before and even after joining up FOXHOUND and dealing with several past missions, and as a human being, I agree with everyone who has a heart that not one person on this planet deserves to go through that kind of trauma and its after-effects." Greg said seriously as Rio stared at her surrogate son with a hint of surprise.

"Greg…I didn't know how you felt about this sort of thing all along…" Rio muttered as Greg sighed calmly before she began to think to herself. (That explains why during his school days whenever he stayed at Police Town while I was working shifts to study with Lilica, he would always cry to himself whenever the guys in the domestic crimes division and fellow officers would bring in victims of rape occasionally for reports and he never told me anything. Now I know why he would be distressed about it…)

"It was actually one of the main reasons why I joined the group so the most I can do whenever I or Linn ended up meeting or rescuing a victim of sexual abuse during a mission, the most I could to with my powers is at least console them of their pain temporarily." Greg concluded as he sighed heavily. "But what we're dealing with here is a serious professional. This is no amateur criminal or panty thief that you are used to beating up during a mission from your Warrior days. And from what I could determine so far, this guy has skills which are nothing to laugh at either. All I'm trying to say to you is…just try your best and keep a level check on your emotions until we get to Mantis, alright? We don't need to do anything to provoke this guy if we let him get to us."

(Maybe it is best I don't mention anything about Darkness to Greg and Rio right now at the moment with the way he's acting so tense about this whole thing with Shade.) Riku thought to himself as he observed Greg's reactions. They were now a little shaky than before meeting Shade a moment awhile back.

"Okay, I understand you." Rio nodded sternly. "Just promise me to watch both Maya's back and mine when we're facing him, just in case?"

"It's a sure thing, sensei, you can count on me." Greg said as he and the others began to sprint once more. It was then he remembered something Shade mentioned before to Riku when they first met moments before.

"Riku, I know now is kind of a bad time to be asking this, but I just want to get it off my mind in case I won't get to ask later." Greg spoke. "I heard that Shade guy mentioned meeting you, Nagi, and Tot at a 'Mikage base and boat' before we all separated. I have to assume that some mission you and your partners did had something to do with that, am I right?"

"Heh, I really can't keep secrets from you forever, Greg, but you sure know how to be really perspective without trying." Riku replied with a grin before his reaction turned serious once more. "It is true that around two years back, one of the most important, top secret missions that my partners and I undertook involved happenings surrounding the Mikage family at the time. In fact it was the first mission I did with Nagi and Tot. But what surprises me the most is that you would know about the name, Greg. Where did you hear it from?"

"I've only heard the name Mikage mentioned once from somewhere in the past, but I really couldn't recall it until I just heard it again. It just really surprised me that you were actually in contact with the Mikage conglomerate, Riku. I heard that family business was once ranked among one of the most powerful organizations around at the time with their involvement with developments in the field of science." Greg replied. "Though from what I've heard recently, the family eventually fell into decline for some reason…"

"Okay, but if you don't mind me asking you now, from whom exactly did you hear about this?" Riku asked as he glanced over slightly, so Greg wouldn't notice, at Rio who shrugged her shoulders in silence at him, indicating that she didn't know how Greg would have known about the Mikage, since she and Warrior secretly helped Riku out during that mission without Greg knowing it. But then again, both knew that the Mikage family had been a largely known influence the world over.

(Well, I know for certain that Rio and the rest of Warrior couldn't have told him about it. Even Rio herself agreed to keep it a secret from Greg until there was an appropriate time that he found out the truth about the C-Project and those who were a part of it.) Riku thought as he then heard Greg's answer.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you that I was with Geese-sensei when he said this a long time ago. He actually was offered to do some business with the Mikage at some point, but he flatly refused them." Greg replied. "That was shortly after I joined FOXHOUND and when I wasn't busy with missions, I was in training with him at SouthTown while I was also hired to look into some of the happenings in the King of Fighters. In short, you can say I was obligated to oversee how things were running and report any suspicious movements from any of the enemy groups, both outside and within the KOF. It was kind of a side job that I had to undertake in order to get myself some of the available medicine I need to suppress my psychic powers, but it also came in handy when I wanted extra information that we could use as well."

"Well, it is kind of understandable if you think about it. KOF has had a lot of strong fighters that are constantly being targeted by the enemy groups when the tournaments are held over the years, even those from the likes of the Patriots no doubt." Riku said.

"The reason why Linn and I had to go underground into KOF and investigate it on occasion was not just because some of the missions we did were around the South Town vicinity, since most of the organized crime took that place in the States was there, but also to look into the tournament and those who compete in it as well." Greg replied. "Since the time we were a part of KOF, we found out about the underworld sub syndicate groups known as Kusiel and Mephistopheles under Addis who were trying to accomplish what NESTS failed to finish, all the while rumours that several of the new blood who entered KOF were busy trying to start up the revival of Orochi once more were also cropping up. Things were getting to become quite busy at the time, but luckily, Geese actually recommended some help we could use while we investigated the King of Fighters."

"Oh, yeah, that reminds me, Greggie, how is that bratty ninja friend of yours, Nagase, doing?" Rio asked all of a sudden as Greg simply grinned as he knew who Rio was referring to. "It's been a while since last year's tournament when you last heard from her, hasn't it?"

"We seemed to have lost contact since then, so I'm hoping Nagase hasn't gotten herself into any trouble, considering the number of enemy groups that are trying to take over KOF now. She still owes me some info from the last time we helped each other out too." Greg replied as he turned to Riku, who looked interested at what he was hearing. "I think you will make fast friends with Nagase if you get to meet her, Riku. She can be a bit more eccentric at times, as well as more flamboyant, than most ninjas you may have met before, but she's really a good-hearted kid and is really quick on her feet, not to mention she's got connections to some advanced surveillance gizmos that even Warrior or we in FOXHOUND haven't heard of yet."

"You must really have a lot of buddies in KOF to cover you and Linn when in trouble, Greg. I do hope my partners and I get to meet them some time when this is over, especially this Nagase you mentioned." Riku replied.

"Well, I do have my own fair share of friends and foes that exist within the run of the tournament each year, but mostly friends to say the least. And about meeting people from KOF, you most assuredly will, I can promise you that for sure. I already did mention you and your clan a bit to her before to a couple of the other fighters, Nagase included, and she says she pretty much has been informed of the son of the famed Recca Hanabishi, so you can imagine she herself is kind of eager in meeting and even sparring with you." Greg said to Riku.

"You already put in a good word about me in KOF, huh?" Riku asked with a grin as Greg shrugged his shoulders. "Thanks a lot."

"Well, it has been open to new fighters from just about anyone from anywhere on the planet these days. It's all for the sake of the growing publicity. I thought I could do you a favour by mentioning your name and your ninja clan's relations to the Urabutosatsujin tournament to Geese, you know?" Greg replied. "Of course, I did so without letting you and your partners knowing this, so I hope I wasn't rushing you into anything you didn't want to do already."

"No, it's not really a bother, Greg. I would be honoured to become a part of KOF since you know your way around it. And I'm sure Nagi and Tot would be pleased to hear that they've been accepted into the likes of that tournament as well when they hear this." Riku replied. (Man, if Shizuma or Ryoko and the other fighters from Daimon High hear that I've been accepted into KOF through a connection like Greg, they will waste no time trying to do the same by entering the tournament as well to compete.)

"However, just as long as you hold onto your end of the bargain and help us out with his Shade guy and we live through this, I'll give it some serious thought, okay?" Greg said as Riku nodded at him confidentially. Greg then looked at the passage ahead of him as he then thought back to how his activities into the King of Fighters got started.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Three years ago, in the city of SouthTown at the top of Geese Tower…

At the time, Greg, who was now still a part of FOXHOUND, was assigned as a temporary investigator for Geese, as his tasks were to look into possible clues which could link the Patriots's activities in the running of KOF at the time. Rumours about corruption amongst fighters and the rules used were looked into as other syndicates were vying for power at the time. Geese wanted the King of Fighters tournament looked into since he was the originator of the famed tournament and also due to the fact that corrupted organizations had ruled its progress for some years now before the Second Impact, but the FOXHOUND psychic had his own personal reasons for working for the crime lord.

Standing in front of a TV monitor in a an apartment room, Greg was getting himself changed into a plain dark brown t-shirt and dark black dungaree jeans, a gun holster strap was hung across his left shoulder while he listened to the news reports from the television. Most of them were covering the fall of Mephistopheles and the gang activities going on in SouthTown.

"The gang war in SouthTown has taken a drastic turn recently now that the organization known as Mephistopheles has fallen due to the intervention of the Soiree brothers, Alba and Meira." The male newscaster reported as pictures of the two men were shown on the television. "With Don Duke, the head of the organization which has been running the city for years now defeated, it is now up to the Soiree brothers and their gang to keep the peace in the city running and to restore the damage that has caused by Mephistopheles as well as the damage caused by the NESTS cartel years ago."

"So, does this mean that the gang war is over in SouthTown?" A female voice spoke as Greg turned to see Linn Aramaki step out of the shower room, wearing only a towel and was still dripping wet all over. Greg tried to keep his composure seeing Linn like this and focused back on the television.

"I hope so, but it seems from what Geese-sensei has told us about the situation, it is far from being that way." Greg replied, checking his nanowrist one more time. "Most likely, someone else from NESTS or outside of KOF's league could easily start up something again and that is probably what's upsetting him at the moment."

"Well, there are other factions that FOXHOUND has been keeping an eye on that may have been having movements towards the KOF so far." Linn implied. "We just have to know who the enemies are and inform KOF about them, isn't that right?"

"That's right. There's no need to get our hands any more dirty than they are since we are working under Geese for the moment." Greg said. "But it's not going to be easy, there are a lot options that need to be looked into."

"Still, is it really okay to be doing this when Reese can call us back anytime?" Linn asked, placing a finger at her lips. "Not to mention everyone else at FOXHOUND… how do you think they will react when they find out that we're doing such an activity under one of the most powerful criminals in history?"

"Hey, I'm about as happy about this as you are, Linn, but he did offer me a chance to help me with my powers, most notably after one of the only doctors in the world who had the right prescriptions to suppress them died awhile back and it was pretty hard to find a substitute. Through Geese-sensei's connections, he can help not just the two of us, but probably FOXHOUND with certain info, you know?" Greg replied.

"Yeah, you do have a point. It's not too beneficial to rely totally on Reese for information these days, if you know what I mean." Linn sighed as she got dressed into a grey and black jump suit which hugged her slender body just as it appeared. Greg gulped slightly as he saw her change into this and rubbed his temple.

"Are you okay with this, Linn? Working with me on this KOF thing that is?" Greg asked, trying to get his mind off any negative thoughts at the moment.

"Hey, someone has to keep an eye on you while you're outside of FOXHOUND. I bet Michael or Garland would have wanted you to stay out of trouble since you're not under their watch at the moment." Linn shrugged her shoulders.

"I know they mean well, but I can't just tell them about the kind of relationship me and Geese-sensei have if something like this comes up every time I'm needed here, not just yet anyway." Greg replied. "And you know for sure how Reese can be for letting recruits out of the headquarters without letting him know anything."

"Yeah, he can be such a pain about it at times. I guess you needed to save yourself the hassle by not telling him these days, huh?" Linn asked.

"We just have to hold on out on this until things get better for both sides, but for now, we'll focus on taking care of this gang war situation in SouthTown right now." Greg said, before patting his partner. "And I wanted to say thanks for coming anyway, even if it's just to look after me, Linn."

"Hey, I wouldn't have wanted it any other way, Greg. I will use any excuse to stick with you." Linn smiled as Greg rubbed his head and took up his motorcycle jacket.

"Right, Linn. I'll remember what you said and I'll try to be careful, though KOF has its share of troublemakers too. We've especially got to be on the lookout for a particular Ash Crimson as one of them." Greg said as the two left the apartment and walked down the passageway to Geese's office

"I read his profile. He's the French flame wielder who stole the Yata mirror from Chizuru Kagura some time back, am I right?" Linn asked as Greg nodded silently.

"Yeah, that's the same guy. Looks like he's trying to start up something related to the Orochi's revival that is reported to come about some time again, be it sooner or later." Greg replied. "Whatever the case, we should keep our eyes peeled for him before he starts something up again. I also heard both Kyo and Iori-sensei haven't taking a liking to Ash for what he did either."

"We could always just ask Geese for the whereabouts for this Ash." Linn suggested.

"Alright, we can start with the questions as the first procedure before we go looking around the city then." Greg said as the moment he and Linn stopped near the door, where Geese's two long time bodyguards, Ripper and Hopper, stood in front of it as they nodded silently to the two FOXHOUND operatives.

"The boss is in the middle of an important call right now, you should wait until he's finished." Ripper said to the two.

"It has got be another attempt to get his empire back on the go again by looking for a syndicate to take over." Linn leaned over to Greg and whispered to him. "I wonder who it is this time, Greg."

Greg remained silent as they heard Geese's voice as it roared from the other side of the closed double doors, swearing and cursing at the other end about striking a deal. After hearing the slam of the receiver from the room, Hopper fixed his glasses.

"Seems that deal went down badly." Hopper said.

"Did he ever mention who he was planning to strike this deal with, Hopper?" Greg asked.

"Yeah, the Mikage conglomerate." Hopper replied as Linn's eyes widened.

"You're joking, right?" She asked. "What is it that has Geese wanting to strike a deal with them?"

"Geese have been looking into their development structures, thanks to some leaked intelligence." Hopper said. "They seem to have a lot of secret, underground friends who are very interested in supporting the Mikage in their endeavour."

"And he's seeking to join the ranks, am I right?" Linn asked. "That seems a bit out of his league, don't you say, Greg?"

"Yeah, though by instinct, I can tell that this doesn't seem right somehow." Greg said in a low tone. "Do any of you know the name Mikage's original term?"

Linn and the two bodyguards simply shook their heads as Greg explained.

"Seishiro-san told me about it while he taught me on how to speak fluent Japanese in my younger years. The name Mikage name comes from the original term, _onkage_, which refers to people who expand their power in the shadows." Greg said as he folded his arms. "With a meaning like that, it would be obvious that something about the Mikage clan being so powerful must involve some shady dealings in order for it to become as it is."

"Greg, you're just saying that because the name sounds like bad luck." Hopper said as Greg shrugged his shoulders in reply.

"Well, I'm not sure if they are totally good or bad people unless I get to meet them. I just don't want Geese-sensei getting into something he can't handle, considering his situations these days." Greg said.

A buzzer was heard from the intercom behind the bodyguards as Ripper pressed the button as Geese's voice rang through.

"You can let them enter now." Geese simply said as he sounded a bit angry still. Greg swallowed as he really doesn't want to see his trainer on his bad side. Nodding to the two FOXHOUND agents, the two bodyguards opened the door to let Greg and Linn enter an office area, complete with a large TV monitor and seats in front of it. Geese Howard, dressed in a black open tuxedo, sat back behind on this chair, drinking whiskey.

"Sensei, are you alright?" Greg asked first while Linn stepped next to him.

"Yes, Greg. You just caught me in a bit of a bad mood, that's all." Geese said, emptying the full glass of liquor. "And just when I was seriously considering starting talks with the Mikage about the plan they had…well, good riddance to that. There are enough other opportunities I can grab at."

"What was it about them that got you so interested in doing business with them, sensei?" Greg asked.

"Do you really want to know?" Geese asked, raising an eyebrow, causing Greg to stare wide eyed at him while Linn spoke for him.

"Well, it could be important for the future while we're doing these undercover missions in KOF that we would look at the Mikage clan as well." Linn said.

"Yeah, it's as she said, sensei." Greg simply said as Geese shook his head, secretly closing a drawer that had several folders with the Mikage's crest written on the covers.

"It's best for both your sakes that you don't learn of what the Mikages are up to, take my advice." Geese said to them.

"We just heard you making quite the ruckus before about them." Linn said.

"One of their leaders got me all riled up and caused me to act that way. Of course, he has no idea who he's messing with." Geese said as he cleared his throat. "For over two weeks, I was using a hidden alias and voice decoder as a means to get my intel based on a man named Kagami Mikage, since I overheard talks that NESTS wanted something that his family was in the stages of developing and he was to be the head of it."

"Wait a second, NESTS wants a piece of the Mikage clan's action as well?" Linn asked surprised.

"Yeah, that's right. Knowing that the Mikage are heavy in the science field, NESTS won't be wasting any time in grabbing at an opportunity of being part of their workforce." Geese said.

"So, if things worked out according to their plans, it's possible they can go back into recreating the Kyo clones?" Greg asked, causing Linn to gasp.

"That's a possibility indeed, my student." Geese said. "Though something tells me it may be something else…"

"So what made you change your mind at the last second?" Linn asked.

"That is as much I'm willing to tell you two for now." Geese said in a near warning tone. "Just take my advice from today to heart and don't ever trust the Mikage clan, they are bad news."

"Surely, sensei, not everyone from that Mikage group can be that bad." Greg said as Geese waved an arm at him.

"You wouldn't know until you've met that arrogant, multilingual bastard who thought he could manipulate me with a stupid deal about his twisted science projects." Geese growled. "If Kagami Mikage dares to cross me, he'll be begging for his life if I get my hands on him."

(Geese-sensei really isn't much of a fan of this Kagami guy, whoever he is. I wonder why?) Greg thought to himself. "In any case, we should start our mission before any action relevant to it is missed."

"Yes, I'll be getting down to that right now. I need to take my mind off this matter anyway." Geese said as he turned off the lights in the room and the TV monitor came on as the faces of all the King of Fighters participants that ever joined the annual competition are shown onscreen. Faces from the first tournament to the current time are listed for both Greg and Linn to recognize. "You two are aware of the growing popularity of this tournament, right?"

"Of course we do. We know it only gets bigger each year." Linn replied.

"And I want to maintain that as long as the enemy factions from the outside don't interfere or else it will be bad for the business." Geese explained. "Enemy groups like the Patriots for example are just one of many of those groups that want these fighters for themselves and their own purposes."

"No kidding. They could probably target anyone these days." Greg said. "But how will we know which of the enemy groups are the right ones to be looking out for?"

"You're right about the problem of which ones to look for. Some of these groups aren't even on the roster of those vying to take over KOF, but they exist." Geese said. "Your duty is to gather as much intel about the enemy groups targeting my tournament and maintain its order in between matches."

"That much we already do know. But we certainly can't do this alone, Geese-sensei. There are many areas that are easy to miss." Greg said.

"Yeah, it would be really tough to gather information and keep a low profile while doing it, even though we're from FOXHOUND." Linn said.

"I never said you are going to do this alone, that is why from tonight, I'll be hiring a partner for the two of you from tonight on." Geese said as he smiled and the lights turned back on. "That's your cue, Nagase. Come introduce yourself."

"It's about time too, I was getting rather uncomfortable just standing here watching you get all ticked about the Mikage." A young female's voice spoke as Greg and Linn looked around and saw nothing but air around them.

"There's no one here…" Linn said as Greg remained silent and looked around for a moment, when right before them, a cloud of smoke exploded and the one who emerged from it was a cheerful looking teenage girl wearing a bright yellow and black vertical striped dress that ended as a miniskirt above her knees, complete with boots and gloves to boot. Two short swords were seen attached to her back in opposite vertical directions of each other. On one of her hands was some scanning device. Her dark hair was cut short, dyed and pulled back with a strand of white and yellow mixed to match her clothing. She was also sporting yellow tinted small rounded shades.

"This is Nagase, once a kunoichi working for Kusiel." Geese said, causing Greg and Linn to step back as Nagase held up one of her hands.

"Hold up, I'm not with those guys anymore." Nagase said, still in a cheerful tone. "I'm through working with the likes of my former boss, his style doesn't suit me after I found out he was just using me to his ends. Not to mention he kind of tried to kill me after that."

"Are you referring to the head of Kusiel? I've read up the file on the one called Jivatma." Greg said.

"But…you're still just a young girl!" Linn said exclaimed.

"Yeah, should that surprise you?" Nagase asked, placing her hands on her hips and walking towards the couple. "Besides, for FOXHOUND members, aren't you guys used to seeing child soldiers often in your missions?"

"She's got a point, which makes it less hard to believe in this day and age." Greg said in a sad tone. "So what is it that you're doing siding with Geese?"

"Don't get me wrong, I'm just freelancing to support myself." Nagase said. "It's been pretty tough for me since Kusiel fell years back, but I've been doing well thanks to some side jobs gathering information and the like here and there. The people in this city aren't too bad themselves, but that's probably my soft side talking."

(For some strange reason, she reminds me a bit of Riku when I first met him.) Greg thought to himself. (I wonder how they would relate if they ever met?)

"Geese has been filling me in on all that you told him about the Patriots' activities for awhile now, which has been going on for about a month. Kusiel even happens to have some beef with those guys from what I remember when I was still part of them." Nagase said. "Personally, I'm curious to see what is it that separates them from Kusiel and Addis in terms of what makes them so dangerous."

"Well, one of the reasons they are so dangerous is that they have been around much longer than all of us, Nagase-san." Greg said. "Not to mention they happen to have a lot of deep roots."

"Something tells me that I'm going to like working with you two from now on." Nagase said with a smile.

(At least this girl stopped being associated with the likes of Kusiel before it was too late. She still has much to experience living in this world, unlike some of the other young people I've heard about in KOF.) Greg thought to himself. (And the same could be applied to generally any one else who is part of organizations like Kusiel.)

"Nagase has exceptional skills as a ninja, so you can rely on her for backing you up for intel whenever you need it." Geese said. "Now, since you three have gotten off to a good start, you should begin the recon without a moment's haste. I've already gone over the details with Nagase before you came in."

"So, you were listening to us the entire time, weren't you?" Linn asked.

"Yeah, even I couldn't have sensed you until the last second." Greg said.

"And you're supposed to be the psychic out of your group? Well, that goes to show how useful I am." Nagase smiled, causing Greg to fluster.

"Hey, what is that supposed to mean?" Greg asked.

"Work on your brain a little and you'll figure it out." Nagase joked, causing Linn to chuckle.

"Oh, Greg. You're being teased again." Linn said jokingly.

"That's enough, you two. We should begin this mission." Greg said, as his face almost red from the fun he's being made out of.

"Alright, you three. The enemy groups won't wait on you, you know that." Geese said as Greg nodded his head.

"Yes, sensei, we will do what we can from here." Greg bowed to him as he then looked at Linn and then at Nagase. "Well, that pretty much sums the mission up. How about we get this recon mission started so we can finish up early?"

"I'm game with that." Nagase nodded with a confident grin as she pointed at Greg and Linn. "I will let you know from now on that I won't go easy on any suspicious characters we run into, got it?"

"Hey, we won't stop you. Besides, I doubt a high spirited ninja such as you would have any murderous intent for a recon mission unless it's a highly dangerous foe we're facing." Greg said. "You know, you almost remind of a friend who is also a ninja like you; it's hard not to make comparisons with your carefree personalities."

"My mood can change pretty quickly in case you didn't know, FOXHOUNDer." Nagase said as her voice lowered slightly and raised an eyebrow at Greg. "So try to stay on my good side, got it?"

"Alright, if that's what you want. My lips are sealed from now on, Nagase-san." Greg replied with a serious tone as she shook her head.

"Aw, forget it. I'm just messing with your head. You're not a bad guy yourself and from looking at you, you must have one heck of a reputation if you and your girlfriend there are from FOXHOUND." Nagase said as Linn suddenly placed her hands on her cheeks and blushed, while Greg coughed.

"His girlfriend?" Linn asked herself as Greg looked at Nagase puzzled.

"What are you talking about?" Greg asked as Nagase grinned.

"Man, you're slow, not to mention a bit insensitive. But I can understand why you would act that way in front of a babe like her." Nagase waved a finger at him. "In any case, we should get the mission started and save this conversation for later."

"You're right. Let's get a move on." Greg sighed as he and Linn began to walk while Nagase strolled aside them for the recon mission. They kicked off a rather good friendship from that time, one of the first relationships between FOXHOUND and KOF that will later herald a series of others in the growing future.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Those were less hectic times then." Greg said as he returned his thoughts to the present. "I'd hoped I would get in touch with Geese-sensei regarding the KOF this year, all that I heard from him was that he was planning something really big for this one with all the Angel attacks and what not as soon all of this is finished. He wanted it to be extra special for everyone entering or something."

"You sure it's not just a way for him to quickly bounce back to his former position as the king of SouthTown?" Riku asked.

"Well, there's that to consider too, though all I care about in that area is seeing my old KOF buddies again." Greg said. "In any case, it's high time we started focusing on how we can efficiently deal with Shade and the Death Squad that he's brought with him."

"Just remember that we're not going to run away from this battle, Greg. And you shouldn't be so tense about this thing with Shade, you know everyone is looking out for you and each other, so it should be alright for now as long we're careful." Riku told him.

"Right, I'll do my best, though I can't give any guarantees, Riku. Enemies that are stronger than Garland normally have me on edge, you know." Greg said as he then began to think to himself as he stared at his friend.

(Whatever kind of mission Riku and his partners were involved in that ran along the lines of the Mikage two years ago had to be some serious business going down at the time for someone like Shade to show up then. Which leads me to think back if those from that family are all truly bad or good to begin with once more...and more importantly, just what was it about them that could have made Riku be part of it?) Greg thought to himself.

Meanwhile, Riku lapsed into his own thoughts at what Greg had just told him about his and Linn's meeting with Geese.

(So it wasn't just the Patriots and NESTS that the Mikage looked to for aid in C-Project…they were even trying to weasel aid out of Geese Howard himself.) Riku thought to himself. (Alec and Gladys would have mentioned something about it if they knew, so…just how much information did Kagami and the rest of those higher ups in the Mikage family take with them to their graves? Maybe we should have questioned Wei and Asamu before we let them go…)

Riku then pushed those thoughts aside as he knew this was not the time to wonder on that matter.

"Well, I guess it's a crucial time that you should be putting all those lessons you've been learning from the sparring matches you lost against him many times to use, huh?" Riku asked, causing Greg to rub his head.

"Hey, I've been dedicating myself in bucking up for times like these in secret, Riku. I don't let myself relax at all when it comes to training or matters like this." Greg replied. "And besides, it's just like what Garland has always been telling us younger recruits back at HQ over the years: 'Every drop of sweat in training means one less drop of blood in battle.'"

"Ah, so you have been paying attention, huh?" Riku asked, causing Greg to redden in embarrassment.

"Hey, what is that suppose to mean, Riku?" Greg asked, staring at him wide eyed. Before the conversation went further, they began to hear their Codec tones ring simultaneously. When Greg looked at who was calling him, both the remainder of FOXHOUND and Nanvel was contacting them.

"We'd better patch both calls at the same time so we'd get to hear what everyone has to tell us." Greg said, touching the call button as he activated Nanvel's screen. "Panther here, what is it, Nanvel?"

"Greg, I was just going over several criminal records about this Shade guy you met and most of the pictures and stuff Nastasha has said about him aren't pretty to look at." Nanvel said.

"We can do without most of the sordid details, Nanvel." Rio lamented. "Could you fill us in on what we don't know already?"

"I'll do what I can." Nanvel replied as she cleared her throat and explained to Greg, Rio and Maya the same things Nastasha had told her and Maki about what she knew about Shade. It was almost enough to send a couple of shivers down Rio's spine as she heard his past atrocities.

"Here's what Nastasha and I have dug up on this guy so far. He happens to have gone by the name of Shingen Koga, so far nothing else is known about his age, nationality, race, or background." Nanvel spoke. "Shade has worked as a mercenary/assassin for a variety of countries and other people and gained a reputation for being an exceptional but very brutal mercenary."

"That much isn't hard to figure out. We can all tell by just looking at him." Rio said, shuddering. "What else did you find?"

"Remember when I just told you guys about the assassination of the former Secretary of Defence carried out by Shade and his escape which caused major casualties?" Nanvel asked. "This guy also took down not just one, but five Harriers using the Comanche attack helicopter that he used to make his getaway."

"This guy sounds better than Yuji and Greg put together in terms of flying." Maya spoke.

"Yeah, it's hard to believe it." Greg simply said as he listened in as he switched to FOXHOUND's frequency at NERV. "Garland, Michael, is all of that true about that guy?"

"Yes, it's also true that he's capable of killing without much of a second thought, Greg." Michael said. "At the time he killed off my unit several years back, it only took him a mere three minutes to do so. It's like a twisted nature that he's gotten from being so used to the slaughter over the years, it's become just a simple task to him."

"Garland, to think this guy is stronger than you, it worries me even more." Greg said looking at his monitor. "What should we do against the likes of him?"

"I know you must feel a bit tense about facing him, but you can't allow any of that to show, Greg. I know you're stronger mentally than that when you're up against the impossible." Garland replied. "Just listen to our advice on how to last long enough and everything's going to be okay. Riku is helping you out with what Shade is capable of, isn't he?"

"True, but still…" Greg replied before Rio cut him off with a stressed out tone.

"Even with Riku's skills and help, Shade's pretty much a smarter foe than the rest of us put together." Rio said.

"We're still basically pretty much screwed if we slip up fighting this guy, aren't we?" Maya asked, shaking her head and trying to forget much of the details she heard about Shade so far.

"What's your opinion, Nanvel?" Greg asked.

"Yeah, that's pretty much all of what Nastasha has been filling us in and concluding." Nanvel said. "You guys are in really hot water now because of the danger this single guy poses."

"So did you contact us just to inform us about that alone, Nanvel?" Rio asked.

"Well, not just that, but to tell Greg something very important that would give him a bit of an edge when its time to face Shade." Nanvel said as Rio's eyes widened from her Codec screen, as she turned to Greg.

"Did you hear that, Greg?" Rio asked as Greg nodded silently with a serious look on his face. "So, what is it about? It has to do something with the new duds he is wearing, right?"

"Yeah, but now it is time to give them a name Greg should use them by instead of just referring to them as another accessory." Nanvel said as Greg scratched his cheek.

"Okay, Aunt Nanvel, lets hear this name you have for this set of gauntlets you created then." Greg said.

"We shall now call them the Nan-Bracers, short for Nanvel's Automated Nano-enhanced gauntlets." Nanvel said in a cheery tone. "Pretty neat, huh?"

"Well, considering they were created by you, anything under your genius has got to be really useful if they come with a name like that." Greg said with a light grin. "Now, what is it about the Nan-Bracers that you needed to tell me about?"

"I've looked over the battle data this morning and forgot to tell you that you can use the Nan-Bracers gauntlets to conserve most of his psychic energy during a fight, then when you're ready to use them, can continuously use them in a succession of attacks for a due set of time." Nanvel said.

"So what you're saying is that all I have to do is just infuse the gauntlets with, for example, my pryokinetic abilities and I can just automatically summon them without going through the trouble of casting them?" Greg asked.

"That's pretty much sums it, Greg. I call it the Charge Drive, an ability you can use as long as you got the gauntlets equipped. However, you will be spending a lot more of energy that you normally use just to conserve the effects of the medicine you take when activated and it only lasts for only ten to fifteen seconds." Nanvel explained. "It's the trade off of offence and conservation; you don't have to use it if you don't want to, Greg."

Greg remained silent as he watched his right nano fist and nodded. "Well, if just one complete attack should be enough to slow down Shade, that amount of time has to be enough as long as I keep my distance. And besides, if I had more time to experiment with these features, I would have discovered some techniques worth using against him, but with what I've got now will have to do."

"Don't let it get to your head, Greg. Even with the technology you have, Shade is still strong enough to fend off most of your attacks. Not to mention his combat skills are near to invincibility." Michael said.

"I should also fill you guys in on that Shade is also immune to any form of mind control, so trying to attack him mentally won't work against him, Greg." Nanvel then got to report.

"Yeah, I managed to find out about that minor detail a little too late before. I tried to enter his mind using my powers to spot a weakness or at least attack it, but he knew about beforehand and I couldn't get through to him." Greg spoke.

"From what we could tell so far, he's a sadistic, calculating, very arrogant, and very cruel a man who kills for the fun of it." Nanvel spoke. "Not to mention, he's also able to draw on his chi, as your friend Michael said before, combined with his awesome hand to hand combat skills and unparalleled stealth abilities which results in you never knowing that he's on you and you only have a matter of seconds to react."

"Man, we're so screwed once the fighting starts." Maya spoke, feeling shivers run down her spine.

"Listen, you guys. You really don't need to defeat him since it's nearly impossible to do so, just survive long enough to buy some time." Nanvel spoke.

"She's right, it's not like we're taking him head on." Rio said. "Besides, I'm sure Greg will be taking care of the duty of covering for us each time Shade tries something, am I right?"

"Huh?" Greg asked, pointing a nano finger to his chest. "Why is that, sensei?"

"You're the psychic guardian, have you forgotten that?" Rio said. "And besides, you will have to stay in the best of shape when it's time to face Mantis, rather than wasting all your needed energy fighting Shade."

"You have a point, but in the way you put it, you make it sound easier than it looks." Greg said.

"Greg, keep the Codec line open so we can keep an eye on you and the other group." Nanvel said. "If you need any advice on the suit or Shade or just want someone to talk to, Maki, Nastasha, and Seraph are waiting right here to talk to you."

"Thanks a lot, Nanvel. I'll see what I can do from here." Greg said as he quickly switched to FOXHOUND's frequency as he saw Michael's and Garland's faces. "So, what's your input on this, guys?"

"As I've said before, the best thing to do about Shade is to continue retreating from him and proceed to locate Mantis." Michael said. "It would also be wise to regroup as it would be a better chance once you encounter the forces he would probably have with him."

"However, on the chance that you do have no other choice when you face him, the best option we can offer you is to conserve much of your strengths and watch each other backs against him." Garland offered his own advice. "It won't be easy considering he can overpower most of you though, even probably the Shinsengumi."

"Damn…" Rio muttered under her breath. "Then, we have to do our best to hit him hard, heavy and make a quick run for it."

"Since there's only one direction for Mantis' stronghold, you guys just have to head there, assuming that Reese's little army haven't taken over it." Nanvel said.

"We'll get there, there's still enough time." Maya said. "It would be pretty convenient for us if we had to face them and Shade a little ways before that, so if that doesn't serve as good news to us, I can't say what else is."

"Let's hope that's the case. By the meantime, we'd at least better make sure how Crow, Usagi, and the Shinsengumi are doing by their side." Riku said as he pressed his Codec button to contact Mystic Crow. Soon after finding his frequency, Nagi's face appeared onscreen.

"Drakken, Panther, how are things on your side?" Nagi asked.

"Still quiet over here, no sign of the enemy so far." Riku replied. "And you guys?"

"We haven't been able to run into any kind of trouble ourselves, but we can't help but wonder if Shade's still after us." Nagi replied.

"I know what you mean. Though, we can't be too careful, he has ways of being in two different places at once, if you know what I mean." Riku said.

"We know, Drakken. We'll be careful for any possible traps while we're looking around." Tot answered. "But so far, we haven't gotten any useful leads as to where Mantis really is."

"Yes, this place is more like a labyrinth, if you ask me." Rio asked.

"By the way, according to Nanvel's Soliton, you're not awfully far from where Greg and I are." Riku said. "It's best that we all meet back in ten minutes tops and regroup before going on ahead, but let us know if you run into something important."

"Roger that. And be sure you do the same too, Drakken." Nagi said. "Is that all?"

"Actually, you guys. I know we should have mentioned this before, but something's happened over at FOXHOUND HQ, regarding Reese." Garland said, causing Greg to stop in his tracks and everyone to gasp as they heard this.

"I don't know how to say this, Greg…but he wasn't in his office after the Colonel found out about him and went to arrest him. Then Mei Ling reported that your records no longer existed in the databanks." Garland said.

"So, is that what he meant by termination from FOXHOUND before?" Greg simply asked.

"Just what is it that he's trying to do by pulling something like this?" Riku asked as Greg shook his head.

"Reese…we can worry about him after all of this. By that time, I will already have enough ideas on how to make him talk about every little dirty deed he has committed and how they are related to the Patriots, I can assure you guys that." Greg said in a low tone before showing a confident smile. "But for now…let's just focus on getting Lilica and Yuina back while trying to get past this Shade with little problems as possible, alright?"

"Alright, Greg. Let's do this." Maya said with a nodding smile.

"Hey, what happened to Linn?" Rio asked. "We aren't hearing her over the Codec anymore."

"Oh, she left the Command Centre moments before." Michael's voice spoke as he shook his head. "It seems that this whole affair has gotten to her emotionally. She was worried out of her mind about you, Greg. I've never seen her explode like that before."

"I pretty much expected that today. Our relationship is going to totally hit the rocks if things like these keep up, especially thanks to Reese for today especially." Greg said in a sad tone. "I hate making her upset like this…"

"Greg, you can argue and make things up with Linn all you want after you come back to Tokyo-3 when this is over. What Reese did today isn't your fault and you shouldn't blame yourself for it." Solid Snake spoke, causing Greg to stare at him wide eyed.

"Snake?" Greg asked while Rio and Maya looked on in surprise at the Legend.

(Oh my God, this is Solid Snake?) Rio thought to herself. (But he looks older than I remember seeing him. Is it because of the fact that he's a clone that he's aging faster than normal?)

"Look, kid. Meryl and I just got wind of this whole thing." Snake spoke. "And while we don't approve of what Reese has been doing, we don't wish to see Mantis be used like this."

"He's right, you know. Mantis was a better person, moments before he died back at Shadow Moses." Meryl said in a sad tone. "Sure, everyone would remember him for what he had done to turn himself into a criminal, but only Snake and I…and you future generations of FOXHOUND, know the truth and what kind of person Mantis really was and still could be. Garland told us how you wanted to try and change him back to who he really was before he was brainwashed?"

"That's right. I have already made my mind up on that, Commander." Greg said sternly. "It's the only way things could ever be rectified for what Reese has done…and what lives were lost in the process. I know he was just being used against his will and how angry he was at the world. I can almost relate to that, I felt that I was not part of society until I met the people dear to me, Team Warrior, and Seishiro-san. They made me feel like I actually belonged to some special people and that was before meeting you guys as well."

"Greg…" Garland said quietly as Greg continued.

"Mantis must never have gotten such a chance of that, people who accepted and loved him for who he was, before he allowed himself to be taken over by the evils of others. I want to let him know that the world does indeed need people like us and that there's no reason to fight each other." Greg said. "And now…after one of my own family is in the enemy hands, it just gives me more reason to do this. I know it will be tough, but…I can't afford to turn back now, even if I have to face pain along the way."

"I see then. Well, can you humbly do us the favour by asking him to join us once you've managed to return him to normal?" Meryl asked.

"I'll do just that. I imagine that there must be many things you want to talk to him about." Greg said.

"Panther, don't get yourself killed out there. Everyone's looking forward to seeing you accomplishing your mission and come back to us." Snake said to him as Greg suddenly saluted to him and Meryl.

"Understood. It's a promise I intend to keep for their sake and mine as well." Greg replied seriously.

"Greg, everyone, I'm detecting some enemy presence up ahead your way." Nanvel spoke from her screen. "It seems the time for leisure it's at its end."

"I doubt that. This is about time for the real fireworks to begin." Maya said, cocking the safety of her handgun while Rio took out her tonfars while Greg nodded silently as he clenched his gauntlets and Riku took out several kunai.

"Lilica, we're just on our way, so just hang on a bit for us, okay?" Greg said to himself as he began to charge the gauntlets with psychic energy. The group of four made their way deeper into the sewers as Riku suddenly stepped forward and stopped Greg, Rio, and Maya from advancing any further once they stepped out of the tunnel.

"What is it, Riku?" Rio asked. "Is it the enemy?"

"We have to be careful in case the enemy has prepared for us and laid some traps down here." Riku said as he looked around and carefully examined a dual passageway. "I'll see if that's the case before we proceed further."

"The direction to the stronghold is through the left tunnel, isn't it, Nanvel?" Maya asked.

"Yeah, just go that way until you see another dual passageway, then take the right tunnel of that one." Nanvel said before her eyes widened. "Look out you guys, I'm reading a bogey approaching from the right tunnel where you guys are."

Riku suddenly sensed a presence approaching him and, immediately recognizing it, leaped back and got into a fighting position as he landed near Greg, Rio, and Maya.

"Riku, what…?" Rio asked as from the darkness, Shade walked out dressed in his trenchcoat.

"Ah, I was getting rather bored just waiting for you and your friends, young Hokage ninja." Shade said as he placed his hands into his pockets. "It's too bad that your two other friends aren't here to see you die here, but I'll make sure to have them join you soon enough once I'm through with you."

Greg and Rio suddenly got into their fighting poses as Maya took out an assault rifle from her arsenal and aimed it at Shade.

"We're not running away, Shade. I told you before that I will not be intimidated by you and not to underestimate us." Greg said. "As for the rest of our friends, they're on the way to be joining us, so you might as well prepare yourself."

"Your spirit intrigues me to an extent, Gregory Kinezono, but you're just as fragile and weak as those with you, perhaps even more so. I, on the other hand, am set to show you that you're just too different to confront the likes of me." Shade said as he took out his arms out of his pockets. "So, which of you wants to die first?"

"I've had enough of your talking! Eat this!" Maya shouted as she opened fire suddenly at Shade, who sidestepped away from the line of fire in a blur, only to reappear closer to the group.

"Hmph, you like relying too much on your precious guns, don't you?" Shade asked as he swung his fists as Maya, who rolled out of harms way in time. Still holding unto the gun, Maya spun her body as she rammed her shoulder at Shade's blindside.

"Jingu Beat Rush!" Maya shouted, expecting to catch Shade with her attack, but the mercenary had already leaped away from the attack as he was above her by ten feet and was coming down at her with a double jump kick

"Maya!" Rio shouted as seeing her comrade flip out of the way in time, as Greg dashed to her position and pulled back his right nano fist while Shade came down. Executing a punch towards the aerial direction Shade was coming from, Greg ended up striking nothing but a smoking log as his fist punched through it.

(A replication jutsu, damn it.) Greg thought as he suddenly looked to see Shade coming from below him with a sweeping kick, as Greg leaped away from him in time and dropped a stun grenade in his position that was close enough to distract Shade for a brief time.

"I got him this time!" Maya said as she used her Weapon Draw move to take out her self named 'Omasu' rifle and fired at Shade's open leg area with several shots.

"Drive By Shooting!" Maya cried out as she dashed at Shade, firing at him even at close range, before sliding under him and firing about around his lower body.

"Is that all you've got?" Shade asked the group as he shook his head as if nothing happened. "You people are hopeless."

Maya and Greg stood side by side as they saw the wounds he took started to repair themselves.

"That is some freaky shit…" Maya said in shock. "What do we do now, Greg?"

"Just stick to the plan, Maya." Greg said as he stood up. "Now, Riku, any smart ideas we can use against him?"

"I'm still in the process of that, though all I can say is keep at what you were doing and maybe we won't have too much trouble. Just don't stick it to him too much." Riku said before stopping.

"Alright, Maya will attack using long distance while Rio, you and I will stick to close quarters." Greg nodded.

"Three of you want to attempt the impossible, is that it?" Shade asked, rubbing his neck. "Well, I won't stop you. Let me see just how capable you are altogether, though it is rather pointless."

"Shut the hell up, you barbarian." Rio muttered. "I'm doing my best not to get mad at you, so I won't fall for any of your tricks. But you wouldn't like to see my son get angry now, don't you?"

"That's enough out of you, wench." Shade said, causing Rio to stare at him wide eyed. "After I'm done killing your son, I'll see to it that I'll start training you to become my own personal slave, how do you like that?"

"How…how dare you say such things, pervert!" Rio shouted, suddenly taking charge at Shade as Greg and Maya tried to stop her.

"Sensei!" Greg called out as he gritted his teeth. "Aw, hell…Maya, Riku, cover me!"

"I got it!" Maya said as she took out a fire grenade and held it on the ready. Greg followed behind Rio as Shade started to easily sidestep from her tonfar swings, only to catch them once he found Rio's blind spot which was her abdomen. He suddenly planted a punch into her stomach as blood was vomited out of her mouth.

"Yes, that is what I want to see." Shade said lecherously as he used the right backside of his hand to slap across her face harshly. "It's your desperate attempts to stand against me that put on quite an amusing show, dear Kinezono."

Suddenly glancing up, Shade saw Greg coming down at him with a punch from his nano wrist, as Shade simply grinned at the psychic Marine and used a single standing uppercut to cut through his attack by landing it on his chest.

"You're too impulsive." Shade simply said as Greg was knocked off balance, but suddenly recovered fast enough to whip out a USP and fired it at Shade's chest, hitting it with two shots. It wasn't enough to kill him, but not enough to stun him either. However, Greg pressed on as he attacked Shade with his style of attacks.

"Kinezono Style: Panther Cut!" Greg shouted as he swung a right left punch combination at Shade's chest, before switching to another attack.

"Kinezono Style: Flicker Kick!" Greg said as he turned his body to deliver a set of one legged lighting fast bended kicks, sending Shade backwards from him.

"Give it to him now, while there's still time, Maya!" Greg called out as Maya nodded at him.

"Alright. Fire in the Hole!" Maya shouted as she threw her grenade, igniting Shade on fire. Then, Maya switched her 'Osamu' rifle into her 'Masaru' heavy machine gun as Shade was set on flames. Riku then threw a shuriken at Shade's left knee before conjuring up a single flame.

"Dragon Strike!" Riku said he used a fireball to envelope his right fist and struck Shade with it. Then he used a double aerial kick to give him some distance from him and the group, before suddenly using his Shadow Step technique to close in on him once more.

"Wyvern's Sting!" Riku said as he stabbed Shade with a couple of senbon needles at Shade's pressure points. He then quickly leaped away to give Maya a clear shot.

"Target Practice!" Maya shouted, as she sprayed about Shade's body with lead until the cartridges ran out of ammo. After about several seconds of Maya Jingu's continuous firing at the immortal mercenary, Shade's body collapsed to the ground where he stood in a smoking heap.

"Don't tell me that's it from him." Rio said, holding her stomach, until she grimaced a bit.

"I doubt it, it is as Riku's been telling us all along." Greg said as he stepped closer to beside Rio as he checked up on her. "You okay there, sensei?"

"Dammit! How did he get to me like that?" Rio muttered as she stood up, suddenly feeling weak.

Riku's eyes narrowed as he looked at where Shade had fallen and realization hit him.

"Wait a minute…Greg, Rio!" Riku called out as the two saw him draw his USP while keeping his kunai close. "Something about this just doesn't seem right…"

Greg remained silent as he took out his own USP. "What do you mean, Riku?"

"I meant in how we just dealt with Shade. Normally, he wouldn't even consider those kinds of injuries as serious and it's not that often we could have ambushed him at the same time successfully." Riku said as he cautiously walked closer to the spot Shade was.

The FOXHOUND shinobi walked with this gun pointed to the ground and then carefully kicked the body over its side to reveal a ghastly sight at his feet as he saw a middle aged male dressed in high tech armour with his eyes burnt out as was the majority of his skin.

"Damn it, that freakish technique again…" Riku muttered with groan as he recognized what this was.

"Riku?" Maya asked as she stepped close enough to see what made Riku groan. "Aw, man…what the hell…?"

Rio gasped as Greg looked on wide eyed as he watched the corpse and gritted his teeth as he spoke into the Codec.

"Nanvel, everyone…are you watching all of this?" Greg asked solemnly as Nanvel nodded silently.

"Looks like one of the people who have been living down in these sewers since they became inoperable after the Impact." Nanvel said sadly. "This man looks like he was a homeless guy travelling underground."

"But how can this be? We were just fighting that Shade freak!" Rio exclaimed as the area over Greg's eyeline grew dark as he got silent.

"That's what he wanted us to think, which was why he was probably using this." Riku said seriously as he held up a blood written tag of paper that had been imprinted onto the corpse's chest. "As I suspected, this was not the first time his arts have deceived me. That was a shikigami. And a perfectly distinguished one as well, it's no wonder you were tricked so easily by it because it looked close to the real thing, Rio."

"A shiki-what?" Rio asked, as she shook her head and snapped herself back into focus. "Now, hold on just a minute here, Riku! Are you saying that this guy can do crazy stuff like this?" She asked, as she and Maya were shocked to see what had happened before her as Riku gave a silent nod.

"I did say he's a master of these kinds of arts, Rio, though since I'm sure Warrior never had to deal with stuff like these before, so it must be new to you guys." Riku said. "Just try to be extra sharp from now on, Rio. If I hadn't notice what that shikigami was planning to do in time, you would have been hurt more badly than it intended to do with you. That or you may have wasted too much effort in destroying it and giving Shade an opportunity to take advantage that mistake."

"Ah, sure. You're right, thanks for the save, Riku." Rio said as her surrogate son watched into the distance, clenching his gauntlet fused fists as he spoke.

"So, he was testing us by using this innocent man just for his convenience?" Greg asked.

"I did say he was no ordinary enemy, Greg. It is as Tot said before…he's a living monster that enjoys these kinds of stuff." Riku said as Greg gritted his teeth.

"I've had enough of you and your hiding, Shade! Why are you so afraid to face us?" Greg shouted out loud, surprising everyone. "Are these the lengths that you're willing to go just to stop us from getting the mission accomplished? I told you before nothing you can do shall stop me from reuniting my family once more, do you hear me? Answer me!"

When no answer came out, Greg scoffed and pounded his nano wrist into the ground near his feet, almost on the verge of tears.

"Dammit, I screwed up." Greg muttered, his body shaking. "I should have seen something like this coming! But why…why am I so weak that I couldn't have prevented this…"

Rio stepped closer and hugged Greg from behind, causing the shaking of his body to cease for now.

"Its okay, Greg, none of us could have known Shade was using him before it was too late." Rio said to him. "I know you must feel responsible, but…this was not your fault. Come on, shape up. This was his fault to begin with, so we'll repay that bastard with interest for what he did, alright?"

"She's right, you know. This is how he used the shikigami the first time I saw him do it. It was a really shaky experience, but I've gotten over it." Riku said to Greg. "You should too if you want to rescue Lilica and Yuina if it means facing this guy from now on."

Greg remained silent for a moment as he passed his nano wrist over the corpse's open eyelids to close them.

"I'm so sorry for involving you in this." Greg said solemnly as he stood back up, breathing heavily. After opening his eyes once more, he looked at everyone with him.

"I'm actually starting to worry a bit about Nagi, Tot and the others after knowing Shade is somewhere else." Greg said calmly now.

"Greg, you know you shouldn't worry about them. I'm sure they're prepared to face Shade and his Death Squad without us until we get to them." Riku said to him. "In any case, we should hurry and meet them ourselves, the shikigami could very well have been a distraction for us."

Greg nodded as he stopped to glance at Rio who looked concerned as he smiled at her some.

"Thanks again, sensei. I know it's not entirely hopeless against the situation, especially with you around to guide me." Greg said to her.

"Well, I should be kicking myself for letting what that simple illusion said about me, heh-heh." Rio laughed nervously. "You know, Greg, you and I are almost alike…we try to act brave in the battlefield, but we're still afraid of the reality of it and it takes us by surprise like BAM! You don't have any idea what hit you until the crucial moment."

"Which is why I told you to watch your emotions, but even I still have long ways before I can control them myself." Greg said.

"Ah, I still think you're brave, talking all about reuniting the family and everything." Rio said with a smile. "You really sounded intimidating yourself back there, yelling like that."

"I just wanted to let out some steam." Greg said. "Now, come on, we're probably not too far from Nagi and the rest."

"And that's where we'll probably meet the real Shade and the lackeys that he's brought with him, right?" Maya asked.

"Yeah, that's most likely too." Greg replied as the group paced themselves and exited the tunnel areas of the underground passage, and as they did, they overheard several sword clashing sounds at a distance.

"Has the real fighting started already?" Rio asked as she and her group closed in and saw Nagi, Tot, Dee, Pei, and Kanashii already in a battle against fifty or so Death Squad troops.

"About time you showed up. We were on our way to meet you when these guys showed up." Dee said, as she happened to have enough time to slash at three of the D.S troops with only three vertical slashes of her sword.

Dee was firing shots from her assault rifle as her blood coated sword remained impaled in one of the troop's backs before taking it back out and striking two more down with it while Kanashii was using CQC as she sneaked in between the Death Squad troops' attempted attacks and began gutting one soldier after another near Nagi and Tot, who were holding their own against the Death Troops.

"Hyper Psych Shot!" Nagi Naoe shouted as he took five troops down with an enhanced psychic energy ball shot. It took down multiple enemies as the ball covered the passageway of the sewers.

Tot was cutting down enemies with her Muramasa blade, and at one point, she stabbed one troop with an upwards juggle strike, then she performed her Deadly Umbrella Spin, using her umbrella as a weapon. The enemy was caught in the multiple hit attack and was knocked out in an instant.

"We're here now and this time from now on, we're sticking together." Greg said, holding unto his USP.

"Feel free to join us anytime." Dee said as Maya nodded, taking out her 'Kiyoshi' named assault rifle.

"Where is that Shade guy?" Rio asked as she clubbed a few of the troops with her tonfars.

"He went with several others down that way, which is the direction where Mantis is located, according to Nanvel-san. You should be able to catch up with him while we deal with this set, Rio-san." Tot said to her. "Leave here to us and we'll be joining you soon."

"Are you up to it, Riku? It's time for us to get serious." Greg asked.

"Yeah, I'm ready, knowing you will back us up." Riku said as Greg switched the Codec's MP3 player on as the heavy rock/instrumental group, _Rhapsody_, began to play one of their famous hits, **_Holy Thunderforce._**

"Good choice of music there." Riku said to Greg from the side.

"Thanks. I accidentally fell in love in the song while watching that infamous Devil May Cry 3 gameplay video that made TatsumaruBlack, a hardcore gamer, so famous when Lilica was browsing for AMVs years ago." Greg said as he ducked under a swung blade from one of the troops, before he countered by knocking the wind out of him and pushing him back using his palms.

"Kinezono Style: Panther Straight!" Greg said as he dashed at the troops with his right fist infused like a drill, mowing some of them down.

"Dragon Claw Slash!" Riku shouted, as he sped in front of several of the Death Squad's troops and using an enhanced attack of the flame blade from the dragon, Saiha. Three of them went down before they knew what hit them. Four others took their place, but two of them got several kunai into their chest areas as Riku whirled around to throw the blades at the newly arrived enemies.

Meanwhile on another spot, Rio had shot down over seven of them and was preparing to face more.

"Foreplay!" She shouted, clubbing one of the enemy with an upward strike, then with the tonfar, stunned them with a downwards blow. While the opponent was still stunned, she then went for an upward somersault kick, which juggled the enemy.

"Master Chief!" Maya Jingu laughed maniacally, taking down several Death Squad troops with her machine gun, as she changed into her 'Kazuma' named rocket launcher and blasted most of them to ashes.

Several minutes passed, and several of the Death Squad troops were laid about in the sewer waters, most of them either dead or knocked out. As the Team Warrior, FOXHOUND, and the Shinsengumi teams took down the S3 programmed soldiers and moved forward, more came along the way as they came closer to their destination.

"We're not out of the woods yet…" Pei said, suddenly throwing a frag grenade at five of the troops, while more of them still came at them.

"Damn, there are more of them?" Maya asked.

Greg then stopped in his tracks as he looked ahead a distance and saw Shade standing at the back, with his chakram drawn. Reaching for the metallic pole arm attached behind him, Greg took it out as it shone brightly in the darkness of the sewers while the serrated ceremonial decorated blade at the end was pointed downward.

"You're not running away this time, Shade. My friends and I will get through, whether you like it or not." Greg said to him.

"I have no intention of leaving an opportunity such as this." Shade spoke amongst the fighting. "As you did see how set I am to go beyond the limits in stopping your progress, Kinezono. I used that shikigami to see how powerful you really are, but it seems that I will need to test that for myself since those with you took it out before I could get any useful information out of it. Of course, it was convenient that such timing passed, or else I could have resorted to just killing someone dear to you to test the waters even further."

"Damn you, Shade. The kinds of people I hate the most are people who toy with the lives of innocents as if they meant nothing. And I hate to be the one to say this, but I'm sorry that I will have to put you into that category." Greg said, pointing the lance at him. "I know I may not be able to kill you, but… the least I can show you that my resolve is strong enough to buy my friends some time from facing you."

"So, do really you insist on fighting me?" Shade asked.

"That's right, I do." Greg replied seriously.

"If that's what you want, then you will not live to rue this day, Greg Kinezono." Shade said as he dashed out of nowhere to flank at Greg, who dashed away from one of the troop's katana swings and countered by slicing the lance like weapon upwards, before kicking him away.

"Kinezono Style: Cannon Spear-Shot!" Greg shouted as he threw his spear at several troops who were impaled through their chests, while Greg readied himself for Shade's attacks as he suddenly came up in front of him.

"Wave Crush!" Shade shouted as Greg used his right nano fist in time to deflect the thrown chakram from the energy build-up of his dark chi.

"Defence!" Greg said as he managed protect himself from the chakram, which managed to cut into the gauntlet, but not entirely into his arm. After stepping back from the attack, Greg looked at the minor damage done to his Nan-Bracer.

(Even with Nanvel's specially made super alloy metal to reinforce the power of the bracers, Shade's power manages to damage them like this.) Greg thought to himself. (I'd better be careful the next time he…)

However, before he can finish think, Shade threw a swift punch at Greg, who put his fist up again in time, but to receive a nasty blow across his right cheek from the impact of his gauntlet as he guarded his face.

SMACK!

(How did he…?) Greg thought as he stared blankly while his body spun and he landed on the ground, while Shade picked him up by the collar of his customized Sneaking Suit.

"You shouldn't underestimate my strength, Kinezono. I can break your body into many pieces if I wanted to, but let's have some more fun before I kill you, shall we?" Shade said as he held onto a momentarily stunned Greg, who suddenly gripped his arms with his left hand.

"Maya!" Greg shouted as he kicked away at Shade's chest, as he propelled himself upwards in a single leap and away from him as Maya had took out some of her special grenades this time around to use.

"I hope you're in the mood for a warm acid bath, freak." Maya said as she threw a vial of green liquid at Shade, who didn't get drenched, but a sizeable amount landed on his right arm, as the liquid suddenly started to instantly burn and eat away through his trench coat and into his arm and through it. In five seconds, the lower part of his right arm was gone.

"How unique. This is rare that such substances have been used against me." Shade said simply. "I see that you're willing to take drastic action such as this, but it will not work with me, I'm so sorry to disappoint."

"Damn! And it acted enough that it ate through him in no time too!" Maya complained. "He should have gotten it through the torso instead!"

(Please, aunt Maya, just don't remind me of THAT particular episode of Gantz.) Greg thought to himself as he fixed his jaw. (I don't need to remember that, my mouth couldn't stay closed through that whole scene when I saw it the first time. It was bad enough that the stalker girl and the actor fell in love at the moment they died too as well. They were my favourites too…but the acid was a good call while it lasted.)

"Then have a taste of this then!" Maya shouted as she threw two frags and three incendiary grenades at Shade simultaneously. But the result was more dead Death Squad troops and one Shade who still standing there as the right arm had totally regenerated.

"Aw, hell no!" Rio shouted in a tone of shock as she watched Shade's injuries were actually regenerating in front of her. "Tell me that did NOT just happen after taking all of that!"

"It is useless, I told you. I thought I made my point clear already." Shade said, as he raised his arms. "Now, I will deal away with you bothersome flies once and for all!"

"Oh, hell!" Maya shouted as the dark area around Shade started to spread over and around him while he motioned his arms.

"Lights Out!" Shade shouted, sprouting darkness all over the area. Soon after, Maya Jingu could no longer see anything around her, as did Greg and Rio.

"I can't see a thing!" Maya cried out as she was blinded by the attack, as Shade had already finished conjuring another attack.

"Full Eclipse!" Shade shouted, as the darkness surrounding the group began to produce heat that burnt through their suits and into their skins.

"What the hell?" Maya lamented, feeling her body start to burn. "My skin's burning up!"

(Aunt Maya!) Greg thought, feeling the scorching of Shade's attack sear into his skin. (Dammit, I got to try and break this technique before we're all literally fried! I guess this is the time to try that Charge Drive ability Nanvel told me about. But can it really fare against Shade?) Greg thought to himself. "Well, there's only one way to find out…"

Closing his eyes briefly, Greg drew a deep breath as he circled his arms around his chest as he began to mutter Japanese chanting for a short time. A small gust of wind could be seen generating around Greg's feet as Shade saw the psychic was momentarily open.

"Hmph, your psychic attacks won't stop me, so don't go pulling any tricks now and save your strength. They won't save you." Shade said as he generated a sizeable amount of chi in his fists. Nagi, who was at distance fighting two Death Troops, saw this and alerted Greg.

"Greg, look out!" Nagi called out as Shade smirked at Nagi with his power generated.

"It's too late for him, young one." Shade said as he fired a geyser of energy at Greg's direction. "Now, he will bathe in my Blood Shower!"

"Cursed Guardian flame, I seek the power to temporarily bestow upon me and my comrades, the blessings of the lunar shield. Oh, blue blue glass moon under the crimson air." Greg spoke as he finally opened his eyes in time as he plunged his right nano fist into the ground. "Kai…Tsuki!"

Before Shade's attack penetrated him, Greg had already surrounded himself in a wide, dark blue barrier that energy was swelling from within the ground he was standing on. The geyser deflected itself against the circular force field for a few seconds until it dissipated. Nagi, Rio and Riku looked on a bit stunned at seeing that Greg just deflected a powerful move delivered by the mercenary.

"He managed to defend himself in time from that attack, huh?" Riku asked. "Was it by instinct or just premonition from his powers?"

"Actually, Riku, I did hear your partner warn me ahead of time, so part of the reason I got to save myself in time was because of that." Greg said, as he stood up with his nanomachine infused gauntlets while he thought to himself. (The other half must be to the fact that Nanvel's new invention must have made my concentration time more efficient or else I wouldn't have generated that barrier in time before Shade attacked me with only a few seconds to spare.)

However, Greg started to pant heavily as he dropped onto his knees, apparently looking weak, much to Rio and Maya's surprise. He started to clutch unto his chest as he looked at his watch.

(What the…so much time has passed since we started the fight and already I need the medicine?) Greg thought to himself as he stood up to take out his lance from the corpses of the dead troops and assisted Maya to get up. (I got to hold out at least a little longer, slowing this guy down and covering for everyone else who is assisting me is more important.)

Shade observed Greg's actions and smirked to himself, knowing that he can fully take advantage of this.

"Well, I guess it's time I stopped playing around with you, Kinezono. I'll just press on the matter and see what happens when you don't take care of yourself." Shade said as he replaced his chakram with a combat knife and dashed at Greg, who countered the swing by deflecting it with his fists. Maya, who was still recovering from the minor burns, fired some shots at Shade's feet as a means to slow him down, pulled back her arm in time from the swing of a knife from one of the Death Troops.

"Son of a bitch!" Maya said as she looked at Greg defending himself from Shade, who was later ambushed by Rio from behind, spinning her tonfars at him.

"Spin Strike!" Rio cried out as she used a combo string of tonfar attacks at Shade, who effortlessly dodged away from them. Giving now was the chance for them to pull back for now, Greg and Rio leaped away in time from Shade, but the ninja had his sights on Rio and swung his right arm, a flash of diagonal light was seen across Rio's chest area, as Shade used his chakram to cut open only the top area of Rio's WARRIOR body suit almost exposing the top of her naked breasts.

"Ah, what a lovely view. Rio Kinezono, I'll make sure to enjoy you first to the fullest." Shade said lecherously, licking his lips as Rio breathed heavily; hoping the rest of the suit won't fall out after Shade made his attack.

(He intentionally did that so he would try to see me naked?) Rio thought in horror to herself. (This guy really is sick and out of his mind!)

"Shade!" Greg's shout stopped Shade as the psychic had his SOCOM pointed at him. "Did you forget about me all of a sudden? Aren't I the one you're supposed to be after?"

"And just as I was about to enjoy myself, how dare you get in the way, you insolent punk. You should know that I have no intention of playing with you, so stay out of my amusement." Shade spoke, raising his arm while Greg made his movements to evade his next attack.

"Needless concerns." Greg said as he quickly shook the thought and aimed at Shade as he fired a couple of shots at Shade's head.

However, the bullets which passed Shade suddenly phased through him, as if it was an illusion, while Rio suddenly ducked in time to avoid being hit by them.

"Greg, watch where you're firing!" Rio shouted, ducking for cover as Greg ceased his firing.

"What the…?" Greg exclaimed. "Not one of this tricks again!"

Then, Greg felt Shade's presence even closer as he felt an immense intent of evil behind his back, as he felt cold steel press against his back. Rio gasped as Greg slipped under the Shade's chakram and countered the attack with a spinning back kick that knocked Shade off balance a bit.

"Is that all the strength you have, psychic? That hardly was worth the effort if you're going to save someone dear to you." Shade said as he brushed off the area Greg kicked him. "Do you really think that you can actually defeat Mantis, as you are now with your so called increased psychic powers, combined with inexperienced use of them?"

Rio's eyes widened as she heard this a distance away from the two men. (How does he know about that? Certainly he wasn't informed about it by Reese…could he have probably sensed the limit of Greg's power by intuition alone?)

Greg's eyes lowered at Shade, the strong undeterred sign of determination still in them. He knew he may not be fully yet prepared to take on Mantis as he is, nor even match up to Shade, but still he had to make the effort as he clenched his fists.

"Even if I wasn't strong enough like this, I'm still trying anyway. I promised my family and a new dear friend in trouble that they will see their loved ones again and I do not intend to disappoint them. Lilica and Yuina will be reunited with them, which I will definitely make happen, Shade. Nothing and no one is going to turn me and my comrades back from this decision we made, not even the likes of you." Greg said sternly as Shade grinned arrogantly at Greg.

"That kind of wishing is not wanted on the battlefield, little boy. I shall permanently remove you from existence for having such foolish behaviour." Shade said, dashing at Greg who sidestepped in time to avoid being punched in the ribs by Shade's fist. The psychic went on a standstill as he raised his right arm over his head, revealing the prototype gauntlet he had. Clenching his fist, he used a haymaker punch above Shade's head, who simply blocked it with little effort.

"That was such an obvious tactic. Such old fashioned tricks won't work on me." Shade said to Greg as the mercenary was already set to deliver a counter blow against Greg as the immortal ninja gave Greg a powerful uppercut that caused Greg to lose his balance and was caught in a flurry of Shade's attacks.

"Genocide Prelude!" Shade cried out as he spun with a single back kick, then turning his body to perform a rising spin kick near the stunned, air borne Greg.

"Now, have a taste of my Genocide Bringer!" Shade shouted as he delivered a dual spin kick to the side of Greg's body, causing him to spin out of control from Shade's strength. But the psychic was far from giving up the fight; despite the fact he felt Shade's feet had broken something inside his chest.

(I'm certainly am not going to give up on this fight.) Greg thought, as he recovered from Shade's attack while suspended in mid air as he countered by performing an aerial spin kick, which avoided Shade's body. The ninja caught one of Greg's legs during the attack and threw him flat on his back in the dirty sewer waters, knocking some wind out of him.

"Make this easier for you and your companions and just give up." Shade said, pressing his boot on Greg's chest hard as he took out his chakram. "That way, I'll be more than happy on just letting the women live and I will complete my mission, so I can truly enjoy myself."

"Like hell! I'm not giving up on them!" Greg shouted, as he took out his USP and fired a couple of shots at Shade's chest, but the bullets didn't even faze him as Shade angrily made a slice across Greg's right nano wrist and grabbed his throat with his free hand.

"Really, you should know it is impossible to stop me." Shade said up close to Greg. "I don't see why someone like you should be worth enough to try and spill my blood. It is truly illogical that a psychic who doesn't even know his own strengths and weaknesses to challenge me."

Rio stood frozen as she helplessly watched Shade started to choke Greg with his hand. Shade was actually crushing her surrogate son's throat with his inhuman strength, but the policewoman wasn't going to let it happen.

Meanwhile, Greg suddenly felt a feeling in his right arm and looked around to see what he was touching. It was a handgun that he had snagged from one of the Death Squad troops earlier. Knowing this was his only opportunity, Greg quickly put as much energy as he could into a sudden powerful kick into Shade's stomach, knocking the mercenary back and making him let go of his grip on the psychic's throat. Greg quickly got to his feet and fired his newly acquired weapon at his enemy, who had already recovered from Greg's surprise attack.

However, the shots that came out of the gun felt like explosives went off in Greg's hand as they were fired and Greg felt the impact of the shots as his body shook from the vibrations. Shade suddenly stared at the direction of the shots as he simply grinned and took his chakram to easily deflect the shots, but the third one caught him off guard as it penetrated his left arm and it exploded on contact into a white flame, blowing a chunk of his muscle off.

"Well, it seems you really are not just an ordinary run-of-the-mill, Kinezono. I must commend you for still standing after taking such injuries." Shade spoke as the open wound he had that showed his exposed and damaged insides began to regenerate. "But, alas, I will have to put an end to your life now, since I was just moments away from having some fun with that woman you hold dear as family."

"I'm getting…really tired…just listening to you." Greg simply said as his arms hung, being spent of all energy. Then, he started to wheeze and cough heavily as he started to spasm once more.

"What's the matter, Kinezono? Are you out of breath already because of your powers?" Shade spoke in a taunting tone as Greg reached for his bottle of the medicine needed to suppress his power, but Shade was not going to give his opponent a chance to recover and dashed over and stabbed Greg through his left hand which was holding the pills. The bottle spilled over as the cover and all its contents rolled out of it and into the steel grating of the passageway as they fell into the dirty sewer waters below. Greg's eyes widened as he saw this and frantically reached for them, before Shade kicked him in his abdomen, preventing him from reaching the medicine in time.

"How does it feel to feel this humiliated, huh, Kinezono?" Shade said as he swung his fist at Greg's face, as Rio looked on in horror.

(No…Greg can't do anything in this state until he blacks out. Then that's when the real nightmares start!) Rio thought to herself. (Even if he loses control of his powers, Shade can still…no; I won't let him hurt my Greggie any further!)

(Sensei…) Greg's voice called out to her as Rio's eyes widened. (R…run. Get as far from this guy as you can.)

(What?) Rio exclaimed mentally as she saw the changed look in her son's eyes.

(It hurts, sensei. It hurts so much. You and everyone else have to go on. I…promise I will find a way to…catch up with you guys. You just…have to trust me on this one.) Greg replied to her in thought as he started to black out while Shade continued to punch away at him. Rio stood up as she clenched her fists.

(But, Greg…I can't leave you like this.) Rio cried as she got no response from Greg, seeing he has already blacked out. (Greg! Tell me…what should I really do? Tell me!)

Shade looked at Greg's bruised body before he simply dropped him as if he was a ragged doll. "It seems he couldn't take any more than I thought. Well, with him out of the way for now, I can start having my real fun, starting with you, Rio Kinezono."

Having seen enough of what the immortal ninja was capable of, Rio stood up with her tonfars in hand.

"You're just a freaking barbarian! What the hell makes you think you know better than the rest of us, huh?" Rio shouted.

"Ah, that desperate expression on your face, I just love it." Shade grinned lecherously as he took out his chakram. "I've gotten used to tormenting the lives of women for so long that even up to now I could never grow tired of it. Come, Miss Kinezono, I shall mark you among my female trophies as you'll be among the most beautiful to be ravaged."

Rio's face turned pale as she felt Shade came close enough to touch her messy, blonde hair as he suddenly grabbed it forcefully, making her cry out in pain before he slammed her head first on the cold ground.

"Greg! Wake up! Please!" Rio cried out as she stood up to try and defend herself against Shade, knowing it's useless up to this point. "Everyone needs you…please, come back to us."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

(I hear a voice…its Rio-sensei's.) Greg thoughts ran as he found himself surrounded in darkness. (It seems distant. It's calling me to come back and help her and Riku and everyone else…but…I can't move my body anymore. My powers have started to take its effects…and I will lose control again soon. And without the medicine this time around, I won't be able to keep them under tabs. It's practically hopeless.)

(That's right, Greg. You don't need to fight it anymore. Soon, the pain will be all over.) He heard a voice spoke from behind as he turned around and saw himself in that barren landscape once more. Everything in it was empty and desolate as before, just as the man standing within it.

(Your body is weak, broken and tired from all the fighting. Let yourself fall into the depths of your dark desires and your solitude will be gone forever.) The voice surrounding him said as Greg fell onto his knees, shaking his head.

(No! It's not time for this yet! I still have many things left to do and many unfinished debts to pay!) Greg shouted. (Don't let me die like this! Not by losing control of myself just before I can settle everything.)

(How long will you continue to resist your own feelings, Greg?) Violent Greg's voice spoke as he walked around him. (You know that you can never, set things straight. You've been doomed to cause suffering ever since you've defied your own existence and now, it's time the favour has to be returned.)

"That's not true! I still have reasons to believe in my existence!" Greg cried out. "Enough reasons to make me go on without relying on you."

"Are you referring to your dear family and friends? Oh, give me a break." Violent Greg spoke. "They can't reach you where you are now. While that Shade is about to make your dear surrogate mother his next sexual victim, you're long past saving. Now, since he has done most of the work to get you this weak, I shall pick up where we left off all those years ago."

"You won't…I won't let you do it!" Greg said as he tried to resist, but couldn't move for some reason. (Why? Why isn't my body cooperating when I need it to?)

"In case you haven't noticed, I have long taken control of your body's responses. Now, I will take your mind and possess it as my own." Violent Greg smiled as Greg remained silent as he watched his counterpart moved closer towards him, raising his hand over his face. Greg could only shut his eyes before he made contact and the only thought that ran in his mind for that instant was an image of Lilica, him and Seishiro Takeda altogether during a spar on a vacant summer home located in the mountains.

"Greg! Are you going to give up this easily?" A young woman's voice called out as Greg opened his eyes to his amazement and saw Lilica Ebett standing in the mindscape wearing a long white dress. What also surprised him next was that Violent Greg seemed frozen just before him and the grey barren field disappeared into a clear, grass field. Greg got to stand on his two feet and faced Lilica as if she was the real thing.

"L…Lilica? Is that really you?" Greg stuttered as Lilica simply clasped her hands, sighing.

"It must be really sad and painful to be living a life such as yours, Greg." Lilica said, taking his hands and holding them. "But you shouldn't allow yourself to think that your existence is a hindrance to others, nor let what your own dark feelings tell you about yourself. Have you forgotten what Seishiro-san taught you all those years ago during the training to control your powers?"

"What?" Greg said simply as Lilica pointed to what it appears to be a memory of his past. He was in his teenage years, all dressed in a white and red track suit, sparring with Seishiro who was wearing a white karate dojo uniform and his eye-patch over his left eye.

"Now, I'm starting to remember. This was awhile after that incident, wasn't it?" Greg asked as he watched the memory play in front of him. "I was in the process of controlling my powers as I learned martial arts from him and you were visiting at the time to bring us something to eat."

Lilica nodded silently as they watched the younger Greg, who was panting heavily and covered in sweat, maintaining a fighting posture, even with a prosthetic for his right arm while Seishiro looked calmly at his adopted son and gestured Greg to come at him.

"Now, Greg, give me all that I've taught you so far in this strike." Seishiro told him in a stern, yet gentle tone.

"I most certainly will, Seishiro-sensei." Greg said as he dashed at Seishiro with a left thrusting punch which was dodged easily and followed by spinning back hand, which Seishiro simply caught before Greg could see he reacted to it. However, the young boy leaped in order to lift his body over and managed to free his hand from Seishiro's grip, as Seishiro took the opportunity to grab Greg by his left arm and twist it, causing some pain. Yet, Greg didn't let it show, as he used his feet to balance the landing and used his prosthetic hand to fire a small energy blast, which Seishiro managed to jump away from safely.

"That was very good, Greg." Seishiro said as he saw the left side of the abdomen area of his dojo uniform was now cringed by Greg's close range attack. "You have a quick sense of adaptation, which only expands this training of controlling your psychic gifts."

"I've really honed my skills, Seishiro-sensei." Greg replied to him in a confident smile, but the next comment from his guardian made him look at him wide eyed.

"It's fine to realise your ability now and again, but you still have much to learn, Greg." Seishiro said.

"I know. I can push myself further. I can still get better." Greg replied to him.

"Just be careful not to get ahead of yourself, Greg. There's a strong possibility of your powers running out of control because you've grown way too confident in yourself." Seishiro said. "Psychic powers run according to the personality of the person who wields them and shouldn't be allowed to overrun them in return."

Greg remained silent as he knew where Seishiro was coming from. Lowering his head a bit, Greg gulped as he remembered fully when his powers took control of him for the first time and he didn't do anything leading up to that point for it to happen.

"Why did it have to happen, Seishiro-sensei?" Greg asked sadly, causing Seishiro to look at him. "Why was I the one to have been given these so called 'gifts', if the only thing they did was took your left eye and almost got everyone in my family hurt in the process?"

"I know you of all people are still hurt by what happened and you need answers, Greg. But I'm sorry to say that I can't provide the exact ones on why it came to be." Seishiro replied.

"I think…everyone would still hate me because I'm a psychic, an outcast. That I have to commit myself for the rest of my life, just trying to keep this curse of mine in control before it can hurt someone else." Greg said. "I don't even remember doing anything bad for once in my life to have made me do this and yet this is still what I get as a reward for trying to live a normal life and living up to everyone's expectations."

"Greg, that's enough out of you." Seishiro said to him as Greg sternly. "It doesn't matter what or who you are in the past, now or in the future, Greg is Greg. That's all that matters to me, Maki, Rio and everyone else whose been dedicating themselves in raising you. They don't care about the powers you have, but the person who uses them, namely you. You shouldn't think of yourself as someone insignificant, even if it happens to be your own powers that are telling you this."

"But, Seishiro-san…" Greg said as Seishiro approached him closer and patted him.

"Nothing is going to be different about you as long as you keep looking at yourself with those thoughts about what happened when you realised your powers." Seishiro said. "That is why you can't allow yourself to think that you're not worthy of anyone's love and trust. It is one of the obvious reasons why certain psychics I've heard about in the past have lost their way. I don't ever want you to go down that path, Greg."

"Even so, what can I do when I feel like I'm on the verge of losing control?" Greg asked. "I try my best to fight it, but when I do it's just too…painful. My head feels as if it would split and my body feels like it's on fire each time it happens. How can I stand up to this pain and not lose control?"

"Just concentrate on the tips of your fingers, like this." Seishiro said as he stretched Greg's arms away from his body.

"Like this?" Greg asked.

"Yes. Then, close your eyes and think of what is most precious to you" Seishiro said. "Remind me again of what is most important to you right now, Greg."

"It's my new family, of course." Greg said with a smile.

"With that in mind, allow your body to respond to your mental signals. No matter how strong the pain will get, you must always hold on to that single thought of using what you've learned only to protect those that are dear to you." Seishiro said.

"Then, what will happen?" Greg asked, looking at his guardian.

"Well, I can only say that something good should happen, depending on the circumstance." Seishiro said.

"Hey, Seishiro-san, that's not really inspiring." Greg said, placing his prosthetic hand near his waist. "Even if you are not sure on what could happen if I concentrate mental energy of my powers while on the verge of losing control, why don't you just tell me so?"

"I don't want you to be scared of the fact that something dreadful will happen, Greg." Seishiro said, before wrapping his arm around his student's neck. "But knowing you, I don't think I will have to worry about it anytime soon."

"You really mean that, Seishiro-san?" Greg asked he then heard Lilica's voice calling out from the doorway of the house.

"Hey, you guys. Aren't you hungry by now after all that training?" she asked. "You've been at it for two hours straight now."

"Aw, come on, Lilica. Two hours is nothing compared to the four months I have to spend with Seishiro-san up here in the mountains for my training. I'm having a blast here and don't want to finish training any time soon." Greg said with the most enthusiasm before his stomach rumbled in front of Seishiro and Lilica. Greg looked down at his stomach and whimpered as Lilica giggled.

"Well, it sounds like your stomach isn't having any fun, Greg." Lilica said, covering her mouth.

"Greg, have you been training on an empty stomach all this time?" Seishiro asked, causing Greg to blush.

"Uh…yeah, Seishiro-san. I was really looking forward to sparring with you today that I actually kind of skipped breakfast this morning." Greg replied as he rubbed his head as Seishiro simply smiled at him.

"Well, just be careful not to do that again next time." Seishiro said as he looked at Lilica. "So, Lilica, what is it that we're getting for lunch today?"

"Oh, I've brought up a wide variety of sandwiches." Lilica said, bringing out a big basket full of them. "I know Greg likes my recipe of mix sandwiches which I called, 'The Works', so I brought twice the amount than usual today. Make sure to eat enough to make up for breakfast, okay, Greg?"

"Okay, Lilica. Your homemade sandwiches are the best." Greg said. "So, Seishiro-san, should we call it a day for now?"

"Yes, I'm pretty famished myself. Let's go and join Lilica and the others for lunch." Seishiro said as he and Greg walked out of the dojo together, leaving the current Greg and Lilica standing there. The current Greg then nodded to himself silently as he looked at his now deformed right nano arm.

"Yes, that was one of the much more pleasant memories of my childhood I had with Seishiro-san and you as well." Greg said, looking at Lilica once more.

"That's right, he told you at the time that Greg is Greg. You can still remain yourself as long as you still hold on to the thought that is dear to you." Lilica said. "You must never let the pains of your past consume you, Greg, no matter what your darkness tells you. Only you can overcome it if you seek a reason for going on and remaining as you are."

"And my reason for going on is to see you safe and sound once again. And to fulfil the promise I made to Seraph as well." Greg said, lowering his gaze. "I have never had any intentions to break any of the promises I made to the others, and to Seraph as well, and I certainly don't plan to start now. I will not let my powers get the best of me this time."

"Then, before you go…" Lilica tip toed next to Greg to plant a gentle kiss on his now left scarred cheek. "Take whatever light I can give to you to help you protect Lilica and the others. Go and complete your mission, Greg."

Feeling Lilica's warmth well up inside him and taking Seishiro's words to heart, Greg smiled at her and clenched his fists.

"I most certainly will, Lilica. I'll be seeing you very soon." Greg replied as he shut his eyes and found his body to be limp once more. After a few seconds being enveloped in darkness, he heard several voices call out to him, waking him up from his unconsciousness.

"Greg, wake up!" Maya's voice alerted him as he suddenly shot up from his sleep. With her were Nagi, Tot, and Kanashii, looking a bit run down from before he passed out during their encounter with Shade.

"What the…owww!" Greg grimaced as he held unto his left cheek. He remembered himself was facing against Shade and during the fight, Shade must have taken a slice at his face before and it left two small vertical scars that ran to from the underside of this left eye to the side of his head. He then noticed Rio and Riku weren't there with him. "Where's Rio and Riku?"

"They're with Dee and Pei, taking on Shade as we speak. Rio was almost set to protect you while you were sleeping and Riku came in time to stop Shade before he got nasty with her." Maya said.

"All this time, we were busy trying to revive you since you were out of it for a long while now." Nagi said, as Greg suddenly widened his eyes.

"How long was I out for?" Greg simply asked as Maya answered.

"Only seven minutes." Maya replied as Greg groggily stood up. "Greg, are you sure you're alright?"

"Of course, I only just lost consciousness." Greg said. "What makes you say that, Aunt Maya?"

"Because you were mumbling Lilica's and Seishiro's name for two minutes straight afterwards while you were out and that bothered me." Maya said, causing Greg's eyes to widen even more.

(Was my head playing tricks on me again? I'm certain that vision of Lilica was real.) Greg asked himself, but shook his head. (I have no time to think whether I've gone delirious or already lost control of my powers…Rio and Riku are in trouble and I have to be there to help them.)

"Greg, certainly you know we can't go just charging in at Shade again this time." Kanashii said in a warning tone.

"I already know that. We have to just change the approach to him somehow that he hasn't thought was possible yet." Greg replied, as his body suddenly felt numb one moment, then heavy the next. (What's happening to my body now? Is this what happens after my powers have gone past its limit once I've taken control of them?)

"Well, what the hell are we going to do now?" Maya asked. "Rio's in serious trouble if she has to face that guy!"

"Maya-san, I know you're worried about Rio and we're worried about Riku, Dee and Pei as well." Tot said. "But I'm sure Riku will do his best to protect them until we get to them. That's the kind of person he is."

"And we both know that he won't go down so easily in doing so." Nagi added.

"Nagi and Tot are right…there's still time." Greg said seriously as he sighed. "We may not be able to kill him, but the more important thing is that we have to survive this. And that is the key for this part of the mission. So, when we get to Shade, I'll act as the decoy and attack him with everything I've got to distract him."

"Greg! Are you serious about this?" Maya asked.

"Don't worry, I never said I will be facing him alone, and I will be needing all of your help to assist me in this if we're going to pull this off." Greg said. "Here's what I've got in mind, while I ambush him, he will eventually try and counter most of the attacks. That's when you guys come in to follow up and cover me. Maya, I will need you to keep your rifle on the ready while Nagi will back you up with his psychic attacks. That's your job for long distance attacks. As for when things get close range, Tot and Kanashii will flank him from the sides. I will be sending telepathic signals to each of you when its time to attack him, got it?"

"Yeah, I understand what you're getting at. But, Greg, even with a plan like that, Shade won't go down that easily." Nagi said.

"You don't need to worry so much about putting him down for the count, just focus on surviving the encounter at any costs." Greg replied. "Just trust me on this, I know it has to work. I've run out of ideas we could use and I'm only trying my best not to let my powers get the best of me after what just happened, so please help me out on this, okay?"

"Alright, Greg. We'll try it like that for once, but if I sense anything wrong in that it could put us in danger, I'll be sure to let you know that there's a change in the strategy." Kanashii said.

"I understand. I have no argument." Greg seriously replied. "Now, let's get going and try and stop Shade from continuing his rampage at least for a little while. We haven't got much time left."

Maya, Tot, Nagi, and Kanashii nodded to Greg as they sprinted to locate their team-mates and Shade. It would be a brief five minutes sprint to the clearing where they met up with him the first time and Greg was still more worried about Rio and Riku.

(Come on, you guys. Please hang on until we get there.) Greg thought to himself.

Meanwhile, only several meters away from where Greg and his group were catching up to, Shade was in the middle of heated combat against Rio Kinezono, Riku Hanabishi, Pei, and Dee as he was getting the upper hand above all of them. Shade was in the middle of pursuing Rio while easily fighting off Riku and the two Shinsengumi women with him.

"You shouldn't be so rash now, Rio Kinezono." Shade said to her in a warning tone as he approached her while the numerous gunshot wounds regenerated. "A woman should be more behaved and refined, but seeing as you're not the submissive type, allow me to change all that. You should learn how to sweeten up and be more obedient to someone such as I, who will show you the things that you never thought were possible."

"Ugh, save yourself the trouble. If I only hear you call me sweet one more time, I'd vomit." Rio replied coldly at Shade. "There's no way in hell I'll allow a creep like you to even touch me, and the same goes for my friends and my son. So you can just keep on dreaming your sick fantasies about trying to stop us because I think you've underestimated just how tough Greg is."

"Oh, your dear student is no longer part of this world, I made sure of that." Shade said as Rio gritted her teeth. "I must give him credit for holding out this far though, he did give me quite a fight, but wasn't as refined as some of the much stronger psychics I've faced in combat, in fact Hanabishi's partner would make for a better fight. In the end, Kinezono just wasn't stable enough to be aware of the opponent he was facing and he was crushed by my own two fists."

"It can't be…you're lying!" Rio stuttered as Shade got close enough to grab by the long locks of her golden blonde hair. Rio screamed in pain as Shade was holding onto her by her hair. "Ahhhhh!"

"Now, that's more like it. I shall have quite an enjoyable time with you." Shade said, as he lowered one of his hands to reach for the front of the partially torn Warrior suit Rio was wearing, which suddenly shot back and clenched into a fist as it caught a flying kunai shuriken, thrown at him from behind by Riku.

"Don't you even dare think of trying such a thing with her, you creep." Riku said, readying some more shuriken to throw. "Or have you forgotten that I'm still here, Shade?"

"Oh, I have not, young shinobi. But I must thank you for the gift." Shade said as he simply crushed the blade with his fist, then taking the remains of it to stab into Rio's shoulder and through her shoulder bone, much to Riku's shock.

"Ahhhhh!" Rio cried out in pain as Shade grinned at Riku as blood suddenly rushed out of the wound she received.

"Rio!" Riku called out as he growled at Shade. (Damn, I should have known he would have seen the shuriken coming, but to use it on Rio…that's just damned heartless!)

"You know you really can't do anything as long I have this wench in my possession, so why not just give up now and let me use her to get some fun, hmm? I'll even let you watch and enjoy the show." Shade said, before his head turned to the side as Nagi, Tot, Maya, Kanashii and Greg entered the clearing. Greg and Maya gasped at the sight of an injured Rio being under Shade's grip.

"Sensei!" Greg shouted as Riku, Pei, and Dee saw him and was surprised to see him still alive.

"Greg, you're still alive!" Riku said, before turning back to Shade. "If I were you, I'd consider releasing Rio right now before Greg and Maya could do something nasty to you."

"I was never really dead to begin with, just in a deep state of sleep. And you know I won't quit so easily when I have family to rescue, Riku." Greg said as his eyes were fixed on Shade the entire time. "Shade, I'm going to ask nicely at this moment to unhand my master and let's finish this right here and now."

Shade simply leaned his head as he watched Greg's appearance. He still looked the same, but something seemed very different about him and it was not due to the fact that Shade was grabbing his surrogate mother by her hair. But the mercenary didn't let that bother him as he lifted Rio's body up by her hair.

"Now, I can't really do that now, can I?" Shade asked with a lecherous grin as Maya began to growl and aim her gun at him. "If I want, I can just twist her little neck and end her life, would you want that?"

"Grraggh!" Maya let out a cry, as Greg simply placed his nano hand on her wrist.

"No, Aunt Maya. We don't need to start something that could get her killed." Greg said to her. "But, I don't want to leave here without at least knowing I'm capable of using my powers to the fullest. While I was unconscious and on the verge of losing control once more moments earlier, I learned some valuable things…things that are worth standing up for, even if it's up against the likes of him. Somehow, my entire body feels a bit heavier than before, but it's okay. I've got everyone here to support me and that's enough strength to at least rescue Rio and continue the mission."

"Now, you're just starting to make me laugh, foolish psychic." Shade smirked as he tugged more violently at Rio's long blonde hair. "Give up now and maybe you all will probably live a little longer. I hate nothing more than dealing with your ridiculous attempts at righteousness, or perhaps, you gnats are just desperate for anything, hmm?"

"I warned you before, Shade. Get your filthy hands away from my mother." Greg said to him while clenching his gauntlet equipped fists as Shade lifted his head to look directly at Greg and his group. The gauntlets flashed with a white and bright neon coloured appearance as he stared at Shade. "Or else…you will see just how scary I can be once I get really serious."

"Your weak threats will not make me change my mind, Kinezono, but since you want to die that badly for the sake of protecting your dear family, I'll be happy to oblige. And I'll see to it this time you stay dead as well, you're becoming such a bother-some obstacle that I won't tolerate your existence any longer." Shade simply dropped the wounded Rio on the ground as he suddenly dashed towards Greg who reacted in time to parry a flying spin kick, which was briefly followed as Shade brought his right fist down on Greg, who suddenly dashed to the side and away from the immortal ninja mercenary in almost of the manner of an animal, his body lowered enough to dodge an incoming roundhouse kick delivered by Shade. It was enough for Greg to get some distance from him as he was already close enough to Rio's unconscious body.

"Sensei! Say something!" Greg shouted, stealing a glance to see if she was still breathing. He still sensed life from her, but she was badly hurt.

"Muunnnhhh…" Rio groaned in reply as Greg gritted his teeth at Shade.

(Dammit, it doesn't look serious, but with a wound like that, she could still lose a lot of blood if not tended to.) Greg thought to himself as he stared at Shade in silence.

"Oh, you don't like the fact that I had some fun with your dear mother, Kinezono?" Shade replied with a grin. "Well, don't let it bother you. I was far from done with her anyway until you and your friends showed up. And to think you are still breathing after I saw you come close to losing control of yourself. That's some valour that you have, Kinezono."

Rio, who was barely conscious, clearly heard what Shade just said and opened her eyes slowly as she saw Greg standing before her, still looking the same.

(Greg?) She thought to herself. (But…how is he able to stay as he is now? No…something's very different about him this time. He's emitting something quite…warm and assuring. Is he even aware of what's happening to him right now?)

Ignoring the need to directly explain why he hasn't lost control of his powers just yet, Greg changed the subject.

"Just answer me one thing, Shade." Greg asked. "Why is it that you want to stop me and my friends from continuing this mission so badly? Is it because of your commitment to the enemy or just a perverted sense of duty?"

Shade simply scoffed at Greg and lifted his nose at him as he replied.

"Let's just say that there's something about you that I'm willing to dislike the most, Greg Kinezono. And it's that look that you have in your eyes." Shade said with a sneer at him at Greg.

"And just what is that suppose to mean?" Greg asked seriously.

"You try to act brave, but the fact of the matter is that you're now frightened of facing me, knowing fully well what will happen to you in the end. Yet, your eyes are lying, they are telling me something else about you, that you want to selfishly throw your life away for no good reason, attempting to do the impossible by facing Mantis and you have no problems with it. That kind of determination is one thing I particularly dislike about you children who try and face me in combat and in the end, you'll just end up dead like all the other foolish ones." Shade explained.

"Don't act like you know me, Shade. That's where you're totally wrong." Greg said, maintaining his posture as only the right nano wrist was covering only the lower side of his face and his eyes were visible. "I'm doing this because I'm always a man of my word and I don't intend to give up on my family and friends. There's nothing in this world that will ever shake my faith when the ones dear to me are in need!"

"Ha! Do you really think that you can defeat me with such ridiculous and naive beliefs?" Shade said. "You truly are a fool, Kinezono and you will die as one, regretting the choices you made!"

Greg lowered his eyes as Shade suddenly rushed at him as he threw his chakram at the same time, but the psychic focused his strength into his legs and lifted himself up over the thrown weapon as Shade followed up as he was in the air as well with a confident smile.

"You've grown too dependent on your limited skills as a psychic, Kinezono!" Shade said as he spun his body to deliver a spin kick at Greg, who simply raised his nano wrist to defend the blow.

"Defence!" Greg shouted, deflecting the attack as he was close enough to Shade, he used his powers to create a blue platform underneath him, lifting himself even higher than the mercenary, then countered the attack with an aerial spinning back kick.

"Judgement Kick!" Greg shouted, but to his surprise, all that he hit was air as Shade was already safely under him on the ground once more.

"Too slow." He simply said as he swung his right fist upwards at Greg, but the psychic acted quickly as he cancelled his kick and ended up standing on his psychic created platform just over him away from the blow as he flipped over him.

(Nagi, hit him now!) Greg shouted telepathically as Nagi nodded, firing a charged psychic attack at Shade's blindside.

"Psyche Shot Plus!" Nagi shouted as Shade simply dodged the incoming psychic ball attack, which resulted in Greg already landing next to him. Right after that, the chakram was already returning back to Shade and was in the direction of where Greg was standing.

"Have you forgotten something else?" Shade asked with a grin as suddenly Greg lowered his body to execute a sweep kick as the chakram missed him by mere seconds. Shade caught the chakram as he dodged the sweep kick, but was in for something else as Greg mentally sent a signal to Maya this time.

(Do it, Maya! Spray him with lead!) Greg thought as Maya Jingu whipped out her Kiyoshi rifle and fired away at Shade's chest, while Riku noticed Greg's plan and nodded in accordance as he charged up his flames.

"Dragon Strike!" Riku shouted as a fireball enveloped his right fist and in a single strike, struck Shade's lower abdomen around several of the bullet wounds dead on. Staggering a bit from the bullets and the flame attack, the immortal mercenary simply shrugged off his wounds and dashed to the side away from the group as already Greg was now again close enough to him.

"I will not let you get the best of me, Kinezono!" Shade said as he spun his leg to catch Greg unwarily at his chest area, but the psychic quickly recovered in mid air as he suddenly pointed his right gauntlet leg downwards at Shade, coming down at him with a fast dropping speed.

"Kinezono Style: Grand Fall!" Greg shouted, knocking off Shade's balance with his kick, which was suddenly cancelled to a double haymaker punch, as a shockwave created by Greg's fists was seen from them.

"Kinezono Style: Heaven's Hammer!" Greg cried out as the gauntlets let off a green neon coloured light in the movement of the attack, which missed Shade as he sidestepped to counter with a Genocide Bringer.

"Genocide Bringer!" Shade shouted, rising into the air with his spin kick, as Greg was already set to defend himself once more.

"Defence!" Greg deflected the kick, as he then used the special feature Nanvel told him about of the gauntlets to release a charged attack from his psychic powers. Landing the mark on Shade's back, Greg jumped off of him and opened his right nano wrist as he mentally called on Riku again to ambush him while he executed a mid air attack.

"Activating Nan-Bracer limit. Unleashing Kinezono Style: Searing Kiss!" Greg shouted as he released an energy orb generated by his gauntlets that shot out six fireballs that homed in on Shade. The ninja mercenary leaped out of the fireballs path, only to come across another ambush lead by Riku.

"Double Dragon Strike!" Riku shouted as he uses his fireball to envelope both his fists and began to punch at Shade multiple times. Even with the constant stream of attacks, his wounds were still regenerating at their pace as Greg and his comrades continue to flank him like this.

(I see now, the psychic's brave enough to act as a decoy while his friends take part in ambushing me, is that it?) Shade thought to himself. (Well, I must commend on him for being able to strike me so much that it's almost making it hard for me to regenerate these wounds they have all given me, but it looks like I have to take things to the next level and start to take this guy seriously.)

During the third hit, he disappeared into a log as Riku stopped his attack briefly. The ninja quickly looked around to try to sense where his enemy had gone.

"Ah, hell! He disappeared again!" Maya shouted as Greg landed on his feet and watched around.

"He's still close, I can sense him." Greg simply said as he took out his handgun and looked around. "Maya, can you go check up on Rio while we still have a free chance?"

"Sure thing, Greg." Maya said as she rushed over to her injured friend and picked her up.

"How is she?" Tot asked as Maya was checking on her.

"Damn, she's got pieces of this thing embedded deep into her skin, but it's not that deep, so her shoulder's okay." Maya said. "Hey, Rio, wake up."

"Ahhh…Maya?" Rio asked, waking up, only to receive some pain to her shoulder. "Owww! What the hell happened to me?"

"Shade almost did you in, but we came here in time, Rio." Maya said as she treated Rio's wound with some disinfect and bandages with a smile. "Greg's even here with us."

"Greg is…" Rio stuttered as she looked to see Greg standing at a distance, talking things over with Riku, Nagi and the Shinsengumi, waving his hand about. Rio smiled slowly seeing he still has retained himself, knowing she saw him on the verge of losing his powers before. (So it's true…he did managed to stay the same without the medicine. It has to be a mental problem rather psychical then?)

"Greg!" Rio shouted, getting up as he turned to see her. "You're doing okay?"

Nodding at her silently, Greg replied. "Yes, though my body's still in a lot of pain right now from attacking Shade constantly just now."

"You should have seen him, Rio. He was something else and we got to help him as well." Maya said, punching Greg's shoulder lightly.

"Don't start to celebrate as yet, you guys. Greg did say Shade's still around, isn't he?" Pei said to the group. "You can sense him too, right Drakken?"

"Yeah, and after getting a beating like that, I doubt he would just give up so easily. He's probably changing his strategy while recovering from those attacks." Riku inputted. "We were probably lucky because Greg was able to react almost quickly to most them and was able to counter them with some of his own."

"And he will most certainly learn from that before he attacks us again." Nagi said.

"Then we just have to make a run for it while there's time." Greg said as he looked at a patched up Rio. "You think you can manage with that wound, sensei?"

(Damn, he started to call me sensei again. It felt kind of assuring when he called me his mother moments ago.) Rio thought to herself before replying. "Sure, I'll be fine. It's you I'm more concerned of, Greg. You don't have your medicine anymore thanks to that pervert."

Greg remained silent as he smiled at Rio as he pointed to his temple. "I don't think I will have to worry about medicine for the moment, sensei. As long as I've got Lilica's voice and Seishiro-san's teachings to help me, I should be fine."

"What are you talking about?" Rio asked, placing her hands on her hips as Greg nervously replied.

"It may sound strange to everyone when I say this, but I happened to have seen Lilica just before I felt it was the end for me. I really can't tell if it was mind tricks or delusions, but it was still definitely her." Greg said as the group began to walk down the passageway. "She gave me a firm talking to and a reminder from one of Seishiro-san's lessons."

"Then…you're finally able to keep them under tabs for the moment, Greg?" Rio asked.

"Yeah, just for the moment." Greg replied as Rio grabbed him by his left arm, now looking more confident than ever.

"Well, I know now that can do this, Greg. We will get to save Lilica and Yuina and fix this matter with Mantis once we're out of the hot zone with this guy." Rio said. "You think you up to it?"

"Of course, I still have the strength. Besides, if we run away now, we'll lose everything." Greg replied.

"Then let's show this pervert what happens when you're serious and what we can really do." Rio said, placing her hand on her student's shoulder and standing next to him.

Greg nodded at Rio as he then stood up and sighed. "Come on, we have to keep going and find those Death Squad troops as soon as possible."

However, before Greg took another step as he turned around, he suddenly saw a black blur get between him and Rio as right before them; a fully regenerated Shade had sneaked up on the group and was armed with a large combat knife, ready to fall at Greg's direction.

"I don't think I can allow that to happen, now can I?" Shade said as he swung the combat knife at Greg, who only reacted in seconds by raising his right nano wrist as Shade stabbed into it. It managed to penetrate the gauntlet and pierce into his hand as the black and blue substance suddenly leaked out.

"Greg!" Rio shouted as she threw a spin kick at Shade who caught it with a free hand as he simply grinned at her.

"Now, where were we? As I recall, I was the one stopping all of you from advancing." Shade said as he flung her across to a nearby wall, knocking some wind out of her. Greg gritted his teeth as he saw this and attempted to take the knife back out, but Shade had already landed his fist into his chest with a powerful strike.

"I will not be mocked by weaklings such as you." Shade simply said as he grabbed a stunned Greg and took out another combat knife as he spun it and sliced it into his chest three times.

"Guunhh!" Greg cried out as he felt Shade mark his chest with the edge of the knife, but he didn't let it stop him as he used his left fist to catch the blade and lifted his body above Shade as he performed a cartwheel kick, freeing himself. Landing a distance from him, Greg felt the blood rushing out of his body and his body getting weak.

Riku and Nagi nodded at each other as Riku dashed to the side with kunai on the ready while Nagi fired his USP at Shade, who sidestepped out of the danger as he drew closer to Tot, Maya and the Shinsengumi.

"Wyvern's Sting!" Riku shouted as he threw a set of senbon needles at Shade who caught a few of them and charged at Riku, delivering a swift rising kick at him before grabbing him by his arm.

"You and your friends are really starting to annoy me. I shall put you out of your existence now." Shade said as he twisted Riku's arm severely, causing some agonising pain for the FOXHOUND shinobi.

"Damn you! Let Riku go now, you freak!" Maya said as she opened fire at him with her Eagle 6.0 gun, as it was the only gun she had now that was loaded, but she only hit air as Shade easily dodged the bullets and was now suddenly behind her, delivering a swift backfist to her head, followed by a series of knee blows around her abdomen area.

"Don't worry; I'll be sure to keep you in fine condition once I'm done with your dear friends that are constantly a pain." Shade said as he let her drop on her knees before facing Tot, Nagi and the Shinsengumi group. "Now, which one of you wants to join them next?"

"We won't be beaten that easily." Nagi said bravely at the immortal. "We will defend ourselves and our friends if we have to from you."

"How noble. You're almost the same as the other psychic who claims he is doing this for the sake of fulfilling the promises he made." Shade said. "But worry not about it, I'll see to it that I'll put an end to that very soon."

"You two, get behind us." Dee said, readying her sword as her two comrades stepped in front of Nagi and Tot to take Shade in.

"I grow tired of each of your heroics. I shall take you all out in one fell swoop as I don't have much more time to waste since the other psychic's nearing his death." Shade said as he clapped his hands for darkness to overcome the group once more.

"Full Eclipse!" Shade shouted as the searing heat produced from the darkness around him began to weaken Nagi, Tot and even the mighty Shinsengumi group.

From a distance, Greg sturdily looked in silence at Shade taking advantage of the battle and started to take on Nagi, Tot and the Shinsengumi at the same time, which resulted in them being beaten severely by just the power of his fists and swift movement. Greg looked to the side and saw Rio and Maya groaning in pain while Riku was holding unto his arm.

(It's hopeless. No matter how hard we try, we just can't hold out any longer. This guy…is just too strong for us. How are we going to rescue Lilica and Yuina like this when we were so close to finding them?) Greg thought to himself. (But this is so…unfair! We can't die here, not like this!)

"Now, Greg Kinezono…it looks like I'm close to accomplishing my mission." Shade said as Greg grunted. "All of your friends and family have fallen under my power and there's no one to help you now."

"You're not…going to get away with this." Greg simply said, lowering his eyes at him as Shade walked closer his limp body.

"I told you before, none of your nonsensical talk will do any good against me. Why can't you just give up?" Shade said.

Greg simply lowered his head as he thought back on what Seishiro taught him and what Lilica said to him during the vision earlier. He then focused on the time he promised Seraph he would return Yuina back to her and being able to resolve things with Mantis and eventually, himself. But all of that won't be able to help him this time.

(I'm so sorry, Lilica, Seishiro-san, Seraph, Linn…everyone. I tried my best, but I just don't have the strength anymore.) Greg thought as tears streamed out of his eyes. (Why…why the hell am I so weak? Why did this have to end like this?)

"So, you are letting me do the honours then, are you? You now realize that it's pointless to keep on going against me." Shade said. "So, in respect to that, I'll make sure to make your death as quick and painless as possible before I will finish the task by disposing of the others. Be grateful that I've chosen you to go on ahead first."

The immortal ninja simply smiled as he lifted his hands.

(It seems like I shouldn't have bothered thinking that I would have to summon my Orochi powers to finish this guy off, even though I've been only fighting at only eighty percent of my full power all this time.) Shade said. (It's a waste that I have to kill him now though…he was entertaining to an extent, but he still needs refining or else he could have given me a better reason not to hold back.)

Before Shade could do something else, he heard a cell phone tone ring coming from his pocket, while Greg was only watching as Shade stopped before him. Greg was confused as he watched Shade groan before him as he answered the phone.

(Damn, why did he stop?) Greg thought as he can see Shade move his lips, but nothing is coming out. (My ears are ringing so hard because of the pain; I can't make out what it is that he's saying…)

"You'd better have a good reason for calling me at this crucial time, Reese!" Shade said, causing Riku, Nagi and Tot who were still conscious to look on in shock.

"I'm sorry that I have to interrupt you, Shade, but I've been watching you take Greg Kinezono and his group apart and I must say that I'm really enjoying the show you're putting on." Reese spoke from the other end with a grin. "However, I have to say that is as far as stopping the group goes. There's been a change of orders…you are to withdraw this moment and allow them to proceed."

"Am I hearing you right?" Shade asked. "First you wanted me to kill them, now just before I can kill them, you want me to just let them go? What kind of scheme are you running, Reese?"

"Scheme? This is no scheme, I can assure you, Shade." Reese said simply. "As a matter of fact, you've done enough on your end to convince me of Kinezono's true powers. All this while, I've been collecting data based on his performances and they have exceeded what I had hoped for. Even you can see just how useful the man is under the right circumstances. The Patriots certainly don't need another dead corpse like Mantis at this time to revive and brainwash if you kill him off. Time is money, after all."

Fighting the urge to crush his cell phone after hearing this, Shade thought to himself about not being used like this the first time.

(So, once again, I've been used as a measuring tool to test a psychic's powers, just as that time back during the Mikage mission when that traitorous Crawford and his Schwartz group tricked me into doing the same with the other younger psychic.) Shade thought to himself. (This Reese claims he's an agent for the Patriots, but he certainly isn't fully acting out his role as one!)

Finally regaining control of his emotions once more, Shade continued to talk to the traitorous superior of FOXHOUND.

"I understand. However, I will not leave them without giving them a parting gift of my own." Shade said as he stared at Greg with cold eyes, before looking at Rio and Maya.

"This is an order to retreat now, Shade. I need to wrap things up myself with Mantis, after all, and better what better way is there to do that than by using this to have Kinezono learn of his true nature at the same time? In that sense, we're killing two birds with one stone." Reese said. "Therefore, I am not asking you to drop this fight, but I am ordering you to do so."

"You'd better have a long explanation for the superiors when I tell them how you can pull a stunt like this, Reese." Shade said to him.

"Oh, I already have, Shade. This is but part of a phase of something grand for FOXHOUND and those who challenge the Patriots. Leave the details to me." Reese replied.

"I knew I shouldn't have trusted you, but I will see to it that you pay back ten fold for having me waste my time like this." Shade said bitterly.

"Hmph, you shouldn't let it get to you, Shade. You will be well compensated." Reese said as Shade hung up the phone and scoffed as he turned his back while the battered Greg looked on in stunned silence.

(Wait. What just happened? Why is he…?) Greg thought to himself as Shade placed a boot on Greg's chest and pressed against it.

"You and your friends get to live thanks to your former employer, Kinezono. This was indeed a big waste of my time, but no matter. At least I got some sort of amusement from out of all this." Shade spoke. "I will see to it that the next time we ever meet, I will finish things between us on my own terms, before I deal with Reese for using me like this, whichever comes first." Shade then turned over to look at Riku. "Ah yes, Hokage brat, you and your partners were a disappointment compared to our last fight. The next time we meet, you'd better show me more of what you had back then, otherwise the lives of those with you will be forfeit."

"Graaggh!" Greg groaned as Shade lifted his foot and left his footprint on his Sneaking Suit as he started to walk away from the defeated group. However, Riku was the first to stand up and hurry over to his injured friends as he picked Greg up first.

"Is he finally gone?" Greg asked Riku weakly.

"Yeah, he's long gone." Riku replied to him, holding him up.

"Thank God…I almost couldn't breathe anymore." Greg grunted as he reached over and felt the wounds which covered most of his Sneaking Suit while one of his hands was shaking from the experience. From behind, he heard Rio and Maya call out to him as they were stunned hearing everything a moment ago.

"What just happened?" Rio asked. "He just upped and left us like this?"

"Did he really let us go?" Maya asked.

"It seems so, Maya. Reese actually called off our executions moments before Shade was going to pull something and he actually followed the order. This is actually a first time about the whole matter that I'm really grateful for." Riku replied.

"I wonder why he did a thing like that." Nagi asked, helping Tot get up, who wasn't too badly hurt. "It was rather strange of him to actually leave us like this."

"You know what, guys? I'm beginning to feel unsure about what's going to happen after this. Reese testing us using Shade or why we're still alive even now totally escapes me at the moment." Greg suddenly said, panting to catch his breathe. "I'm not even sure of why Reese started this mess in the first place, but right now, all I'm concerned about is that this matter has to be resolved, no matter how ugly it could get from now on. So, I'm still determined to see it through to the end."

"Of course, Greg. We all want the same thing seeing Lilica and Yuina safe again. So, if you want us to come with you still, we'll be more than welcome to do so." Tot said to him as Greg suddenly bowed to Riku, Nagi, and Tot in a sign of courtesy, surprising them a little.

"I really have to thank you three…for covering me back there against that guy." Greg said with this head lowered. "I know that it wasn't much that we couldn't have defeated him, but at least we did what we could to survive. You have to accept my apology for not doing a better job though at helping you, I really fought with all my strength and it wasn't enough."

"Greg, you did more than enough for everyone today against Shade, even though it wasn't enough so that we could have gotten him out of our lives forever, but then again that's an impossible task." Riku said as he patted Greg's shoulder. "I actually wish you, Rio and Maya were with us two years ago on the Mikage base and boat when we had to face him."

"Yeah, everyone who were with us had a harder time then against him to tell the truth." Nagi said. "You managed to do some things against Shade while relying on our help that we weren't able to do then."

"Nagi-kun's right. I've never seen anyone else who was that determined stand up to Shade like you before we met you." Tot said, causing Greg to widen his eyes.

"You three…it wasn't all a big deal. But thank you." Greg said as he scratched his cheek nervously. "I just followed what I've been practicing and experimenting with lately, that's all. And I did say I could be pretty much scary whenever I'm serious."

"Really, Greg. You were just using that 'Jump Cancelling' technique that you discovered that helped you gained some leverage against Shade." Rio's voice spoke as she was being supported by Maya and Dee.

"Jump Cancelling?" Nagi asked.

"It's one of Greg's current substitutes of levitation until he can fully utilize it. He can use an opponent's own body to keep his leverage above the ground and attack consecutively using that technique as long as he keeps on jumping on them like a springboard." Rio explained. "Combine it with his combat skills and Greg can pretty much do a certain number of his attacks more than once."

"Greg, you really have some unique attacks that at least proved useful against Shade." Riku told him.

"I really can't say they are. I still have ways to go on developing each of those strengths before I can discover any more secrets in accordance to my technique." Greg said as he looked at Rio. "But let's save the details of it for another time. Sensei, are you alright?"

Rio nodded before she threw herself into his arms, crying. "You truly are an idiot, did you know that? You broke a promise we made."

"Rio-sensei? What did I do now?" Greg asked as Rio wiped the tears from her eyes, yet she was smiling.

"You called me 'Mother' back there again, didn't you?" Rio said, causing Greg to look at her wide eyed. "You know you weren't supposed to do that until after the mission."

"Did you two actually make a promise like that, Rio?" Maya asked, smiling. "Well, it's about time he started to call you Mother."

"Ah, it was out of desperation at the time. How else could I have reacted?" Greg said, as he rubbed his head nervously as he noticed something. "Wait a minute, were you still awake all the time when I came in to stop Shade with Nagi and the others when you heard me said that?"

"Uh-huh, I heard your voice clear as day, giving Shade all those bad-ass threats. You have no idea how relieved I was hearing you're still alive." Rio said with a smile, before the shoulder wound made her wince. "Ittai…damn, this is going to leave a mark."

Greg simply smiled at her silently as he looked at the group, seeing everyone was bruised and shaken, but was still alive and fit enough to continue the mission.

"Are you three alright?" Greg asked the Shinsengumi trio as Dee nodded at Greg in reply.

"We're just fine, just a bit overwhelmed about what just happened. But we'll get over it. Normally, we wouldn't encounter too much trouble against ordinary enemies, but Shade does has more experience and strength than even Garland has. It was expected that he would give us trouble. But it's as you said, we actually got through that bit pretty much alright, thanks to you and your comrades." Dee said, wiping her brow.

"No, you really don't need to thank me. I think I didn't do too well back there myself, even though all I was doing was trying to get everyone away from the danger Shade posed with minimal problems." Greg said.

"Don't sweat it. You did your part rather exceptionally for today." Kanashii said to him. "Just be careful when we proceed further and don't be afraid to ask us for help again later."

"Right, I'll take that to mind." Greg replied

"Yeah, it's finally over…" Maya sighed, leaning back.

"But I doubt that will be the last time we'll be hearing of Shade. I'm sure he will want to finish things on his own terms sooner or later." Greg said as Rio shook her head.

"Please, Greg. Don't go saying things like that when you know it could come true. I don't need to go through that all over again." Rio said and then took a look at the wounds Greg had received during the fight with Shade. "Man, you need some serious patching up, Greg. Just hold still while I fix you up."

"I'm not sure if I can hold out any longer, sensei." Greg said, suddenly feeling dizzy. "I've used up most of my strength just trying to stay conscious after I blacked out the first time…"

"Greg?" Rio asked as she noticed Greg staggering forward, apparently looking weak.

"At least…let me catch some sleep since the danger is over for now, okay, sensei?" Greg said as he fell towards Rio, who ended up catching him, but dragged her downwards on her back as his head suddenly landed on her nearly exposed chest.

CRASH!

"Not this again!" Rio shouted as she felt Greg's weight on top of her as his head was cradled in the middle of her ample chest. Riku simply chuckled to himself as he leaned closer to Nagi.

"I'd hate to admit it, but I think Greg gets to have all the fun sometimes whenever he's with Rio." Riku said causing Nagi to nod and blush at the comment.

"You said it, Riku. I wonder what would happen if the other guys in FOXHOUND saw something like this and how they would react." Nagi said in return as Rio tried to lift the unconscious Greg off her body.

"You don't have much to be jealous about though, you've got Tot after all." Riku commented with a grin, causing the young psychic to blush even more as he tried not to imagine being in a position similar to Greg's with Tot.

"Greg! Greg! Aw, come on! Get up already!" Rio shouted as Greg blacked out into darkness.

"Allow me, Rio." Riku said as he walked over and took out a small bottle of green crushed leaves. He then kneeled down close enough as he passed the bottle near Greg's nostrils. After a couple of seconds, Greg suddenly shot up from his brief sleep.

"Ohhh…" Greg groaned as Rio cleared her throat loud enough for him to notice he was still on top of her, causing him to redden and suddenly move away from her. "Whoa! Rio-sensei, I'm sorry about that…my body just got so weak…"

"Ah, it's no biggie. Besides, I sort of missed the way you used my chest as pillows when you and I shared a futon when you were still a kid." Rio said as she stood up, causing Greg to redden even more in front of everyone around him.

"Sensei!" Greg shouted, as he sighed heavily. "Anyway, what was it that woke me up? It smelt like strong medicinal herbs…"

"That would be my doing. All I did was used a traditional ingredient for smelling salts on you." Riku said with a smile. "Sorry that I had to wake you up from your little nap, Greg, but now really isn't quite the time or place to be doing that. Are you doing okay?"

Groggily looking at Riku, Greg nodded slowly. "I should be fine for the moment…guhh!"

"What's the matter, Greg?" Riku asked suddenly.

"What the…? I've never noticed I was having this pain until now. I think I may have broken some ribs back there against that guy." Greg held his chest with his left hand. "What really happened just now?"

(Greg, you don't remember?) Rio asked mentally wide eyed as Greg suspected the worst, as the next words she spoke gave him a bit of a shock. (You didn't lose control this time, but it seemed that your powers suddenly gave you a boost just to buy us time against Shade until he retreated.)

(How did I…?) Greg thought to himself as he suddenly remembered now as he thought to himself. (I see…it was because of Lilica and Seishiro-san when I saw them in that vision before, wasn't it? They were right, I can't let myself give in to my dark desires or give up before fulfilling my promises I had made to everyone, including Seraph. Even if it wasn't the strength to defeat Shade, it was enough to protect myself, Rio, and everyone else that mattered when I needed it the most for the time being. Thank you, Seishiro-sensei and Lilica. I will continue my mission with your given strengths.)

"Greg, are you alright?" Maya asked as Greg nodded with a light smile.

"Yeah, I think everything's going to be fine from now on, aunt Maya." Greg suddenly said. "I think I suddenly feel a weight's been lifted off my shoulders for the moment, but I can't really say the same for the rest of my body."

"Here then, Greg. You can have some of my Life Medicine and bandages." Rio offered him two vials of beige coloured liquids and some packets of first aid gauge bandages.

"You sure you're okay handing out supplies freely like this while we're still halfway in the mission, sensei?" Greg asked.

"Hey, you're the one in much worse shape than the rest of us, considering that you don't have the exact medicine you will need for your powers, but it's the least I can do for you after all that you did just now for us." Rio said as her cheeks flushed a bit as Greg sighed lightly and smiled.

"Thanks then, sensei." Greg said as he wasted no time applying the bandages around his chest and right arm areas while he injected the Medicine into it afterwards. He made sure to keep the second vial in reserve just in case.

"You might as well use these too, it should make you at least feel better, Greg." Riku stepped forward as he took out three small vials of green and yellow liquids that had crushed herbs mixed in them.

"What is that?" Greg asked simply, looking at them.

"Oh, just some concoctions that I've been working on that is should be able to act as painkillers and stimulants using herbs. They should do a better job than those pills I've been seeing you taking lately, Greg." Riku explained, causing Rio and Greg's eyes to widen in surprise. "After all, unlike those, this is all natural."

"Hey, since when you were capable doing stuff like that?" Rio asked Riku.

"Yeah, I've just been thinking the same thing. I didn't know you were capable of acting as a medic too." Greg asked as Riku gave a sheepish smile.

"Well, a long time member of the Hokage clan, who is now actually the head medic for it, who knows her way around medicine ranging from modern to eastern techniques has been teaching me her ways around them for quite some time now." Riku replied as he took out a set of long pointed needles and smiled at Greg. "I even picked up learning acupuncture basics from her, which should also be able to help you if you're not feeling well…"

"Ah, I think I'll skip the acupuncture until my body feels at least more confident, thank you." Greg chuckled nervously before his tone switched back to its more gentle, yet serious tone from before. "But really, Riku, this is something unheard of, even from you. Once again, this is not the first time that your clan surprises me."

"Is this woman you learned all that stuff from someone we met at the mansion before?" Rio asked as Riku shook his head. "It's not your mother, is it?"

"No this is someone you guys missed, unfortunately, but I'm sure she will be rather amused knowing I've got good friends like you two and Maya, though she will impress you guys by her level of formalness. She really is someone you'd want to start respecting right away." Riku replied with confidence.

"It wouldn't hurt to ask for the name of this person you speak so highly of now, wouldn't it, Riku?" Greg asked, taking the concoctions from Riku.

"Why would you want to know, Greg?" Riku asked.

"I just wanted to keep in mind the name of someone who will probably save my life one day using her knowledge, that's all." Greg shrugged as he replied. "I never actually used herbal medicine as treatment before, but if you say this was learned from someone who is the head medic for the Hokage clan, now's as good a time as any to start it since we have that much faith in you guys."

"Aww, Greg. You really had to put it like that?" Riku replied, rubbing the back of his head with an embarrassed smile. "Well, since you had to rub it in, her name is Oboro, though I normally address her as Oboro-dono."

"Oboro of the Hokage clan, I'll definitely remember that name as I will take this medicine you took the time to learn how to make it from her." Greg said as he opened up one of the vials and lifted it to his mouth and drank half of its contents before swallowing it. "Ah, it tastes bitter."

"I know, I should have told you that it's not entirely flavoured for taste, but it will get the job done." Riku said.

"I can't begin thank you enough, Riku." Greg said patting his ninja friend.

"Hey, what are friends for, right?" He replied as Rio sighed with a smile looking at Greg looking a bit more relieved as she called out to everyone.

"Come on, everyone. We all still have to face the hard part of the mission." Rio said to her comrades in a near sad tone. "We should at least count our blessings that most of us came out of this unscathed before we have to face another powerful enemy probably soon, so stay on the guard."

"Yes, we should continue the mission without any more hesitation." Dee said. "The time for your friends safety is starting to run out now from the looks of things and even some of us will need swift and proper medical attention from the encounter with Shade and his troops. We need to be more careful from now on while proceeding."

Everyone in the group nodded at each other as they began to walk in the direction where Nanvel had pointed where they will finally locate Mantis's stronghold from before. However, Greg was still a bit stunned over everything that has happened moments ago and said nothing to anyone in the group, but looked at the darkness behind him.

(With all that had happened back there, my life has been spared today…twice.) Greg thought to himself. (First before my powers could have gone all screwy on me when I lost that medicine and before Shade could have killed me, but didn't. Now, I know for sure that I'm going have to take even extra caution with how everyone and I will go through this mission from now on and still make it out of this place alive with Lilica and Yuina.)

(And it also shows you just how weak you are as well, Greg. You're not doing quite well on this mission and that Shade guy surely showed you that.) A haunting voice echoed into his ears as Greg looked up around him and sighed heavily.

"I don't want to deal with you right now, so just leave me alone." Greg replied silently. "That guy…something about him wasn't human. It is impossible for one single human being to be that ruthless and powerful in battle that he can't even die. Surely, even you must have felt his essence, didn't you?"

(Oh, yes, I certainly did. He really is a force to be reckoned with.) Violent Greg's voice spoke from within his mind. (That Shade truly is something to be on the watch for from now on, as I don't need anyone else to take what rightfully belongs to me. You are mine to control and use to only my tastes and when I'm done with corrupting everything you touch using your own mind and body, I will take away your precious light that is keeping you as you are and it will be all over for you, my dear Greg.)

"Don't make me have to warn you a third time. Leave me and let me complete the mission." Greg replied coldly to himself as he heard a small cackle from his dark counterpart.

(Ohh, so where did this little tinge of intimidation come from all of a sudden, hmm?) Violent Greg's voice spoke. (And all that time that Shade guy was having several close calls with that surrogate mother of yours, all because of your incapability, your weaknesses, Greg. It must be from the fact that you now know that there is someone of that level of power, skill and must I add, sanity, who actually exists and is one of your newest enemies, isn't it? So now, you decide to act brave for your dear comrades, but in actuality, you're frightened of what's to come when you get to Mantis, aren't you?)

"I said SHUT UP!" Greg's voice echoed in the passageway as a loud thudding sound came right afterwards. Rio turned her back suddenly and saw her surrogate son, clutching unto his right nano arm with his natural left one, some fresh blood covering their studded knuckles.

"Greg, are you okay?" Rio asked, stepping closer to look at him, only to gasp in shock she saw him as she saw Greg stand up and wiped off some blood from a newly inflicted bruise on his right cheekbone.

"Y-yes, sensei, my body just wasn't feeling as energized as it's used to. I'll be okay now." Greg nodded as Rio's eyes lowered as she inspected the look in her student's own.

(Oh, Greg…you know you don't have to lie about your powers like this.) Rio thought as he heard them clearly.

(I'm sorry, sensei. But as I said before, let's not talk about anything regarding my powers until we clear this matter with Mantis first. And besides, I don't want Riku and everyone else to be any more worried about me than they probably are right now if they found out everything.) Greg replied in thought, then to himself. (Though, I'm sure when we get to Mantis, everything will be revealed to us about why this is happening.)

"Well, as long as you're doing fine, that's okay with me." Rio patted his shoulder and faced the group. "Let's go on everyone."

"Stick with us closer this time, okay, Greg?" Nagi said to him as he nodded silently in reply, even though the new bruise he'd given himself started to hurt like hell.

"Yeah, I'm right behind you, Nagi." Greg called back solemnly as he shook his head and began to trail behind his comrades into the lighted secret passage in the old Tokyo sewer system to conclude their mission.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Back at the Command Centre in NERV headquarters, everyone who had gotten wind about what had just happened were anxious as to what was going on with the recent developments regarding Reese betraying FOXHOUND. Having only to act mostly as spectators for the drama unfolding before them, the combined members of FOXHOUND and Philanthropy were now on edge at having to see their own comrades battle it out against an invincible and experienced soldier while the staff of NERV were getting a chance to see some actual combat action.

"You think our guys would have had a chance against the likes of Shade?" Hal Emmerich asked Snake as he was among the newest group of people who just overheard what was happening and joined the people at the Command Centre who had been watching Greg and his group outlast their encounter against Shade. Among him were Emma Emmerich, his step sister, Raiden and his wife, Rose, and Dr. Naomi Hunter.

"According to what Garland and Michael have been filling us all in about this guy, even I'm starting to doubt it." Snake replied in a gruff tone. "The fact that he regenerates would make it harder for any of the recruits to handle."

"Yeah, you did see what happened just now when he took those gunshots, right?" Misato asked. "That Shade guy really must not be human to shrug off something like that. I don't want to imagine this guy invading this base one bit if we're under attack, it's too damn scary."

"Commander, you will have to be forewarned that the chance of that happening is very strong since he's working for the enemy." Michael said to her without looking at her. "Someone with that ability in battle would surely be among the top pick of assassins for the Patriots."

"So that is why they selected him to try and stop your friends in their mission?" Ritsuko asked.

"I'm afraid to admit that is the truth, doctor, but it is." Michael replied in a sad tone.

"How unfair, for people young as them to confront a veteran in combat like that. It's inhumane." Ritsuko said as she shook her head sadly.

"I know, it must be cruel for our recruits to face such an enemy, I was thinking the same thing and how much more I want to do for them right now." Michael said. "But all we can do is just sit here and try our best to warn them about Shade and wait for some kind of good news."

"Man, this is so twisted and unfair indeed." Otacon said, folding his arms. "This reminds me a bit of something out of an old anime created by Gonzo animation called, 'Gantz'."

"I was thinking the same thing over here." Raiden said suddenly causing Shigeru to turn to the two Americans.

"So, you two have seen it huh?" Shigeru asked.

"Yeah, I heard it was a big hit over in Japan once the DVD versions of the uncensored and uncut episodes of the series went on sale. It really was hardcore from start to finish that broke all the rules in mainstream anime." Otacon explained. "When I look at this situation, it's really something out of that Buddhist statue arc which really was the climax of the series."

"I think I remember that arc when I was a kid, but I refuse to think back on it too much because of all the gratuitous violence." Maya Ibuki said as she shook her head a bit and began to think to herself. (I guess that's why I can't tolerate seeing stuff like this on my day job because of that Gantz anime…)

"Are you boys done making reviews on a fad and focus on the matter at hand?" Naomi said, causing Raiden, Otacon, and Shigeru to rub their heads.

"Yeah, she's right. It's your friend's lives that are on the line out there." Emma spoke, folding her arms. "The most you can do is offer up some advice to them."

"Sorry, E.E. Didn't mean to go there." Otacon said. "But if you do look at it, our guys had a really difficult time getting by this Shade guy. If only it were easy to say we knew what could at least weaken him, then perhaps…"

"But it's as Garland and Michael has been telling us about this guy, it's impossible for him to die." Misato said as a thought crossed her mind as she spoke to Michael. "I don't think ordering an N2 bomb strike on this guy is going to stop him now, would it?"

Before Michael could reply as he looked at her quizzically, everyone then heard Rio's voice over the open Codec lines.

"Hey, Greg, have you still got your Codec?" Rio asked him clearly as Garland picked up his ears to the sound of her voice.

"It couldn't be…you mean to tell us…" Garland looked at Michael with a tinge of hope in his eyes as the bridge bunnies switched on the main monitor.

"Why is it you want to know about that?" Greg asked, before Rio snatched it from his ear as she made sure her face was close enough to the monitor for everyone to look at her and her almost shredded Team Warrior clothing. Seeing that he was still hooked up and Rio was almost exposing herself, Greg tried to stop her, but couldn't.

"Sensei, what are you doing?" Greg asked, before he realised something. (Oh, no! It's still on the live video frequency and I forgot to turn it off! Now everyone is going to flood me with messages asking about her and the rest of Team Warrior after this, I just know it!)

Some of the males from NERV, FOXHOUND, and Philanthropy altogether swallowed at the sight of seeing Rio like this.

"Whoa, she's super hot." Shigeru said lowly, causing Meryl to glare at him.

"What was that?" The FOXHOUND leader said as Shigeru lowered himself from her stare.

"Is that really Greg's surrogate mother?" Garland asked himself, trying his best not to get attracted to her. (It's a good thing that Maggie isn't here with me to see this.)

Meanwhile, some of the female staff of NERV kept looking at the size of Rio's chest and theirs for comparison.

(It's not fair…) Maya Ibuki thought sadly as she looked at the monitor. (They're twice mine AND sempai's size!)

(If women like that do actually exist in this world, now I know it's hopeless for me.) Emma thought as a dark cloud hung over her head.

"Ah, sensei…" Greg stuttered as Rio shouted her protest over the Codec.

"I hope everyone who's comfortable over there in Tokyo-3 is enjoying the show right now while we bust our asses against this guy." Rio said loudly in a near sarcastic tone to the active Codec screen which was directed to NERV headquarters as Greg was right with her.

"Sensei, now's not the time to be letting your emotions get the best of you, especially in front of the only defence base on the planet that's capable of fighting Angels." Greg said to her in a nervous tone. "I think everyone back at Tokyo-3 was very concerned about us with how things are going; I doubt they are enjoying the fact they have to even know about this."

"Uggh, I just can't believe just how tough that guy was. It's really starting to get to me and I doubt we even came close to slowing him down." Rio spoke, breathing heavily as her breasts heaved up and down, causing Greg to redden and several nosebleeds to flow back at NERV headquarters. Twitching his right eyebrow, Greg simply snatched back the Codec from her and switched it back to the 'Audio Only' frequency for now.

"What are you doing?" Rio shouted at him, as Greg covered her mouth with this gauntlet equipped hands.

"I'm trying to mostly save your pride, sensei." Greg said. "The Codec was still on live video when you took it and now, every single one at NERV must have…seen you."

Rio's face turned red as she shook her fist after looking at her torn outfit to club Greg on the head.

"So, why the hell you didn't turn it off sooner?" She shouted.

"Damn, that hurts, sensei! Why are you blaming this on me?" Greg asked, rubbing the sore spot on his head. "You're the one who took it before I could have gotten a chance to do anything!"

"Well, I just felt like doing it since I wanted to let off some steam." Rio said, as she folded her arms as she stuck her tongue out at Greg, before smiling at him.

"That's not reason enough." Greg replied sourly as Riku smirked as he was watching this a bit before getting back to his serious side.

"Just hang on a little longer, you two. We should be able to deal with him some how." Riku said as he talked to everyone over at NERV using his codec. "Everyone, you can breathe easily for now, Shade actually retreated from the scene a while ago."

"He retreated? Something about that doesn't seem right." Michael said, surprised at hearing this. "Why did he leave?"

"We overheard Reese called in and stopped him during the fight." Tot spoke.

"Why would Reese do that?" Garland asked. "Venom's right, this doesn't seem right at all. You guys have to be extra careful from now on, I'm really starting to not like where this is heading."

"All that we're grateful for is that he spared us since we were near death and that finding Lilica was so close." Maya Jingu spoke.

"I was beginning to doubt we could have made it, but here we are." Rio said. "It was something else. We were there with Maya when she fired those grenade rounds at him and he didn't even slow down, even with the extensive burns he had!"

"His regenerative powers must move at quite the accelerated rate…probably more than the nanomachines we at FOXHOUND use and I mean if they aren't working on overtime to heal the serious wounds we sometimes get." Greg said. "And his strength…I've never felt this uncomfortable facing a man of that strength, even in some of the King of Fighters tournaments I've taken part of in the past."

"Is that so? Can you recall who from the KOF would be this tough to beat?" Riku asked as Greg looked thoughtful a bit before speaking.

"Well, we've got several candidates, namely those who had inherited the bloodline of the Orochi and those who serve him." Greg said. "Iori-sensei happens to be one of the cursed as well as Leona Heidern, but we've also got the likes of Yashiro Nanakase, Shermie, and Chris serving the purpose of Orochi as well. There's a big difference type between those who serve and were cursed by the Orochi bloodline in terms of power and strength, but it all boils to another common trait that doesn't separate them from the other…their sanity."

"Like Ryuji Yamazaki, right?" Rio asked.

"Yeah, he's a certified nut who also has Orochi blood in him." Greg said. "Then there's also Rugal Bernstein and Goenitz, not to mention those two assassins who assist him, Mature and Vice. They have lost some of their sanity by gaining some of that cursed power in the past. But…no, it can't be possible…not even for that monster we're facing."

"Hold on, Greg. I know you think a lot during a situation, but don't go giving me any more ideas to worry about." Rio said. "If you're beginning to think that Shade punk is also part of the Orochi clan as well…"

"There's a strong possibility of that, though I really can't tell because he really hasn't started to fight at full strength up to now. It's probably just a bad assumption I'm having." Greg said. "Just thinking about that worries me the worst."

"Well, it seems that ability that the gauntlets Nanvel spoke about before are starting to giving you an edge in battle so far." Rio said. "Unleashing those attacks at the same time while rushing Shade during your special combat training was something I didn't know was possible."

"Yeah, but he wasn't slowed down from even the successive hits I made on him so far." Greg said. (And to think it increased the risk of me losing to my powers even more when I used that Charge Drive ability awhile back too…)

"Even so, Greg, we won't be able to maintain it forever the next possible time, Shade would be able to outlast us more than everyone else." Riku explained. "In any case, it's best to try and stay on our guard when we run do into him again."

(Which I'm hoping has to be never.) Greg thought simply.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"It's time, Yuina!" Mantis beckoned Yuina Hatori to him. "Kinezono is getting closer, I can sense him. It's time for you to prepare for his arrival."

"NO! Please...don't make me do it!" Yuina cried out. "Don't make me hurt anybody using..."

"Silence, girl! I had enough of your insolence and now, you'll finally submit to my command or suffer the consequences!" Mantis said, grabbing her arm.

"NO! Don't!" She cried out, as she was taken from her cell. "Please...don't make me use the password! I beg you! Leave Seraph alone!"

Lilica, who was overhearing the commotion, could only watch in horror as she prayed for some kind of miracle to rescue her and Yuina from this hell.

(Oh, God…Mantis is going to do something terrible to her, I just know it.) Lilica thought as she clenched her hands together. (Rio, Maki, Greg, everyone…where are you guys? Haven't you gotten my signal yet? If you have, please hurry up and make it here for Yuina's sake...)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Back at the Kawasaki household...

"You think they will be alright?" Nanvel asked, while tapping on her keyboard. "We've lost contact with them for over several minutes now. I'm worried about them and Greg ended up showing some unusual readings in his psychic abilities for almost six minutes. What do you think happened, Maki?"

"I wish I could tell, but don't give up on them." Maki said. "They have to be alright somehow, even if the situation does look dim."

"They have to be fine, or else…" Seraph stopped midway as she sighed heavily. "I'm sorry, this has started to make me worry as well. I'm in need for something to calm myself."

"You sure you don't want me to get something for you instead?" Nastasha asked as Seraph shook her head to the Russian woman.

"I'll be fine, Romanenko-san. You have to continue assisting Nanvel and Maki and you shouldn't leave your position in case something happens. I can manage just well." Seraph said to her.

"Okay, then, Seraph. There's some newly brewed tea I made for everyone in the kitchen, you can help yourself to it." Maki said with a smile to her.

"Thank you, Maki." Seraph said as she left the room and headed to the kitchen.

"She is capable in her own unique ways, isn't she?" Nastasha asked.

"Yeah, sure is. I'm glad we were all able to become friends with her." Nanvel said before she thought to herself. (Which makes me wonder if there are possibly other biodroids like her around?)

In the kitchen room, Seraph had stepped in to help herself to a cup of the tea that Maki had made earlier. She was a bit overly anxious of all the action that Greg and the others had just gone through, but she was still feeling confident that things would be okay and she would be reunited with Yuina soon.

Just while she was pouring the cup, her body started to receive a sensation, as if it was being taken from where she stood by an unknown force. Suddenly, she could feel Yuina's mind. Seraph recognized the vision.

"Mantis...?" Was all she muttered, before she collapsed, her large white angel wings emerged, shining, out her back, then suddenly her body disappeared from the kitchen leaving the cup she was holding to crash onto the floor. Nanvel then stepped in moments afterward and noticed the mess in the room.

"Seraph?" She called out, fearing the worst. (What the hell just happened? Whatever the case, it can't be good. I've got to warn Greg and the others fast!)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

ShardclawK: Okay, I got quite a long explanation of what's been going on with me since the last revision update to all the eager readers, so here's what's been going on as well some small Easter Eggs.

First off, I really have to apologize to the eager set of new and old readers of the Soldier X revision up to this point for the really looong delay for this revised chapter to be posted, my reasons being, (mostly bad and some good ones in between) I had been really busy with work lately especially since the Christmas rush is coming, not to mention the internet café close to my home had been closed down for awhile since August, so I had a big lag in the researching for the references and inspirations I have been using for the revisions recently. To make things worst, I even got a skin infection close to my left eye awhile back in October and I had be admitted at the hospital for awhile too just recently after the eyelid had swollen to the point I couldn't open it for at least three days! Don't panic, though, it was taken care of before it got any more serious and it's back to normal as before. Also, I've been busy playing one of the best games on the PS2 thus far, Okami, and the new Tales of the Abyss game lately, and even an early finished copy of Final Fantasy 12 which has also taken up most of my revision time as well. (I had been seriously lagging in gaming this year lately and been telling myself I would at least finish a number of several games in my collection before the year is over…)

Anyway, I hoped everyone liked it from the major changes and additions made to this one. And again, I couldn't help but not include some more Tales of Legendia references, one of them which happened to be a battle quote Will Raynard used when he drills Senel at the end of a battle, since it would make sense that would be the closest thing Garland would tell any of the younger FOXHOUND recruits in training. Another were dialogue inserts used in one of its skits including Senel and Will, while there's another reference to the Mix sandwich recipe. Okay, so I'm just still a really big Tale of Legendia nut. While I love Tales of the Abyss, it could have been a little better if they only had the voice acting like they did in Legendia…

Another reference used for the chapter was the verse Greg used before executing his Kai Tsuki move which is the same quote used for Lunar Legend Tsukihime. Also, I want to thank DarkFusion for suggesting how Greg should relate to Seishiro in the same fashion Kyo Sohma does with Kazuma Sohma from Fruits Basket, which became one of my recent favourites this year. I hoped everyone liked that touching flashback I included.

And a few more references which was made during the revision was to an anime that Otacon mention which I was hooked on during my hiatus, Gantz, made by the same people who were behind Hellsing, Last Exile and the recent Basilisk (fans of that one would have seen three names from it mentioned in this chapter, which means that yes, that anime will be part of this story later on, so keep your eyes peeled for details during the future revisions), Gonzo Studios, in which the complete series was released by ADV films. A word of warning though for those who want to check it out, it breaks all barriers on the explicit content, (not to the mention gratuitous violence and character deaths you'll see almost EVERY episode) but it does have lots of action, some fan service and some dirty comedy on the side, so it's worth a look at.

I'm midways done with the next revised chapter, so you can be expecting it to show up eventually very soon, God willing.


	10. Apprehension

ShardclawK: Just to let everyone know that I'm still alive and kicking, it's just that I've been REALLY busy as of late with stuff, so I was kind of kicking back to give my head some leeway, but I have been keeping up to date with the revisions during the hiatus just to let you know I have no intention of giving up on these revisions just as they are faring so well.

In any case, I hoped everyone reading this revised chapter had a good and safe holiday as I did and are enjoying the New Year thus far. I just have some important stuff to mention before I begin that I think will please those who are enjoying the progress of the revisions so far.

First off, during these revisions, you may also see some advances story-wise at the same time from now on in order to speed things up a bit at the end of the Mantis arc and afterwards, so please bear with me if you think I'm being delayed more than usual since I've been busy with my job and working on other fiction at the moment, its all in favour to get this monster updated again. But I could assure that you'll be seeing even more process for this story flowing again in 2007 and even in COE very soon as I've also begun working on its revisions, using the manga version of Evangelion as its inspiration, so you guys are in for some major treats later on.

Also, I've recently started the process of getting into several new anime/manga titles and even games over the hiatus to help give me inspirations with the current fiction work, as some of them will actually be crossing over into this story later on. I recently updated the character listing sometime back, so you're free to check for yourselves anytime which of the few other anime/manga and game titles being included in terms of genre and content in this fic. Be expecting some more to be added in the coming months.

Okay, I've talked enough already. It's time to get the main events on the way, I hope everyone, both old and new readers will enjoy this revised chapter, especially with all the references I've thrown in.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Metal Gear: Soldier X

Chapter 9: Apprehension

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

In the busy streets of New York, a yellow taxi cab stopped near a subway entrance. A man hurriedly stepped out with a suitcase in hand. He was wearing a large, oversized, trenchcoat with a light brown tan colour, and only a green beret could be seen at the top. It was turning a dark colour, due to the light rain that had been pouring down ever since the early hours of the morning.

He quickly paid the driver and then whirled around and stepped into the entrance, making his way underground, passing through the crowd of people who were all bustling to get to their routine stops using the trains. After a few minutes, the train he was waiting for arrived and he immediately stepped in and found a seat before it got filled with the other passengers and breathed deeply with relief. After the train made its stop, he exited with the other passengers and after leaving the station, walked a distance to another end of the city where he then made a turn into a dark alleyway. In front of him, were several parked SUV's and another man waiting for him, whom he could recognise in any place.

"I thought you would be here, Reese." A man's voice spoke behind him. Reese knew the tone of the voice and did not bother to turn around as he was surrounded by several taller men wearing black coats and were holding metallic canes. Matthew Reese simply smirked as he was taking puffs from his cigar before finally turning and facing the other man in front of him.

"It couldn't be helped...uncovering the records of that punk Kinezono took longer than I thought." Reese replied. "Besides...I managed to get out of there before that goody two shoes Campbell and his band of freaks caught on, didn't I, General Drake"?

The man named Drake smiled a bit. He had thin grey hair, while his eyes were a brown colour. He was in a dark business suit, making him look like an average person among the civilians in the area.

"You were always capable of surprising me, Reese...no wonder the Patriots chose you to do their bidding...but, then again, I'm sure they are still quite angry with you for failing your task with James Masterson when he went to Cuba." Drake said with a smile as Reese simply replied with a retort with his own.

Reese simply laughed at Drake. "Yes, Masterson did manage to evade the plan the Patriots set for him, but Gregory Kinezono…or should I put it, Matthews, won't be so lucky. The Patriots predicted the growth in his powers, but never expected him to survive his ordeal integrating them into his body. All in all, he is soon to live up to my expectations, not yours."

"What do you intend to do about this, Reese?" Drake asked. "It was rather risky and irregular for you to reveal yourself like this. What is it that you want to gain from this little show that you're putting on for FOXHOUND?"

"Curious to see what I have in store for them, my old friend Drake?" Reese spoke as he smoked some more. "You see, I have a plan for all of them, Kinezono's just the beginning. With him out of the way, the real drama can begin as I've been making several…'friends' outside of FOXHOUND who are willing to join me in my cause."

"Are you planning to challenge the Patriots, Reese?" Drake asked as Reese smirked.

"That's not my intention, my will has always been to serve them to the fullest. I just have some different plans in mind, that's all." Reese said. "You see, my friend, I have already looked over several intriguing candidates from all areas that weren't originally looked into and once they accepted my terms and conditions, I will see to it that the Patriots will sponsor them, strengthened through their science and technology, and they will provide me with my own force of super powered recruits to challenge Campbell's worthless group."

"Was that your intention all along, then?" Drake asked. "You will not get away far with this, Reese."

Reese laughed a bit before disposing his cigar. "Aw, come now. I'm just after the same thing as you, my fellow spy for the Patriots. So, what are a few outside negotiations to you, hmm?"

"As I recall, in the past the Committee never associated themselves with criminals to get their work done, if that's what you're implying." Drake replied.

"You never know, Drake. The Patriots may have gotten their hands dirty in the past just to get things done around here for the sake of their country, you really shouldn't deny it." Reese said. "I just thought I could speed things up a bit, knowing that there are others who want at least a piece of the world for themselves, am I wrong?"

"No, you're not. It is true that there are several other factions whom are all trying to take over where the Patriots left off." Drake said, knowing fully well of the much rumoured NESTS group that had slowly been resurfacing after their downfall fifteen years ago. Then the likes of Mesphistopheles and Kusiel which were sub syndicates working under the mysterious organization known as Addis were also contenders, right behind was Geese Howard who was trying to rebuild his empire. Other various factions that were hidden across the world were also vying to gain the power that the Patriots lost controlling the world. Drake would eventually have to look into those groups soon enough.

"You see, we have to take this initiative for our rulers. That way, things should run even more smoothly for them." Reese said.

"And you had to include an innocent girl into this as well by murdering her relative for that end?" Drake asked in a bitter tone.

"Ah, yes. Yuina Hattori, wasn't it?" Reese asked, playing naive. "I had to do whatever it took to provoke Matthews and those with him into my trap and everything played out well as I expected. Even Mantis got a taste of blood from doing his part, I must say. But when the effects of the brainwashing wears off, it will be then he will realise his own monstrosity that he had abandoned years ago. Besides, his time will come soon. He has served enough of my purposes, and now his uses are no longer required."

"Are you planning something for Mantis as well?" Drake asked.

"What's the point for recycled trash like him any more? He has proven to be useful before after I managed to reconstruct him after his death, but he's started to regain control of himself by the day. As I suspected, the brainwashing effect the Patriots did on him would eventually wear off. He must be properly disposed off, as will Gregory Kinezono and that young girl, Yuina. She too has proven to be useful for our plans, but we won't need someone with that amount of fragility from losing a relative among us."

Drake simply shook his head. "You're a cold man, Reese. There are other ways to sort out troublemakers like Kinezono, but you had to resort to this. Just take note that your 'crude methods' have already caused questionable facts about how you handle things in the past when you were still in charge of FOXHOUND to surface. Whether or not that was the case of why you were chosen to be a spy for the Patriots, I don't know nor do I want to know, but remember one thing…if you carry on as you are now, you'll most likely end up like Colonel Osborne."

Lt. Matthew Reese took his time to remember the details of what happened to the said colonel who was looking forward of joining the ranks among the Patriots. "Nathan Osborne was not careful enough to pay attention to the signs around him, that's what made him fail in staying alive in this business. If he had managed to accomplish his mission of obtaining Metal Gear WOTAN, he'd surely still be alive if blame didn't fall on him so much."

"In any case, I would like to see what is it you have got planned for Kinezono and his allies...as long as it does not get in the way of what I have in store for him in case your plan fails." Drake spoke. "I have been a better candidate worthy for earning the Patriots's trust in these matters and have not failed in their duties."

"I can guarantee you...it won't fail. As long as it gets the Patriots' plans to have Ultimatum Gear moving, I'll stop at nothing to see it happen." Reese smiled. (Today, Mantis...will be your final day of living...and soon after, Greg will be joining you for the ride.)

"Now, if you would excuse me, I have a busy week ahead of me." Reese said, stepping into one of the SUV's which were opened for him. "I must begin searching for my 'own suitable recruits' for Addis to enhance and maybe you've probably heard of a few of them, but then again, maybe you haven't. In any case, I would like to see the look on your face after my results have proven useful with them. Goodbye, General Drake."

With that, the door to the SUV slammed and then drove off with the others as Drake stood there by himself, shaking his head.

(Even if you ally yourself with a group of criminals, Reese, the situation will not change for you.) Drake thought. (I will always see to it that the Patriots get what is needed to them and I will certainly not allow you to get your way with us by deceiving us like this. As you will see soon enough, I have my own friends as well who will certainly aid me in realising the Patriots goals. Just you wait…)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"So, it has begun now...Kinezono's real battle against one of the strongest forces on the planet." Solidus Snake spoke while he watched the monitor. "This should prove very interesting indeed..."

"At this point, Kinezono will learn his true potential...and it will be the Patriots that will rule it to their needs." Ocelot said. "All is lost for Greg Matthews once he learns the truth about himself. He will just have to accept it one way or the other."

"Are you certain the plan will be realised by the time this battle's over, Ocelot?" Solidus asked. "After all, the data we collected not only from his confrontation against Shade, but all the previous times when his own power was detected being used it has proven Kinezono is closer to meeting our expectations. All we have to do now is wait and see if that one will succeed in the final test that awaits him."

"And we shall finally have control over their scenario. Yes, everything's going our way for once." Solidus smiled to himself.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Linn Aramaki couldn't stop crying. Some time had passed since her last conversation with Greg over the Codec just after he and his group of the combined forces of Warrior, FOXHOUND, and the female swordswomen trio of the Shinsengumi encountered Shade. She tried to keep it inside her, but she just couldn't take it anymore. She knew it was dangerous to go and try and assist, but she felt that the situation had become helpless now after being told of Shade's capabilities in battle. And knowing Greg well enough to know that he would be insistent in trying to rescue Lilica and Yuina from danger's clutches, this was something he couldn't turn his back to, even if it meant facing a dangerous foe like Shade.

Not knowing whether or not Greg and his group had managed to survive their encounter, she had gone to where there were barely any people around to see her in her broken emotional state. One available place was at the Evangelion cages, where the FOXHOUND supplied Harrier 2 was docked at the moment. Leaning back to shed her tears, she slammed her fist against the wall of the cockpit.

"You've always been a fool, Greg. Why did you have to go without telling me everything?" Linn cried, shaking her head. "Why are you always making me worry like this?"

With her hands over her face, she continued to sob, until she heard a young girl's voice call out her known surname.

"Aramaki-san?" The voice was low and gentle in tone, but the attractive FOXHOUND female already recognized it as she looked up and through her watered sight, she can see a young albino girl wearing a plain white and light grey school dress. It was Rei Ayanami.

"Aramaki-san...is something the matter?" Rei stepped up closer to the Harrier and asked Linn. Linn simply shook her head as she sniffed a bit and spoke to the First Child.

"Oh, it's only you, Rei Ayanami. No, everything's not okay. That idiotic boyfriend of mine went off with some of our friends somewhere very dangerous and he may as well get himself killed." Linn spoke, in an almost angry tone. "And the worst part of this is I've only just learnt about it as did everyone else in my group. There's really not a thing I can do to help him now, but just sit here and wait...and that's what I'm afraid of the most."

"You have a right to worry about your comrades, Aramaki." Rei simply spoke. "And Kinezono happens to be a strong willed individual...it is doubtful he would risk his own comrades in danger without thinking ahead."

"I appreciate you trying to tell me the facts, but you really don't know him as well as I do. Once he sets his mind on something, he never lets it go until it's resolved. He's is so stubborn he can't even see it." Linn replied, still in a bitter mood, before relaxing a bit. "How would you know about him?"

"We have seen his strength in defending this base from the enemy, and my previous conversation with him just yesterday proved my answer about one such as him." Rei explained.

"Wait a minute…did you talk to Greg before today?" Linn asked.

"Yes. I was puzzled by his actions and he told me that he wanted to protect you and your fellow comrades from the enemy, just how Ikari did the same for myself and NERV." Rei said. "He also mentioned how it's meaningless to throw your own life away just to ensure the safety of the people he cares about. I believe that he will not surrender in his battles that easily."

"As much as I want to think Greg would have an easy time through this, it's not entirely easy for him, especially where his powers are concerned." Linn spoke as she inhaled deeply. "In the few years that I've known him, Greg never really appreciated his existence because of his powers. He probably sees himself more of an obstacle than a help to everyone else around him and I'm afraid that that will be the kind of mindset he will still have by the time he faces Mantis. He has trouble enough with just accepting the fact of how much everyone close to him still needs him …even now, when I think of how much I really don't appreciate it when he tries and pulls stunts like this, I can't help but love him even more, because his own family is in danger and he's chosen to settle things, no matter how dangerous it seems. Tell me, Rei…am I doing the right thing in still hoping for him?"

"I am unsure of that. That is something for you to decide on, Aramaki." Rei said calmly. "However, on the chance that Kinezono would allow himself to fail to protect the ones he holds dear, I doubt that will happen. He is doing this for your sake, so that he can see that you are safe. He claimed that if it wasn't for you and those closest to him, he wouldn't have a reason to protect anyone. Have faith in Kinezono...I'm sure he will not allow himself to sadden others if he lets his fears overcome him."

"Rei Ayanami…you can't be…" Linn simply muttered as Rei stepped closer to observe Linn as she was wearing a small silver chain that hung around her neck as a small, pure blue crystal was attached to it and was seen dangling near her dog-tags over the top of her Sneaking Suit chest area.

"Is that a _crystal teardrop_?" Rei simply asked as Linn smiled a bit seeing her charm.

"Yes, Greg got this for me for our second anniversary as a couple. There were only two at the time, so he has one for himself." Linn said. "But I rarely see him take it with him since he is pretty active in missions most of the time. I wear mine all the time though, maybe just to show how I'm still hanging on to whatever is left of our relationship."

"I see. If so, I'm certain Kinezono still has faith in you as well, Aramaki." Rei spoke. "Faith that you're supporting him from where you are right now is what he would need the most at this time."

Rei then left the room quietly and Linn to herself. The Japanese mixed Indian beauty simply stared on in awe as soon after, Silent Scorpion, Kari Mondeau and Mana Kirishima then stepped in the cages and found her.

"Linn, there you are." Scorpion stopped next to her. "Some of the technicians saw you coming this way when ran off from the Command Centre. Are you alright?"

Linn simply nodded in silence at the young master sniper. "Sure, I'm okay now. Were you guys looking for me?"

"Yeah, Garland and Michael were worried about how you were doing, so we came by to check up on you. Did something happen here, Linn?" Mana asked, tilting her head. "I'm sure I just saw the First Child leave here. Was she talking to you?"

"Yeah, she was, Mana." Linn replied. "She and I had a somewhat good, long talk about Greg and made me reconsider some things about him."

"Hmm, I thought she rarely communicates with people here." Kari said, placing a gloved finger near her lips. "So how come she would open up to you like that?"

"Maybe she wanted to give me some encouragement, I guess." Linn shrugged her shoulders. "But I wonder why she would go through the trouble though?"

"I'm not sure why, but I guess she has good intentions for doing so, Linn." Scorpion spoke. "And besides, she's not the only one willing to help you through this. We're here to help as well. That's why we came here looking for you."

"He's right, Linn. Greg's our friend, no, he's family to us." Mana said. "Certainly you don't intend on not enduring the worst of things without at least helping him and everyone else out, right?"

"You've got a point, Mana. I guess I have to face this whether we want to or not." Linn said. "But whatever happens, I'm sure they will be all okay. I mean, it will be just like Greg not to give up before the mission begins, right? So I'm sure he will do just fine."

"Linn…" Kari said as Linn turned around to face the Harrier.

"He has to pull through somehow. We still have lots of things to argue about once this mess is over before we can get our relationship straightened out once and for all." Linn said. "But for the time being, I have to do my part as well. So, please everyone…will you all help me through this, now matter what will happen?"

"It's a sure thing, Linn." Mana said. "I'm sure Garland and Michael would hurry to do the same too. We are family after all."

"Thanks, you guys." Linn nodded, wiping a tear from her eye. "Let's see if we can still give Greg and our friends the support they will need from here, okay?"

"Alright, we will do our part too." Scorpion spoke. "I can't afford to break Greg's trust now of all times since he has done his part in watching my back in the past too."

"By the way, Linn, that's a lovely crystal you have." Mana said as she noticed the necklace she was wearing.

"Why, thanks, Mana. I hardly get to wear such a thing these days because I was worried about what Reese would say if he had caught me wearing this before." Linn said. "I've never seen Greg wear his and it kind of worried me why he would do that. The last time I saw his anywhere near him was in the cockpit of the Harrier during missions. Hmm, now that I think about it…"

Linn made sure and examined the pilot cockpit of the Harrier once more and found a tiny storage area where certain supplies would be kept. After searching through a few minutes, she gasped loudly as she made a discovery.

"Of all the…that guy really is a fool, I tell you." Linn said as she began to cry.

"What's wrong, Linn?" Mana asked as Linn looked up with a smile on her wet face.

"Oh, nothing's wrong. It's just that I went through the emergency compartment of Greg's cockpit and noticed the empty case where he stores his own charm, that's all." Linn said as she dried her eyes. "And it happens to be that the charm itself isn't there. It can only mean one thing."

"He must have it with him then." Kari said smiling herself. "You see, Linn. I'm pretty sure he is thinking about you even now. You shouldn't worry yourself anymore now that he has you on his side."

"You're probably right." Linn said as she began to think to herself. (Have faith, huh? Well...hoping for you, Greg to accomplish your mission and get this thing resolved with Mantis is one thing to start with. Oh, Greg...if only you could hear my voice...I just wanted to tell you...don't disappoint Lilica now. You have to win...for me and everyone else's sake.)

"Let's go back and join the others." Scorpion said as Linn joined the trio of young FOXHOUND recruits.

"Yes, lets. We need to assist Garland and Venom in helping Greg and Riku through this mission." Linn said confidentially as she looked back to the doorway where Rei Ayanami went through. (And thank you as well for reminding me, Rei, even though your intentions aren't clear yet.)

It was then that the group heard their Codec ring at the same time, as Mana was the first one to answer it.

"This is Crimson Jaguar." Mana responded. "Venom, what is it? Does it have to do with Greg and the others?"

"Yes and it appears they got through for the good of things, Mana. They are all okay for the moment; everyone in the Command Centre just confirmed it." Venom said in a relaxed tone as Mana sighed.

"Really? That's good news, thank God." Mana smiled as she turned to her comrades. "Everyone, let's hurry back. It seems that Greg, Riku, Nagi, Tot, and the others with them managed to survive their encounter with Shade and are proceeding with their mission."

"Everyone is okay?" Linn asked a bit surprised as Mana smiled at her.

"I told you everything would work out just fine." She said to Linn. "Venom, we're heading over to the Command Centre with Linn, we just located her and she wants to help us as much as she can."

"Alright, we'll be waiting for you guys." Venom said as he switched off his Codec.

(Greg, once again, you did pull through against the impossible, didn't you?) Linn thought. (Well, it's not like I ever lost faith in that stubborn, insensitive boyfriend of mines to begin with. I'm so going to give him such a stern talking to once this is over.)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Meanwhile, back in the sewers beneath old Tokyo…

"Achoo! Achoo!" A recovering Greg Kinezono let out a couple of small sneezes as he used his left hand to hold unto the side of this head. His companions from FOXHOUND, Team Warrior, and the Shinsengumi stopped in front of him to look at him, a bit concerned since he was trying to look his best, despite having nearly losing his life to Shade moments before while rescuing Rio on the verge of losing control of his powers, but managed to stay in control for the time being.

"Are you alright, Greg?" Riku asked first as Greg nodded silently to him first before speaking.

"Yeah, I guess for the moment." Greg replied, shaking his head a little. "For some strange reason, I just started sneezing without any warning. I hope I haven't come down with something."

"Probably somebody was just talking about you, Greg." Rio said in a near cheerful tone, hoping to bring his spirits back up. She knows he was probably still half affected by the effects of his powers that were no longer under his control during his fight with Shade. The appearance on his face showed this as the two red vertical skin abrasions on his left cheek were still there as a permanent mark now from that encounter.

"After all that just happened, everyone back at FOXHOUND must still be talking about our encounter with Shade, Sensei." Greg replied. "I'm sure they're probably very worried about us."

"All of us really got off lucky today with facing that freak." Maya gave a deep sigh as she stretched herself. "Man, who would have thought we would have gotten away like this? Do you think it will be that simple the next time if we run into him again, Rio?"

"I don't want to even talk about it right now, okay, Maya? So let's can the talk about that unnatural freak of nature and focus on getting to the stronghold" Rio said lowering her stare a bit with her back turned to Greg. "Even if we couldn't get to kill that lecherous bastard, I still wish there was a way we could have really given it to him after all what he did."

(She must be still really upset that she came close to being ravaged by that guy if Riku and the Shinsengumi hadn't stopped him in time while I blacked out at the worst of timings. I can't blame her, that Shade guy was inhumanly powerful just to overpower us like he did, it's still impossible to believe that someone like him exists.) Greg thought to himself. (I may not understand what fully happened back there with my powers, but thanks to that now, I'm not even in the best of shape to continue the mission as I hoped to be before meeting Shade.)

"Sensei, you shouldn't kick yourself about such this. It's just as Riku and his partners told us before, it's just not possible to kill that guy, or defeat him for that matter." Greg said, coming close to pat her. "There's really nothing we could have done about Shade anyway, but at least we're out of danger from him at the moment and are still hot on the trail towards Mantis' stronghold. That's what counts, because all of us are still here and in one piece to complete the mission."

Rio turned around and sighed as she gently punched Greg's bandaged chest, causing him to grimace a bit. "You're so dense sometimes, Greg. I was worried about you the whole time too after all that happened. That Shade freak did quite the number on you before your powers went and caused you to black out right there and then."

Greg's body felt about as bad as before when he lost his medicine and the wounds he accumulated from Shade only made this situation worst. After a moment, he realized that he was looking on at Rio who was now close to being half naked because of her exposed Warrior suit which had been practically torn to shreds during her confrontation with Shade and turned to the front, his face slightly red.

"Here, take this, Sensei. You could catch a cold down in here like that." Greg said, offering her his cloak that covered his slightly injured body. "You can wear this until we finish the mission, it should keep you warm. You need it more than I do right now anyway."

"But, Greg…" Rio spoke as Greg simply flung it over her shoulders, revealing his moderately lean psychical build, snug in the customized Sneaking Suit Nanvel made. Even though he was cut at various places before, most of the wounds were barely visible while those around the chest area were covered in bandages. There was a device attached around Greg's heart area which transferred nanomachines to his vitals throughout his body, now it was acting as a supplement in the stead of the painkillers he usually took.

"There, don't you feel any warmer now?" Greg asked with a smile as Rio looked at him stunned, trying to hide her painful expression after seeing him like this.

"Oh, yeah. It feels warmer, thanks, Greg." Rio replied as she saw something like a small chain underneath the collar of the Suit hanging around his neck. "Hey, what is what you're wearing?"

"Oh?" Greg said simply as he pulled on the chain and revealed a dog tag attached to it and a small, brightly shining blue crystal behind it. It looked very similar to the one Linn was wearing. "It's just a little anniversary gift between Linn and myself. I never realized that I was still wearing it though after all that's happened."

(Come to think of it, I've been seeing him wearing it ever since this whole mess started.) Rio thought to herself.

"It looks pretty expensive to wear as a memento, Greg." Tot said while admiring it.

"It sure is, Tot. I went through a lot of trouble just to get something as good as this that I can share with Linn." Greg replied solemnly.

"So, Linn has the same crystal as you do now?" Maya asked while Greg nodded silently.

"I guess it is what's been giving us luck so far up to now." Greg said as he clenched it. "And I hope by some means that it can keep on doing so during the rest of the mission."

"I hope so too, Greg. But it looks to me like you're the one bringing the good luck to this group if we're able to come this far." Riku said as Greg smiled at him.

"Come on, Riku. I understand how you and your partners appreciated Rio-sensei, Maya's, and my help when we went up against Shade before, but things like that can't last forever." Greg replied as he shook his head as he looked at his body. "And as a result of fighting Shade, we've gotten ourselves pretty messed up before Reese called in to stop Shade. I, myself, don't appear to be too well looking now, considering all what happened back there. Lilica is going to freak out when she will see me like this."

"I highly doubt that, Greg." Nagi said, causing Greg to look at him. "She will probably be too happy to care about the details when she sees that you, Maya, and Rio have come to help her, so don't go worrying about appearances at the moment, okay, Greg?"

"Nagi-kun's right. All that matters is that you're going through all this trouble just to save her and that you're helping Seraph, who is a stranger in need and Mantis as well. I'm sure she will appreciate all that you're doing for her." Tot said to him. "From what we've seen after meeting you and your foster family so far, we know that you're really a good person who likes to help out others, just like, Riku, Nagi and others we know, both inside and outside of FOXHOUND."

"Yeah, Greg. Don't let that get to you. Besides, you look much better in just the Sneaking Suit. You actually look like one of the psychics out of the Gantz manga." Maya said as Greg rubbed his head.

"Okay, enough with the cosplay comparisons already. It really is a shame that we couldn't get to use Aunt Nanvel's famed Pink Ele's Deluxe image enhancer for the mission, that could have helped us out a great deal. Anyway, now's not the time to worry about those kinds of details. As Rio said before the mission, I have to reserve these fists to use to save Lilica and Yuina, as well resolving this thing with Mantis once and for all." Greg said.

"Thanks so much for the reminder when just Greg needed it, Nagi." Rio patted the younger psychic.

"It's not really a problem, Rio. I just thought I should pitch in to make things a little lighter after everything that has happened with Shade awhile ago." Nagi said. "Besides, you guys are really helpful yourselves. I'm sure those who were with us on the Mikage base and boat when we had to face Shade would have appreciated having you with us to help them out as well as we would too."

"Yeah, he was kind of a downer for the whole mission." Maya said. "I don't remember seeing that kind of strength from any single terrorist during our old Warrior days."

"Not to mention, he also seemed to be the type to carry some kind of grudge, though he wouldn't show it. He particularly was paying attention to Riku the most as I've observed a bit on how differently he was referring to him, compared to the rest of us and me." Rio intercepted as he stared at Riku while they travelled through the secret passage. "Am I right, Riku?"

"I'm afraid that you're right, Rio." Riku said seriously. "Considering he's a ninja who has lived since my grandmother's time, he probably has known the whole story about the secrets of the Hokage clan and what they did to my uncle, Kurei, and his mother shortly after he was born. Or it could be a totally different matter to begin with…"

"Hold up just a minute, Riku." Rio said out loud. "You told us your grandma's over four hundred years old when we last visited you guys at the mansion, right? Are you saying that Shade guy could have been carrying a grudge against your clan for that long?"

"It's hard to believe, isn't it?" Riku replied. "To tell you guys the whole truth, Shade wasn't always an evil person from what I've heard of the time before my partners and I met him…he was a totally different person compared to who we just faced."

"Then what the hell could have happened to him between then and now to have corrupted him into being how he is now?" Rio asked.

"And more importantly, how did you know that he wasn't evil all along to begin with?" Greg asked as well.

Before Riku could answer, a loud ring through everyone's ears was heard as the Codec rang, interrupting their conversation. Greg sighed as he looked at Riku.

"We'll have to finish this conversation this another time, Riku." Greg said to him. "Just promise us that you won't hold any details back when we're ready to know, okay?"

"I understand, Greg, since now really isn't the best time to tell you what Nagi, Tot, and myself know about that guy. Most of it was pretty hard to believe for me too." Riku said as he heard the Codec continue to ring. "Aren't you going to answer that, Greg?"

"Yeah, I will." Greg said, touching the Codec button. It was Nanvel who had a distressed look on her face.

"Greg! Rio!" Nanvel cried out. "Thank God you guys are alright. I thought something must have happened to you when you ran into Shade."

"Whoa, take it easy, Nanvel. Don't count us out of the game as yet, you know it will take more than an immortal ninja to try and stop us from getting Lilica and Yuina back." Rio said to her as she noticed the look on her friend's face. "You look kind of pale though. Has anything weird happened on your side?"

"Yeah, it's about Seraph." Nanvel said simply, with a hint of worry in her voice.

"What about Seraph-san?" Tot asked. "Did something happen to her?"

Nanvel nodded her head as she replied. "Yeah. Just a while ago when she went into the kitchen, she somehow…disappeared."

"Disappeared? You mean like, no longer in the house?" Maya asked.

"Yeah, she's nowhere to be found right now. Nastasha, Maki, and I looked all over the place and found not trace of her." Nanvel said.

"Could she have just stepped outside while you guys were dealing with the Codec duties from your end?" Rio asked.

"No way, she was with us all along until ten minutes ago. I think something must have happened to her, guys." Nanvel said, causing Greg to think.

(It wouldn't have been a good idea for Seraph to just step out into the open like that since the enemy could still be tracing for her and she knew of the dangers, like Schwartz, for instance, if they haven't given up on her yet.) Greg thought to himself. (So how did she leave the premises without leaving traces then?)

"Damn! And after all the trouble we're going through just to keep her safe until we can rescue Yuina, this happens." Rio spoke in a low tone. "What are we going to do now, Greg?"

"I wish I can answer that, sensei, but I'm new to this whole thing regarding Seraph's existence and how it relates to what Reese has done. I'm afraid I'm just as clueless to what we should do as the rest of us are." Greg replied sadly. "The only thing we can do is hope that she turns up somewhere and safe for that matter while we rescue her friend. It's the most we can do for now."

Rio looked on at Greg in silence before sighing. "Alright, for Seraph's sake, we'd better rescue Yuina and hope to find her along the way. She probably must have gotten worried with how things were and left on her own to find Yuina."

"It could be that, or something else." Riku said as Maya looked at him quizzically.

"So, you may have an idea what could have happened to Seraph, Riku?" Maya asked.

"Maybe I do, maybe I don't. But like Greg said, I'm just as new to this as you are, so it may not totally be in line of my theory." Riku replied before he began to think to himself. (This is so different from what I know about Ceres, Shiso, and everything else related to the hagoromo, so saying that what happened to Seraph is connected to all that wouldn't properly fit, considering from what I've seen of Seraph up to now. She's basically a combat android from another time and space, surely there's no such record of a computer designed as a human being a tennyo or C-Genome...unless there was something that Nagi, Tot, and I missed.)

"Are you certain about this, Greg?" Maki asked now. "I know that the mission is important, but finding Seraph is just as important as well."

"I know that, Aunt Maki. But without anything to help us understand what really happened to her, we really can't do anything about it, especially at the last minute." Greg replied. "Besides, she has to turn up somewhere…she surely will. Because I know that she herself hasn't given up on Yuina just yet."

"Alright, if you think she will show up somewhere, we might as well hope for that." Maki said. "In any case, you guys are proceeding quite well on the mission, despite having to face that man called Shade."

"Please, Maki. Not another reminder of that guy. I've had enough of those kinds of freaks for one lifetime." Rio lamented. "Just tell us if we're getting close to Mantis' stronghold as of yet."

"You still have a ways to go, though I doubt any more of those Death Squad troops are going to show up, they seemed to have pulled back just as Shade did." Nanvel said. "I don't read them on the sewer system radar anymore."

"Then that's better for us, though we can bet they are going to show up later." Maya said.

"She's right. They may have only retreated for just the time being since their commander left us, so we can't afford to let our guard down yet." Dee spoke.

"Yes, keep your eyes peeled in case Shade comes back as well, just in case." Nastasha said. "Considering that he followed Reese's orders to leave you guys alone reluctantly, there is a possibility that Shade may want to get a chance of revenge behind his back without Reese's knowing."

"Keep us posted on any unusual signs that we should know about in the future, you guys. We will contact you later once we find the stronghold." Rio said to Nanvel before the sexy tech head of Warrior called to Rio before she logged off.

"Hey, Rio…can you do me a favour and turn your monitor off?" Nanvel asked, causing the blonde to raise an eyebrow. Without giving off any signs that this was something to be discussed privately, Rio switched the Codec so that only she and Nanvel can listen in.

"Okay, I turned off the monitor like you asked me to." Rio said. "So, what is it, Nanvel? You sound serious."

"This is about Greg. Did something happen to him approximately thirteen minutes ago?" Nanvel asked, causing Rio to look at Nanvel wide eyed, before she looked at her with a sad face.

"Well, yeah. It was during that encounter with Shade when he was using his psychic energy. He was going to take his medicine and that was when he lost it before he could take it." Rio said, causing Nanvel to stare with open mouth.

"Rio, please tell me that you're kidding about that." Nanvel said, as Rio shook her head.

"I remember it clearly, Nanvel. Greg got weak and Shade started to beat the crap out of him as he blacked out. There was nothing I could have done to stop it but watch, before Shade chased after me." Rio said.

"Do you have any idea what happened at the point when Greg blacked out and he didn't take that medicine?" Nanvel asked. "Rio, his Sneaking Suit's been sending data about his mental wavelengths since then and…I couldn't believe it until I did some research between that time and the time Seraph disappeared."

"Does it look bad?" Rio suddenly asked, fearing the worst.

"No, I think it's the opposite, though it's too early to tell until we can get Greg examined again. But what I discovered so far will shock you." Nanvel said. "I think Greg may be suffering from a multiple personality syndrome effect, caused by the severe childhood trauma he suffered in the past and this is affecting the ability of how his powers progress has been progressing in his life."

Rio gasped as she looked at Greg silently, who was oblivious to what she and Nanvel were talking about.

"But…how? I thought the problem with his powers was…" Rio said before Nanvel cut him off.

"A physical one? You saw it too, didn't you?" Nanvel asked. "This is more of a psychological issue than what's going on in his body. As far as I'm concerned, his mind is what's been causing him to black out and turn him into someone else, or I could be wrong on that too, but it's the obvious explanation as to what's been happening to him up to now."

"It's just as I thought. This really is a problem from within his mind." Rio said before she asked. "What about his physical condition?"

"His body's not in any danger because of it. However, there have been signs of a slight increase in his body temperature, muscle build, and agility factors since he woke up from having blacked out moments ago." Nanvel said. "It's as if this is related to the shift of the mental waves he had from then somehow."

"Would it hurt to ask if I can see what these wavelengths look like at least, Nanvel?" Rio asked as Nanvel nodded and showed him a diagram on the Codec screen. It looked similar to a graph meter what showed coloured, wavy patterns shown on various medical monitors.

"Alright, let's say this blue wavelength you see is his normal, average one. We all have ones like this too." Nanvel explained. "Now, from what I recorded since we were taking care of Greg years ago to now, his wavelength jumps irregularly once he is close to the verge of losing his powers."

"Yeah, like that time when he first learned about them while he was a kid and things really got out of hand." Rio said, shuddering at the memory.

"Now, let's say that the red wavelength just underneath Greg's normal one, is the intruding force that is the cause of his problems of him blacking out and such." Nanvel said, showing another coloured wavelength in the screen. "Normally, this is basically what the mind within Greg looks like."

"Two totally different personalities, fighting for one body, is that it?" Rio asked as Nanvel nodded.

"Right. Now, this is what I discovered after Greg managed to get control of his powers after blacking out moments before." Nanvel said as the two wavelengths suddenly merged with one another, forming another separate wavelength of a green colour that was rather faint to see.

"Huh? What does this mean, Nanvel?" Rio asked.

"It means that another entity within Greg's mind seemed to have awoken, taking control of the violent personality and the one we all know of, somehow actually bringing them together." Nanvel said. "Only that…this one is faint that it doesn't have enough strength to keep them together as one single form of his mind, so…"

"After awhile, they become separate again." Rio said. "But what I really don't get is how come this is happening to him right now of all times?"

"It must be due to the mental stress he had just before he blacked out, or something else. I have to look more into it and I may even resort to asking Naomi secretly about this." Nanvel said. "Which is why I want you to keep quiet about this until the mission is over, Rio. I'm beginning to think this could be a way for Greg to deal with that problem he's been having for so long once and for all."

"Alright, I get you. I'll keep quiet about it for now." Rio replied as logged off.

"Hey, Rio-sensei, how long are you going to let us wait on you?" Greg called out to her as the blonde Warrior point leader smiled as she walked over to the group.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, guys. I was just finishing up some talks with Nanvel." Rio said as she rejoined the group.

(I wonder what was all that about between her and Aunt Nanvel just now?) Greg thought to himself as he shrugged away the thought.

"I know Aunt Nanvel's been the closest to Seraph and supporting her since we got to know her for a short time, so I can pretty much understand how worried she must be about her at a time like this." Greg spoke, causing Rio to stare at him wide eyed to his comment.

(Even as you are now, you're still thinking about others, aren't you, Greg?) She thought to herself with a light smile as the fact about his powers still bothered her a bit.

"We all are too, Greg. I'm certain she'll show up eventually." Riku said. "For now I believe that we should press on in rescuing her friend and Lilica, especially if something like this has happened."

"Yeah, we'd better do that." Greg said simply in agreement as the group walked on in the dimly lit passage. After coming across another tunnel, to the group's surprise, they saw an abandoned tram that looked like it was used to ship cargo and personnel.

"Hmm, so Maki and Nanvel were right. Something was going on down in these sewers years ago." Rio said, loosening her long blonde hair, now smudged and tangled thanks to her encounter with Shade. "Any idea of what could be down here, Greggie?"

"Nope, I don't have a clue, Sensei. But I have to assume this may be related to what was said about the underground development programs that started up after the Impact when we searched for clues about Lilica's whereabouts last night. So this could probably be NERV's work, since their headquarters is underground after all." Greg said, looking at the tram. "Still, what's a tram as advanced as this is doing here in an old Tokyo tunnel?"

"Yeah, along with the fact that it still looks operational, not to mention that it looks like it was used recently, so it would raise some kind of sucisicpion." Nagi said as a thought hit him. "Greg, didn't you say last night that the location where Lilica and Yuina are probably held with Mantis looked something similar to this tram in terms of appearance?"

Greg nodded at his younger psychic accomplice with a stern look. "Only the door and everything else inside including Lilica's cell, but now that you mention it, they do have similar appearances. It's as if they were derived from the same technology…hang on just a minute. Can all of you give me some space? I'm going to try out something with my nanomachines."

Stepping back from the tram, Greg opened the palm of his nano wrist over the flat surface of the silver coloured tram and shut his eyes as he concentrated his thoughts into his right arm, as the colonies within his nanomachines reacted to the tram's surface and suddenly, an electrical surge ran through from the tram into his arm, giving Greg a sudden electrical jolt through it.

BZZZT!

"Gaahh!" Greg fell on one knee, holding his wrist as Rio cried out.

"Hey, Greg! Are you okay there?" Rio asked as Greg panted heavily and nodded.

"Yeah, I'm just fine. Though it was a rather pointless idea to try and activate it with my nanomachines." Greg muttered as he stood up. "At least we know now it's got power in it, we should at least think of how we can…guhh!"

Holding his head in sudden pain, Greg shut his eyes for a moment and saw flashes of the tram being transported with Lilica and Yuina with Mantis and several Tengus in tow in his mind. It lasted for only a few seconds, but it was enough for him to confirm that they were on the right track.

"Greg!" Rio ran over to help him up. "What happened to you now?"

"I…I saw them, Rio-sensei. I don't know how, but it must be related to what I just did." Greg said, shaking his head some. "Yuina and Lilica…Mantis took them using this to get to his base."

"So, we can use this to get to them as well!" Maya exclaimed, almost joyfully.

"That's the best idea, Maya." Riku said. "I doubt that anyone else who has a secret base in the depths of an underground sewer system underneath an almost abandoned city would just carry their goods and captives while walking all the way there, now would they?"

"Point taken." The gun nut returned her comment by nodding at Riku.

"So, any idea on how we're going to get inside this thing, Greg?" Dee asked.

"I'm thinking of it, Dee." Greg said as Rio stepped up to the tram.

"Can't we just bust our way into this thing by using the 'secret technique?" Rio asked.

"What secret technique, Rio-san?" Tot asked as Rio smiled and to everyone's surprise suddenly kicked the tram's surface, causing a small railway to suddenly open before them, with an open door leading to the inside.

"Well, what do you know? That trick actually worked." Rio smiled, placing her hands on her hips as Greg and Maya fell over on their faces.

"Rio-sensei, how can you even think of pulling something like that?" Greg asked, getting up. "You probably weren't responsible for causing it to begin with."

"Hey, I was worrying about you this entire time and this is the gratitude you're showing me, Greg?" Rio asked, causing him to fluster.

"There are more efficient ways of doing things like this, you know. You really can't go around and kick every mechanical thing you think is bad. Or should I remind you that this is far different from that battle tank Yuji and Aunt Nanvel told me about years ago." Greg said, folding his arms, causing Rio to redden.

"Wha…what did Nanvel tell you exactly about it?" Rio asked flustered as Greg shrugged his shoulders.

"Oh, it's not much to be concerned about. Or should I tell Riku, his partners, and the Shinsengumi about your escapades, stranded in the Desanian desert for three days straight with only a computer programmed battle tank that protected your life from a mercenary army." Greg said simply.

"So, you do know everything about it!" Rio shouted.

"About Henry? Well, yeah, I was given the whole skinny about it without you knowing it, but that was when I was still a kid." Greg said. "It was Yuji who told me about it mostly though. He even told me that he managed to hack some of the images from its damaged hard-drive and had them stored in his private computer."

Rio's face reddened even more when she heard that. "By any chance…have you seen these said 'pictures' Yuji told you about of my time with Henry, my dear, darling son, Greggie?"

"Of course not, I knew Yuji well enough then not to get into trouble caused by him. And I did say I was still a kid at the time, so I wouldn't have fully known. I was kind of curious of what it is that made you sad at times and he told me the story, that's all." Greg said, causing Rio to realize what Greg was saying and sigh lightly to him.

"I…see. Well, good for you, Greg, you're a whole lot better off not seeing them. Not even once in your lifetime. Trust me on this one when I tell you this, okay?" Rio said as her right eyebrow twitched. (I can spare Greg since he's doing his best, being so nice to everyone for the sake of the mission, but I'm SO going to bruise that pervert Yuji badly if I ever find out that he has the pictures of me in my undies, not to mention the ones of me in my birthday suit, taking a bath in the oasis that time…)

"What do you mean by that, Sensei?" Greg asked, raising an eyebrow as Riku thought to himself with a viable conclusion.

(Heh, I may not know Yuji as long as Greg and Rio have all this time, but even I can tell that this is going to be something involving the term, 'extremely perverted' along with what Rio must be flustering about.) Riku said telepathically to Nagi, who had initiated the private conversation.

(I know Yuji's really a good person, but is he really like that, Riku?) Nagi replied in thought.

(Well, I know for one thing that the guy's a nut for Tokimeki Memorial's Shiori just like Alec is. I can imagine them being fast friends if they found out a detail like that, but I'm not sure Alec would exactly share Yuji's tastes in his collections.) Riku replied with a light grin.

(I get what you mean.) Nagi replied in a nervous tone.

"Rio-san? Are you okay?" Tot asked, breaking the blonde from her thoughts.

"Hmm? Why, of course I am, Tot dear. What would make you think otherwise?" Rio nervously laughed.

"Because both of your ears seem to be burning up for some strange reason right now." Tot pointed to her as Rio tilted her head and chuckled as she sprang into the tram.

"Oh, you don't need to worry about how my ears feel, right now. At least we got the tram working, right?" Rio nervously said as everyone excepting Greg sweat-dropped.

"She's changing the subject once it's gotten interesting, too." Greg said as Rio stamped her feet.

"You're the one who brought it up to begin with, Greg." Rio said as Greg shrugged his shoulders.

"Alright, I give. We can talk about it after the mission. Come on, everyone…Yuina and Lilica are waiting for us." Greg simply said as he passed a stuttering Rio.

"Uhh…yeah. We'd better be on the way." Rio said following him inside, only to stop upon entering it. Greg and the group with him stood around inside of what appeared to be a cabin large enough for most of the group to fit in. There were long seats attached to the walls, while there were even a few resting beds nearby. On the wall behind them, a first aid/medicine kit was on the wall, while a refrigerator stood at a distance nearby.

Maya whistled loudly as she saw the cabin and examined the surroundings. "Man, talk about impressive. At least we're going to ride in style to Mantis's stronghold using this, huh?"

"Hey, they even got a small weapons cache in here too." Dee said, pointing to a door which held a decent portion of throwing grenades, guns, and ammo. Maya's mouth began to drool at the sight of the weapons she can use.

"Let me through!" She shouted as Riku walked towards the deck area, where the manual controls were located, showing on various monitors, several other locations across Japan from their point of origin.

"Hey, you guys. Come check this out." Riku called out as Greg, Rio, Nagi and Tot came across to where Riku was observing. "It looks like this thing can take us to any certain point underground in the country, but it seems a few of these places are locked off for now."

"Which places are those, Riku?" Nagi asked as Riku looked on more intentionally before speaking once more.

"From what I can tell so far, one of them happens to be Tokyo-3, while others leading to the outer limits of this city where it's underwater are still accessible. There are also tracks leading to some of the islands outside of Japan that haven't gone under yet." Riku answered.

"We need to locate the one that can take us to Mantis. Can you find it?" Rio asked, coming closer to observe as well.

"I can't say for sure, this is a first for me as well, but I'll still give it a try anyway." Riku said as he pressed on one of the keyboards which displayed coordinates to the locations the tram can travel to. After a few seconds, he then sweat dropped and turned to Nagi with a sheepish grin. "So, how do I do this?"

"Just watch, it's fairly simple." Nagi said as he stepped up to where his friend was and pressed a few buttons. "Alright, I think this should do it."

"Thanks, man. Well, everyone, I think we found it." Riku said as he pointed to one of them with a timer to the side by a red dot marker. "According to this monitor, the tram was transporting to and from this point only two to three days ago."

"That was around the same time Lilica was captured, huh?" Rio asked. "Then, it's to that area we're off to then."

"Since this tram has supplies and a resting area, we can take the opportunity and use it to threat the wounds we got from the encounter with Shade and his Death Squad, as well restocking on ammo and supplies." Kanashii said.

"Sounds like a plan." Rio nodded to her before she turned to Greg. "What do you think, Greg?"

"We might as well use it. This could be the last chance to prepare ourselves for what's to come next." Greg said in a serious tone. "Now, the only problem remaining is how do we get this thing moving?"

"It seems to be running on an automatic system, set for one course which is the Mantis stronghold." Pei said, as she sat down to one of the pilot chairs. "It should be simple enough that we can just get there without any further problems."

She began to press several buttons herself along with Riku before they activated a power switch to close the door, then a P.A system from within spoke inside the deck.

"It seems like we did it." Riku said, looking up as he felt the tram around him began to move slowly. It started to pick up speed as in a few seconds, the transport tram was moving at fast speed on the tracks.

"It must be a ways before it can get to the stronghold." Rio said, before sitting down on one of the chairs to relax. "I wonder how long it's is going to take till we get there?"

"We might as well take a break and check out our wounds to treat them properly." Greg said as he sat down near Rio. Maya Jingu felt it was like Christmas Day when she sorted out through all the available weapons in the room, while Nagi and Tot were busy tending to each other's wounds while helping the Shinsengumi tend with theirs.

"Man, I feel like I could use a smoke right now, but I already told myself since this morning that just for today only, I'd not even think about it." Greg said, leaning back.

"Well, that's better for you. You really don't want to have that poisonous smoke in your body when its time to face Mantis." Rio said as Greg smiled at her.

"Yeah, you've got a good point. But I'm really still nervous about it, sensei." Greg said. "This is the first time I'm going up against someone this strong in terms of psychic combat. Not even Athena Asamiya, Sie Kensou, Bao, and Momoko from the KOF have had me shaking this much before because this is different from normal fighting matches. It's actually a fight to the death…and I don't want to kill Mantis either. It's going be hard not to do it, but…"

"I have faith…that you can get him to turn around, Greg." Rio said, lightly gripping on the cloak that he gave her and hugging her knees to her chest while still covered in it. "You said before that you want to help him since he's just a victim from all of this, so dealing with Mantis can't be too difficult for you if you're set on that."

Greg remained silent as he rested his head back as he shut his eyes. "I hope you're right about that…I'll never be able to live with myself if anything else beyond my control happens to those affected by Reese like Yuina and Mantis. This…is the most I can do in hopes to rectify what he has done to them."

Rio stayed quiet as she looked at the blistering marks on both of Greg's arms, caused by the previous uses gauntlets he was using during his encounter with Shade. A sad sigh escaped her lips as she stood up to go the small room where the medical supplies were.

"I'm going to get this bothersome shoulder wound treated properly before we get to the stronghold." Rio said, turning to look at Greg once more. "Are you sure that you're going to be alright?"

Greg nodded silently at her. "Yeah, I just need to rest my eyes a bit and try to concentrate my nanos on healing for now."

"I see…well, rest as much as you can. You're going to need the little extra rejuvenation for later." Rio said as she stepped out of the bridge room, leaving Greg to stare into the ceiling a bit in silence.

(Am I really prepared for this?) Greg thought to himself. (If that encounter just now with Shade taught me anything, it's that I still have ways to go before I can even come close to being a better psychic soldier. No, I may even be wrong about that too…)

"Greg." Riku's voice called out to him as Greg lifted his head to see his ninja friend standing before him. "Mind if I talk with you for a bit?"

"Sure, man." Greg replied simply as he let Riku sit close to him. "So what it is it that you wanted to tell me?"

"It's just that you know that Nagi, Tot, and myself really appreciate you and the rest of Warrior for accepting our help to come with you on this mission to save Lilica and Yuina, as well as getting to the bottom of this mess that Reese has made for everyone." Riku said to him. "But, I know there has to be something else bothering you, despite your strong determination to see this through. I can see it marked clearly on your face."

"Well, I'm no master of deception unlike you, Riku, I'll admit that." Greg replied. "It's really hard to put it into words at the moment, but I can clearly guess that it's related to my powers, isn't it?"

Riku gave a silent nod before speaking. "Yeah, that's about it. That whole thing while we were fighting Shade was something I wasn't expecting from you. Yet, still…it kind of worried me after seeing you passed out during the fighting."

"Well, you've always seen me to be perfectly healthy at times before, Riku. But, the fact is that in reality, my own powers can make me anaemic at times, especially when I overdo it." Greg said. "To tell you the truth, this bothersome symptom of mine came about only recently, I never had this kind of problem before and I'm still trying to find the cause to it."

"You said you always have had a hard time remembering your life before meeting Rio, Team Warrior, and Seishiro-san, right?" Riku asked as Greg nodded. "Maybe it's connected to your memory loss."

"That could very well be the case; there are a lot of things about myself that I'm not so clear about yet." Greg said before looking at Riku quizzically. "Don't mind me asking, but what is it that made you want to find out about the problems that I'm having with my powers?"

"Oh, it's nothing, really. I just thought that your problem was something similar to cases of victims who suffered memory loss because of mental trauma." Riku said, causing Greg to nod silently.

"I see. Then, being the helpful Hokage ninja that you are, you would want to find a way to solve it, am I right?" Greg asked.

"That's right. With that being said, I'll just let you know that if there's anything beyond your ability to understand what's going on with your powers, don't be afraid to ask me or Nagi for help. We just may surprise you even more with what we know and who we know as well that can help you out." Riku said with a smile as he patted Greg's shoulder.

"Okay, I'll consider it for the time being." Greg said as Riku walked to where he could meet Nagi and Tot while thinking to himself.

(Even though I really don't know much of Greg's past, his situation almost falls into the same category to Kohta's.) Riku thought to himself. (Still, there's much about what happened between him and Lucy I wouldn't dare touch on, so I wouldn't know if Greg's problems are like what happened to them. If I knew for sure that it was, I would have offered some advice to him to help him cope with it, but he seems alright for now…)

(Worried about Greg as usual, leader?) Nagi asked mentally as he and Tot, both looking comfortable thanks to the new treatment of their wounds, approached Riku.

(Yeah, he seems okay, especially after just having a major tussle with one of our extremely tough, mercenary ninja enemies.) Riku replied in thought. (It's just that…he looks very tired and weary at the moment.)

(Yeah, he has been trying his best in keeping his wits about him since this whole thing started.) Nagi thought. (It must be tough on his body, considering that he's anaemic from what I've seen about him thus far.)

(So, you two heard us talking about it?) Riku asked as Nagi and Tot replied in silent nods.

(Yeah, we did. And while watching the fight with Shade, we pretty much guessed that something about Greg using his powers comes with some kind of cost.) Tot replied in thought. (Do we have to worry about him, Riku?)

(Not at the moment, he seems to have his head on straight and those concoctions I gave him earlier should help suppress those powers of his for the time being at the very least.) Riku thought. (Though, I wanted to make sure for his and Warrior's sake that nothing negative about his powers could happen, that was why I thought his trauma was similar to Kohta's and Lucy's.)

(It could be a possibility, Riku. But then again, Greg's not like those two.) Nagi replied. (They had much different backgrounds after all.)

(You're right. Though Kohta has lost people important to him like Greg has in past when they were younger, their situations are very much different.) Riku thought sadly, before shaking his head. "In any case, enough about the depressing details. I want Greg to tell you guys some very wonderful news that he told me before we all ran into Shade which will surely cheer you up."

"Oh, I wonder what that could be, Riku?" Tot asked as Riku smirked, looking at Greg's direction.

"Let's just go on over and ask him ourselves to find out." Riku said gesturing towards his friend before the trio walked over to a half sleeping Greg, who noticed them coming his way.

"What is it now, Riku?" Greg asked, rubbing his head groggily.

"Sorry to have woken you from your short sleep, but my partners wanted to know the details of what you told me after we separated and before we all met back to confront Shade." Riku said as Greg looked on at Nagi and Tot.

"You mean about my and Linn's relationship in the King of Fighters?" Greg asked, causing the two of them to watch him wide eyed.

"You and Linn are a part of the famous KOF, Greg-san?" Tot asked as he nodded slowly.

"Well, not as totally dedicated combatants, just by acting as a special agent for it as one of my side jobs outside of FOXHOUND under Howard-sensei's employ. Linn is my partner in the business." Greg replied. "However, we did take part in some of the side matches in the past."

"Even so, you must have met some pretty powerful fighters whenever you're there, right?" Nagi asked.

"Yeah, I have. Not to mention some of the more quirky ones who recently joined in the roster as well, like the Beart sisters as an example, both of whom use magic in combat. Their skills are exceptional, but it's kind of hard to explain their social skills, though. One of them is really cold as ice while the other is…" Greg suddenly stopped as if not wanting to recall something at the moment. "Anyway, you'll know if you get to meet Mignon and Ninon for yourselves. They're both nice to get along with, just don't get on their bad sides, particularly Mignon herself. She can throw quite the tantrum."

"You know Athena Asamiya personally as well, don't you?" Tot asked. "She's my second favourite pop idol ever, second to Shuro, of course."

"Yep, I know the members of the Psycho Solider team well. Linn and I are pretty much on good terms with those guys and it's hardly a surprise to find out that you too are an Athena fan as well, Tot." Greg said, before he thought to himself.

(I remember when I last met Athena, she said she was working on a special collaboration music CD along with some other idols around the J-pop music industry. Should I tell her about that Athena's planning to sing some songs with Shuro as well or should I keep her and Nagi in suspense? Well, I wouldn't be a friend to Athena anymore if I said something right away, so I'll just keep my mouth shut about it until it is announced publicly.) Greg thought with a small grin before shaking his head.

"You mentioned the Psycho Solider team. So there are other psychics who participate in the KOF as well?" Nagi asked.

"Yes, but not very many of them are in the events these days though. I even did some sparring matches with Athena's boyfriend, Sie Kensou the last time the tournament was held, and he has gotten twice as strong since he got back his powers after the NESTS cartel fell. Not to mention his younger brother, Bao is catching up to him as well." Greg said as he looked at Nagi. "Say, why is it that you wanted to know about that, you guys?"

"Riku told us to ask you about it and we were curious to know if it was true." Nagi said while Riku smiled in the background. Greg rubbed his head, knowing what Riku was up to and complied.

"Did he tell you specifically to come to me to ask about what I knew about KOF instead of just saying that I already put in a good word about him and his ninja clan to the people behind it and that he'd tell you guys about joining up with him in it too?" Greg asked calmly as Nagi and Tot looked on in surprise.

"I thought it would be a better surprise this way, you know." Riku spoke, rubbing the back of his head with smile.

"Wait, you already talked about Riku and his clan to the KOF?" Nagi asked, almost shocked. "Not to mention that he'd let us join up with him too?"

"That's what he said." Greg said simply as he nodded his head. "Of course, if that's okay with you two, that is. The King of Fighters has grown more and more dangerous over the years and there's no telling which fighter you'd have to face these days. But after seeing the two of you in combat and helping me, Rio and Maya out today, I don't think I will have to worry about how you will do in it. You three would fit in just fine."

"Greg, we would gratefully accept the invitation." Nagi said, bowing to him. "One thing, it's true that you have already seen us in action, but Tot and I are a whole lot more skilled than you think, so you don't need to worry about us in the KOF."

"Nagi-kun's right. But why would you want to do something like that for us, Greg?" Tot asked as Greg lowered his head a bit.

"Well, it wouldn't hurt if you used this as a chance to expand your scopes within combat a bit, as that could be utilized in future FOXHOUND missions. That's basically how I look at it whenever Linn and I participate. Not to mention it's a good chance to meet new people who can help you out later on in the long run." Greg replied. "Also…I'd like to think of this as an advance for repaying you three for sticking with Warrior and I up to now through this so far, so it's the best offer of thanks to you guys that I can think of for now. I was really waiting to say something about it much later, but once I mentioned to Geese that I had made friends with the son of the famous Recca Hanabishi, he wanted to know as much about anyone else related or connected to him who was just as powerful. You two included, Nagi Naoe and Tot, after seeing how determined you are just as your leader and friend to get through this."

"Wow, Greg. We really don't know what to say but thanks." Nagi said. "You know by now that we were somehow glad that someone like you is part of FOXHOUND and we're really are about that now. My only regret is that Tot and I haven't gotten to meet a good person such as yourself before when we could have used an extra hand or someone to talk to."

"Yeah, you're really are a good person to be with, Greg." Tot said alongside Nagi.

"There will be plenty of time after this mission for you guys to know me more, so don't fret yourselves because we met at such a late and somewhat bad timing." Greg said.

"Well, better late than never, right, Greg?" Riku asked.

"Yeah…I just wished Linn could have been here with us to meet you two guys as well. She would be impressed so much by the two of you." Greg said as he rested his chin on his hand while resting at a window.

"Hey, man, I'm sure she's still worried about you, so you should at least contact her to let her know that you're doing okay instead of making her worry so much." Riku said as he nudged his friend's elbow. "I may not know what's been going on with you guys recently, but I think you need to settle things with Linn. After all, you two have been together ever since you joined up in FOXHOUND, so isn't it about high time you committed to her?"

Greg suddenly fell over at the mention of Riku's words and quickly stood up, looking flustered.

"Wait a minute, Riku. What is it that made you think that I'm ready to take that kind of step in our relationship?" Greg asked his friend who shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, a single guy like me probably has no place saying this, but…Greg, in some of the missions I've done in the past, and most especially the one where I was on the Mikage base and boat, there were people I met who were having some hard times dealing with their own problems, yet they never ignored the most important person in their lives, even if things got tough for them later." Riku said in a stern tone. "Believe me, I know what I'm talking about. I think the fact of the matter is that what most people are afraid of is that the soul-mate is unwilling to accept being with the person who has been with him or her for such a long period of time because of something that was holding them back, is that what you're feeling?"

Greg remained silent, knowing his friend was right about it. Turning his head to the side, Greg simply nodded.

"Yeah, you can say it's something along the lines of that." Greg said simply as Riku patted him.

"I don't think Linn can bear seeing you put your neck on the line like this, even if it means trying to find a way to ease the progress of learning to control your psychic abilities. Sure, it's a duty you have gotten accustomed to doing and it's something that has to be done to assure your survival, but you need to think about how Linn is feeling about all of this." Riku said. "It also wouldn't hurt to talk to her one more time before facing Mantis. She could end up giving you the encouragement that you'll need right now."

Sighing in defeat, Greg nodded at his friend. "Okay, I'll do it. I really wanted to hear her voice one last time anyway before the big battle ahead anyway. But, really, Riku, you have a better way of dealing with people about these kinds of things. As for me, I'm not sure she'll be pleased with what I've gotten myself into, even though it isn't my fault to begin with."

"I'm sure she will understand that. Just let her know how you feel and everything should be okay." Riku said in reply.

"Alright, Riku, if you say so. I guess I can only trust you on this one." Greg simply said, standing up.

(I'm sure if Shuro ever had a talk with Linn about love, this problem would be solved within the space of a night if they ever got together again.) Riku thought to himself with a sly smirk, having some idea of what could happen once Greg patches his relationship up with Linn. (Actually, once this is over…)

Taking a deep breath, Greg reached for the Codec call button and pressed on it.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Back in the NERV Command Centre, the recruits of FOXHOUND, the staff members of NERV and the agents of Philanthropy awaited word on the progress of Greg's mission. Things have been rather quiet since then until Linn Aramaki re-entered the room with Silent Scorpion, Kari Mondeau, and Mana Kirishima following her.

"Linn, you're back." Michael said as Linn nodded silently to the people watching her with a solemn look on her face.

"Yeah, Venom. I'm here to see how my boyfriend's doing on his mission." Linn said with a light smile. "I just needed to be by myself and think things over about him, that's all. I'm so sorry that I had to react like that in front of everyone just now though…"

"We all understand how you must have felt, Linn. We're worried about Greg and the others with him just as you are." Garland came across to place an arm over her shoulder. "But just remember that Drakken, Crow, and Usagi are more than capable of helping Greg through this and the Shinsengumi are there with him as well. They will make sure to help him through this, so he can come back to you."

"I know…he has to come back." Linn said, nodding at him. "He has to, not when I still have to ask him why he would push himself for something like this. From what I recalled, this Yuina Hattori person that he's also intending to rescue is a complete stranger unrelated to what's been going on in FOXHOUND. And yet, he's going through all of this…"

"That's just the kind of person he is, Linn." Silent Scorpion said with a grin. "Like most of you guys, he's really pure hearted about most things. Actually, he's probably the most of that kind compared to anyone else I've known in my life."

"Yeah, even though we've just gotten to know you guys for a short time, I've got a pretty good idea of what kind of guys you are, especially your friend, Kinezono. He probably wouldn't need a reason to help anyone, even if it's a stranger." Misato inputted. "I'm sure that is what you admire the most about him, even if you do deny it, am I right?"

"What…what are you guys talking about?" Linn asked, her cheeks reddening. "It's because of that attitude of his that he's gotten himself into trouble a lot more than once before. It's not that he's done anything bad either, he's just acts a bit different towards everything around him, you know. And it's that part about him that bothers me the most sometimes."

"True, the guy has one levelled mindset, that's for sure." Scorpion said. "Maybe that's why you've been with him this long."

(I can't believe what is it I'm hearing…am I really attracted to him because of that?) Linn thought as a loud Codec ring broke her thoughts. Suddenly shaking her head, she reached for the call button and responded, only to widen her eyes to see Greg was on the other line.

"This is Psychic Panther. Can anyone read me?" Greg said calmly to the other screen as Linn gasped to see him.

"Greg! Oh my…are you and the others alright?" Linn called out, noting his new appearance after the encounter with Shade. "I just heard what happened with you guys."

"Oh, hi Linn, it's good to see you." Greg said simply as Linn shook her head. "Yes, everyone who came along with me are all still okay, but are badly bruised and beaten thanks to that Shade. Lucky for us, the wounds we sustained were only minimal and not life threatening ones."

"It's a wonder that you guys can still be alive after what we found out the things that Shade was capable of." Linn said in a sad tone. "I…you made me worry so much…I cried a lot thinking you guys were…and there you are now, acting tough as if nothing had happened."

"I'm…I'm really sorry, Linn. Probably if he hadn't shown up at the time to…" Greg spoke before Linn cut him off.

"That's not what I'm talking about, Greg! What I wanted to know is…why? Why are you going through all these lengths for someone you don't know?" Linn asked. "I can understand your doing this for Lilica's sake; she's your family and a good friend of mine as well. But it will be impossible for you to try and reverse the brainwashing effects that the Patriots had done on Mantis. Do you really want to do it, even though you know that?"

"You're right about Lilica, she is my family and like the rest of Warrior who supported me all these years, I'm not going to abandon her, even if the Patriots do happen to have her in their captivity." Greg replied seriously. "I'm not too sure as for what I'll do when I'll get to Mantis, but I just can't leave things as they are. Rio got hurt and an innocent got killed while her relative was kidnapped by the enemy in the whole process while we didn't know a thing until it was almost too late. This is probably a way for me to atone for trying to stand against Reese this long, even though most of the things he did was wrong. I need to settle this mess that started because of what I probably did."

"Greg…you know all of this can't be your fault." Linn said, shaking her head.

"I know…but, I still need to do this, Linn, I feel like it's my obligation. Please try to understand." Greg said, clenching his fists. "If Mantis has the answers we need for what Reese is planning, it should be worthwhile. Besides, I've got some personal questions of my own for Mantis that he alone is probably able of answering. I know it sounds stupid and stubborn of me to be telling you this, but…"

"It's actually okay, Greg. I understand how much you really want to do this." Linn said. "Even when you had to face Shade, you were acting as if you weren't afraid of anything, not even him. You were really set out on helping Mantis and Yuina and nothing can change your mind about that, not even my words."

Greg remained silent as he turned his back and sighed. "Anyway, I just wanted to say…it's good to hear that you cried for me. It's really assuring to know that you were worried about us this whole time. Even I wasn't sure if we were going to make it out alive or not until Reese called Shade back at the last moment."

"Surely you're not calling me just to tell me that, are you?" Linn asked with a light grin.

"Of course not. What I've got to say is pretty much mission related, so it can ease all of your minds a bit." Greg said as he looked around the inside of the tram he and his group were travelling. "On our way down these sewer systems, we managed to find a transport tram with useful ammo and supplies, leading to Mantis's hideout."

"A transport tram? Located in an almost abandoned sewer system?" Garland asked suddenly.

"Yeah, it seems that this was used to transport goods and various emergency supplies, if you asked us." Riku spoke as his face appeared on the codec screen.

"Hang on a minute, you guys." Misato Katsuragi's voice called out to everyone who was there in the Command Centre. "If memory serves, I think NERV still had some functional transport carriers that were specifically used for uses in the GeoFront and its surrounding areas, not just in Tokyo-3 alone, but in other cities like Neo Tokyo and Old Tokyo for instance. I think it's safe to say that what your friend and his group are riding happens to be one of our sponsored free rides."

"Man, what luck you guys must have." Mana said with a grin. "Guess Greg must be responsible for bringing you guys to such a convenient place."

"Not only have you guys managed to walk away from encountering something like Shade with your lives, but you've also found a supply transport that will take you to the objective." Scorpion said.

"At least good fortune seems to be on your side for the remainder of the mission, Greg." Kari spoke as Greg noticed the three young recruits now. "And to add to that, Riku and his partners are the best of the help that could be provided to you for the time being."

"Oh, I didn't know you three were there, Mana, Kari and Scorpion. Good to see you guys too." Greg said. "As about the subject on the tram for a bit, how come it's still in operation after all this time? Were the people at NERV aware of this?"

"No, we only just found out from you guys that we even had such a thing on the move." Misato spoke and lapsed into her own thought. (If that's the case, then it has to be something the former Commander was in charge of without our knowledge…)

"Well, let's not get into finding out too much about it, not like its important right now anyway. At least we're grateful for the free ride to Mantis' hideout and all the free booty we can use." Rio said, shrugging her shoulders.

"So, where do you plan go from there, Greg?" Venom asked from his screen.

"Since the wounds we all received from our run in with Shade and the Death Squad were minimal, we should be good for the rest of the mission as long we stay sharp." Greg said. "For now, we should probably start focusing on the escape plan once we find Lilica and Yuina."

"Just keep your eye out for any more traps Shade could have left behind. I doubt he would just let all of you get to Mantis so easily now." Venom spoke.

(Oh, enough about that freak already. Sure, we all got our assess handed to us because of him, but I'm sure if Greg was able to tap into that secret ability Nanvel just told me about before, maybe we wouldn't have such a hard time against him.) Rio thought to herself, looking at Greg silently, who was unaware of what she was pondering about.

"Right, we'll be on the lookout for those as well. I'll ask Riku and his partners for anything even remotely dangerous that could come out and surprise us." Greg said seriously as he suddenly saw the transmission started to break up. "What's going on?"

"It looks like you guys are entering an area with powerful electrical feedback that's jamming outside communications." Maya Ibuki, one of NERV's tech bunnies spoke as she watched her monitor. Dee, Riku, and Nagi looked at the monitor at the tram they were in and saw they were closing in by several meters on the stop where the stronghold was.

"It looks like we're almost closing in on the location…" Riku muttered. "I'm willing to bet that that has to be the source of the transmission breaking up."

"So it's not possible to continue asking for Codec support from NERV or Maki from here?" Rio asked as Greg nodded his head silently.

"It seems that it's just going to be us from here on out once we get to the final destination." Maya Jingu said sullenly.

"Greg…" Linn called out as Greg faced her from his monitor.

"It will be okay, Linn. I'll contact you and everyone else once we're able to locate Lilica and Yuina and complete the mission." Greg said to her. "We are coming home after this, I can assure you that. So, just have faith, okay?"

"Well, as long as you're with them, I really do believe that, Greg." Linn said, nearing tears as Greg sighed.

"Michael, Garland, Scorpion…can I trust you three to support Linn through this while I'm finishing this mission? I know it's probably asking for too much, but…" Greg asked solemnly, which got approving nods from the three male FOXHOUND recruits that were in NERV headquarters at the moment.

"It's a sure thing, Greg. We'll do what we can for her." Garland said from his screen.

"We'll do our best in helping her through this, she'll be fine." Michael spoke. "You guys, just do yours to be extremely careful from now on."

"Yeah, I'll do my best to be careful, you two. Since the Shinsengumi you've sent has done a good job of helping us so far, we should be able to handle the rest of this with minimal problems." Greg said. "And Scorpion…I'm going to entrust the Harrier to you guys until I get back, so you can get to use it in case of an emergency."

"You sure you're okay with doing that, Greg?" Scorpion asked.

"Hey, that Harrier is not just exclusively for me to use, but for everyone else in the group capable of flying it to use. I'm just saying that it's the most I can do if I'm not around to help you guys out in case the terrorists strike." Greg said. "So, Linn, let it be known that everyone has my permission to use it."

"Alright, Greg. I'll remember that." Linn nodded. "Say hello to Lilica for me when you rescue her, alright?"

"I most certainly will." Greg said with a nod. "I'll always be thinking of you and everyone else who supported me through this, don't forget that either."

"Of course, I won't." Linn said, clasping the crystal memento around her neck, which caused Greg to stare at her.

"Hey, you're wearing it too?" Greg muttered, clenching his as Linn finally noticed this and smiled.

"Yeah…what a strange coincidence, huh?" Linn said as Greg nodded. "I think this must be a good sign, since you guys were able to get this far without any problems yet, don't you think so?"

"It could probably be that, or maybe Reese is just going easy on us." Greg simply replied.

"Hey, Greg, you know that can't be true. If you weren't here with us when we had to defend ourselves from Shade, none of us would even be here at this tram, feeling comfortable before the final battle." Rio said, suddenly patting him. "Just admit it, you're the one bringing us this luck that we'll definitely need when we find Lilica and Yuina, so just keep your head up from now on, okay?"

Greg simply nodded at his sensei and focused back on Linn, as the static got worse. "Well, it's just as you, Rio, and even Riku and his partners said before. I guess I should do my best of keeping the up the good work on helping everyone involved in this mission if we're to survive."

"Greg, is there something else you wanted to tell me?" Linn muttered as Greg was silent for a moment before he cleared his throat.

"Linn, there was something…I also wanted to tell you. Something very important, but…I want to tell you personally once the mess Reese has made has been cleared up." Greg said sullenly. "Even if I go far away, I'll come back."

"Do you mean that?" Linn asked simply.

Greg gave a silent nod to her. "Yeah, I do."

"See? You don't look too sure." Tilting her head a bit, she couldn't help but smile a little. "Well, okay, I understand. Go…get things settled."

"Huh?" Greg asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No matter how far you are…once you find your light…I'm sure it will lead you back here again, right?" Linn asked cheerfully.

"I suppose." Greg replied.

"So, I'll stay here…and I'll cheer for you, okay, Greg?" Linn said to him. "I'll be waiting patiently for your return, because I want to talk to you too. So, do your best out there for everyone. Lilica, this Yuina Hattori who you're planning on helping out, and Mantis too."

"I will, Linn." Greg simply nodded. "Linn, no matter what will happen, I will always…"

Before he could finish speak to her, the transmission suddenly cut off between his group and NERV's communications as both screens got a wave of static.

"They already entered the territory. As for the frequency…we just lost it. There is no way we can get it back from here unless we start to locate the origin of the signal interruptions, or just wait for them to contact us." Makoto Hyuga said as Linn hung her head.

"You okay, Linn?" Michael asked, as Linn looked up with a smile.

"Yeah, though it's kind of hard trying to act brave in front of him and everyone else…" Linn said in a broken voice as she started to sob. "I just know he will get through this. He has to, with everyone else that matters to him."

Venom simply sighed as he opened his arms for Linn to get close enough to cry on his shoulders, while Garland came to embrace her as well.

"Hey, it's going to be alright, Linn. Everyone is going to be okay." Garland said to her. "I have faith that Riku and his partners and the Shinsengumi will all do their best to look after them and Greg as well."

Linn just kept on sobbing, but nodded between intervals.

(I know…I felt the same thing from those people with him. They will be alright. I just have to have faith in them.) Linn thought. (Greg, please be careful.)

Misato sadly shook her head seeing the FOXHOUND recruits like this and spoke up amongst everyone.

"Listen, you guys. It's nice to see that you're trying your best in this whole thing, but I really wouldn't doubt Greg and all those people who are with him since they're all fighting to get their loved ones back and to settle the score with the current most powerful psychic known in the world." Misato came forward and placed a hand on Linn's shoulder. "Besides, didn't you listen well to the tone in their voices? They're pretty confident in getting the job done and coming home, especially that boyfriend of yours, Aramaki."

"Yeah, it's as if he was the most eager to come back to you." Maya Ibuki said. "So, you really shouldn't be so sad about this. There's a strong chance that he'll come back."

Linn nodded silently to the two women and smiled, wiping her tears. "Geez, what's up with you NERV guys? First it was Rei Ayanami trying to make me feel good from before, now you two as well?"

"You saw Rei before and she tried to cheer you up?" Ritsuko asked, surprise in her voice, as Linn nodded silently.

"Yeah, it was totally weird. But I didn't mind, at least it helped clear my head a little." Linn replied. "She did mention that she spoke to Greg before, so…"

"I think I'm beginning to see why he's so important to you guys. Some of that personality of his and the rest of you FOXHOUND must have rubbed off on even Ayanami, but then again, she has been slowly developing signs of emotions ever since the Commander _expired_." Ritsuko said, gladly empathizing the word, 'expired.'

"Well, we do have that kind of thing about us, don't we?" Garland said with a smile as Linn made a small chuckle.

"Feeling better already?" Michael asked her as she nodded.

"Yeah, very much, thanks to you guys. I just know everything's going to be fine now." Linn said, clenching her pendant. "Because, that boyfriend of mine will not falter in accomplishing his mission and will defnitely come back."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Back inside the transport tram, Greg stood silently in front of his group, swallowing hard as the silence from the other end meant it was time for facing Mantis and that outside help was impossible for the time being.

(Linn, everyone else…please stay strong for me.) Greg thought, as he had to keep his spirits up if he was going to complete the mission successfully. He then noticed everyone around him was staring at him silently.

"What is it?" Greg asked.

"I'm sure you'll get to see her and everyone else again once this mess is over." Tot said to him. "So, try to keep your chin up, alright, Greg?"

"You're right. We will definitely be going back after this is over, all of us and Mantis included." Greg said.

"Anyway, we're getting close to what may be Mantis' stronghold, so everyone be on guard." Dee said. Everyone else nodded and went over the final phase of the rescue mission plan by checking over their equipment and supplies.

"You okay, Greg?" Rio asked.

"Ever since this mess started, I was always wishing that Linn was here with me for some extra support, even though I was the one who told her to stay in Tokyo-3 to begin with." Greg said shaking his head. "I really must have made a big mistake in telling her she shouldn't come."

"I really don't think so. Even if Tokyo-3's the most dangerous city on the planet right now, I think you made the right choice in letting her stay in the company of all of your other friends from FOXHOUND and NERV." Rio replied. "I'm sure she will be in good hands with them until you get back to her after this. You trust them, don't you?"

"Yeah, I trust Garland, Michael, and the others in FOXHOUND more than enough to know that they would do their best to support her through all of this. The people of NERV are good people too themselves." Greg replied. "In any case, I think a long explanation to her of what has happened is in order after this mission has been completed."

Rio nodded silently as she smiled at Greg, before facing the front of the descending passageway which will take them to Mantis's stronghold as the tram came to a stop.

"We may have a welcoming committee outside." Kanashii said seriously, drawing out a katana. "Without a doubt, Mantis has been expecting us to drop in unannounced."

"True, considering that nothing in the tram was rigged as a trap." Nagi said in agreement.

"What do you mean?" Rio asked.

"Just before we boarded, Pei-san, Kanashii-san, Dee-san, and I made a quick check to make sure there weren't any explosives set on this tram." Riku answered. "I also made a quick check to make sure that the food in that refrigerator wasn't poisoned. All of those aren't uncommon traps to use on an enemy that you know is approaching…"

"Uh…could you at least inform us about that next time?" Rio asked stiffening up in nervousness, especially when Riku mentioned the part about the possibility of poison as she had been the first to grab something from out of the refrigerator.

"Sorry about that, but we would have stopped you if we had found anything." Dee said as she and Pei drew their katanas. "In any case let's be on our guard."

"Then for starters, we should make sure and inspect outside first." Riku said, as he looked around. After a few seconds, he saw a hatch on the tram's ceiling.

"Maybe we can get out from here and advance the attack." He said.

"Okay, here's the plan. Riku, you and Nagi go on top and check if any of Mantis's flunkies are on the outside and take them out before they can alert any back up. We can't afford to waste more resources and time on any other enemy than Mantis with the restraints we're under." Greg said as he faced the Shinsengumi. "Dee, would it hurt if I can assist you to eliminate any threat if they were to surround the exit?"

"Of course it wouldn't, Greg." Dee said as she let Greg approach the door silently while Riku made his way up the hatch and was outside on the rooftop of the tram. Nagi soon followed after. The two of them looked around to see that they have stopped on a brightly lit docking bay in front of two large steel doors, electronically operated.

"See anything, Nagi-kun?" Tot asked through her Codec as Nagi looked at a nearby passageway and spotted five armed Tengus coming from it.

"Yeah, looks like we're going to be welcomed after all." Nagi said, taking out his M9 tranquilizer gun. Managing to aim and fire a clean head shot at the last Tengu from behind, he went down in a few seconds before any of his comrades noticed it. Riku took out a pair of shuriken and threw them at the feet of the second to last Tengu, who stopped in his tracks, only to be knocked out by another shot from Nagi's M9.

"What the…?" One of the Tengu's shouted as he looked back to see his unconscious comrades, but before he advanced to his radio, Dee and Greg had already exited the tram and ambushed the remaining three as she cleanly sliced off one of the Tengu's arms before going for his radio while Greg knocked him over with an axe kick from one of his greave equipped legs, before leaping a few feet above the injured Tengu and executing a drop kick that suddenly cancelled into a grab while he was still airborne. Turning his weight, Greg slammed the Tengu on the ground unconscious, before reaching for his M9 and firing at the remaining one around his chest area, knocking him out.

Glancing back at Dee's direction, he can see she was already finished with the other Tengu as she cleaned her sword of the blood that covered it. Rio, Maya, and the others stepped out cautiously as they looked around them.

"Man, Greg. The least you could have done is save some for the rest of us." Rio lamented, hands on her hips. "You're really something, you know that?"

"Come on, Rio. This really isn't the time to be joking around." Greg replied seriously, checking his gun. "In any case, we got to move on before their friends have found out about us being here."

"Yeah, we should get a move on before they can raise an alert." Dee said to her comrades. "They came from that direction, didn't they?"

Greg nodded silently. "That's supposed to be where our destination lies. Mantis has to be there."

"Then let's get a move on, I don't think Lilica and Yuina have very much time left." Maya said as Rio nodded.

"We hear you, but stay on the guard as usual." Rio said, standing close to Greg. "And if anything wrong were to happen, Greg here would be able to handle it, right?"

"Hey, don't forget that Riku and his partners, not to mention the Shinsengumi are still with us to help out, Sensei." Greg said to her.

"I know, but…you really are becoming a totally dependent person today, Greg. I'm sure the rest of the mission will run smoothly as long as you're with us." Rio said, causing Greg to shake his head.

"I appreciate the compliments, but I'm not really the best candidate for these kinds of situations, I'm just nervous for Lilica's safety, which is probably why I'm acting like this." Greg replied. "I'm certain if someone with twice the experience from combat would have done a lot better in my place if he were here."

(Hey, at least you're making an impression on Riku and his partners. I overheard you guys talking before about your role in KOF. They really are impressed with you and what you've done for them so far, even though you don't see it.) Rio mentally told him as Greg glanced at Riku, Nagi and Tot from the side silently.

(I can't be too sure about that now, Sensei, but at least I'm a bit glad we're making progress in getting them to trust us.) Greg thought as he stopped in his tracks causing everyone else to halt as well when they saw the electronically operated doors. "Okay, we're here."

"So, the big question now is, how are we getting in without causing an alarm?" Maya asked as Greg cautiously stepped closer and looked around, noting some surveillance cameras overlooking the area.

"It seems that this system uses biometrics to get access into the facility." Riku spoke from behind.

"Crap. Now how are going to get inside?" Rio said as she looked at Greg. "Hey, Greg, you think that thing you did with the tram before can work a second time for here?"

"I don't think we can get lucky with this one again, Sensei, even if I wanted to try." Greg said to her.

"It shouldn't be too hard for you, Greg. Besides, you got at least some extra power stored up in those gauntlets you're wearing." Rio said as he shook his head.

"I just don't want to get electrocuted again if I do this, but since it's for Lilica's experiment, I'll do it." Greg replied, opening his palm over the panel near the door as he concentrated his psychic energy through his nanomachines to the energy inside the panel, causing it to go haywire after several seconds. After s short period of time, the door suddenly slid open before the group.

"Greg, you did it again!" Maya exclaimed.

(If someone who hasn't been able to integrate with nanomachines as well enough as Greg has wasn't with us, everyone would have had a harder time getting in.) Rio thought to herself. (It has to be that ability that Greg must have that's allowing him to do these things easily. Should I still be worried about him?)

Shaking her head clear of any bad thoughts, Rio acted cheerfully as she patted her surrogate son's back.

"And once again, Greg's uncanny ability to bring luck to his friends strikes again." Rio lamented, causing him to fluster.

"Enough of that already, we've gotten access now. Let's just move on…cautiously." Greg said to Rio as he was the first to step into the complex, before signalling to the others from behind to come in afterwards. Everyone gasped loudly when they saw what was before them; an entirely different looking location from the area they had just come through was before them, something that looked as if it had come forth from out of a different time.

"This is…this is just like the vision I saw through Seraph's mind last night!" Greg exclaimed, as Rio looked around. "This is not just some stronghold…it's a technological fortress!"

"What kind of place is this?" Nagi asked. "Could the Patriots be the ones responsible for creating all of this underground and in Japan no less?"

"It could be, but then again, there are a lot of enemy groups around the world that has the same power to be responsible for something like this." Riku said in a low tone before thinking to himself. (I guess that obviously leaves former wanker men like Kagami Mikage and Kakuzawa out of the possibility list for who built this place, that's for sure.)

"Forget about what the hell this place is for the moment, where are Lilica and Yuina?" Rio asked. "Greg, can't you sense them?"

"I know this has to be the place they are being held at, but it's too early to tell the purpose of this place as of yet or if they are here to begin with. We have to be careful from here on in as how we're proceeding, Mantis or more of those Tengus could be around here. We can't afford to run into either of them at the moment until our friends are secured." Greg said.

"He's right, finding the captors and getting an escape route ready in case should be our top priority. The less fighting we have to do, the better for everyone else." Kanashii said. "So, Greg, we could really use an idea on where to begin right about now."

Greg sighed as he looked around the passageways, trying to recall the best way to get to the areas he saw Lilica being held in the vision the night before.

"If we can locate something similar to a basement or a prison area of this place, then she has to be there. If not, we just keep looking." Greg said.

"One problem, though, this place is huge. How are we going to find Lilica and Yuina in time?" Maya asked.

"Looks like we'll have to split up again, won't we, Greg?" Rio asked as Greg sighed.

"Although the chances of finding Lilica would grow if we do, things could get dangerous once the fighting starts. And I certainly don't want a repeat of what happened earlier with our run in with Shade." Greg replied. "Okay, this time, everyone has a choice of either staying with me to go on one path, or splitting up after choosing a side and taking the others."

"As much as I want to take the other paths, I'd rather stick with you again this time, Greg, just so you'd stay safe when its time for the reunion." Riku said to him. "And my partners have already decided they aren't leaving me this time either, they want to be part of it as well."

"Yeah, we want to be with Riku when Lilica and Yuina are rescued." Nagi said.

"Not to mention do whatever we can to help them out in case they are hurt or anything like that as well, Greg." Tot said to Greg who nodded his head at the three.

"Alright, that's settled. I'm glad that you're sticking with me for this one, you three." Greg said before facing Rio, Maya Jingu and the Shinsengumi. "How about you guys?"

"Hey, I got to be there for Lilica too, you know, so I'm coming with you guys, wherever you choose." Rio said. "And besides, it would be awfully cool to see you cry like a baby for once when Lilica gets rescued, seeing you get emotional at times seems to make you so handsome, Greg."

"Cut that out already, Sensei." Greg lamented, while Maya snickered. "I'm sure Maya feels the same way too, so I can guess she's coming with me too, huh?"

"That's right, always with you through thick and thin, Greg." Maya said as she nodded at him.

"And surely, Garland would feel disappointed if he heard things didn't go too well for the mission if we weren't with you guys when you need us the most." Dee said. "So, Greg, you're going have to bear with us a little while longer, okay?"

"Sure, I will. Thanks for everything you did so far for us though." Greg said to her. "Okay, since everyone's minds are made up, we'll use the left corridor."

"The worst part is that we don't have nodes for this area, so marking out enemy spots on radar is going to be tough." Riku said to him. "Not to mention the security details in here is different from the usual kind."

"Well, we'll just have to be extra careful and use stealth to get through this place." Maya said as the group followed Greg down to a door that was marked to the 'Holding Cell Area'. Taking out his USP, Greg slowly reached for the door…

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"My, my…they are progressing rather well, aren't they?" Psycho Mantis' voice spoke as he overlooked the monitor watching Greg and his group's progress inside the fortress. He had been tracking their movements the entire time since they arrived in the sewers and have been examining Greg's movements as well. "And he is certainly growing stronger without knowing it as well…ah, I can't wait to relish in the moment when he'll know the truths about himself eventually. The look on his face will be priceless."

From behind him in the same room, a nearly unconscious Seraph, whose hands were bound behind her back by an electric contraption, mumbled as Mantis turned to face her waking up from her short sleep.

"Ah, Seraph. It's been awhile. Coming back to the land of the living already?" Mantis said as Seraph struggled to get out as Mantis held her chin. "It's no use, that contraption is created to specifically seal your abilities as a biodroid, Seraph dear."

"What is it that you want from me and Yuina, Mantis?" Seraph said, trying to look intimidating.

"Ah, so you've been informed about me, courtesy of Kinezono and his friends, no less, haven't you?" Mantis asked. "Well, at least it saves me the trouble of introductions, but I am quite intrigued so far by the fact that you would go to him for aid. How little you know you've sprung a deadly trap for him, my curious combat android."

"I asked you…what do you want from us?" Seraph asked.

"No, actually, your question should be is 'what the do the Patriots want from you', Seraph." Mantis said to her. "You see...they've been quite interested in your race for some time and they wanted to see if it was possible for you to cooperate with us on this endeavour."

"So, you killed Yuina's aunt and kidnapped her just for that? What makes you think I will work with you?" Seraph asked. "In any case, what did you do to Yuina?"

"Oh, she's right here with us." Mantis stepped aside, revealing to Seraph's shock, seeing an unconscious Yuina bound to a chair as wires were attached to her temple area. Seraph stood up as she saw this.

"Yuina!" Seraph cried out, glaring at Mantis. "What did you do to her?"

"Oh, relax. She is still very much alive. She's just undergoing extreme fatigue at the moment. Meanwhile, I've just been analyzing her ability to integrate with biodroids this whole time, that's all." Mantis said. "And from what I gathered, she holds some vital secrets to that even you aren't aware of, my dear Seraph."

"If you only dare hurt her anymore, Mantis…" Seraph said, before Mantis knocked her over with a moderate psychic blast from his right fist.

"I don't think you realize what's at stake here just yet, Seraph. Your whole existence belies on the wishes of this girl, so don't do anything rash now if you want to see her and your newfound companions alive ever again." Mantis said, holding a struggling Seraph by her hair as he thought to himself.

(That man named Reese has finally shown himself when he had sent that mercenary ninja down this path moments before and just when I could have gotten a chance to battle the legendary Shade, it was turned down when Reese called the order to stop the execution for Greg Kinezono and his motley group. But no matter, it would have been very bad for me not to battle another strong psychic like Kinezono, especially after knowing what he's fully capable of during that confrontation, which only spurred my excitement further. I must thank Reese for that little push that he needed.) Mantis thought to himself.

"Don't worry, Seraph. Everything will be revealed soon enough, about your existence and Greg Kinezono's as well. This will turn out to be quite the event indeed." Mantis said as he looked at Yuina. "Now, time to round the Tengus up and get prepared for the main event. I'll let them have their little reunion before the party really kicks off. "

(Greg, Rio, my friends, please, be careful on the way here...) Seraph thought to herself. (Everyone of you is in grave danger if you find us….)

Mantis turned back to the monitor where he grinned as he began to put on his special mask and outfit. "Greg Kinezono. Oh, little fishy, come see my hook…"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Back in the holding area block of the fortress, three Tengus lay unconscious behind Greg and his group's feet as they progressed deeper into the area with very few problems. Using his psychic powers, he was tracking the passageways to see where Lilica was.

"Any sign of her yet?" Rio asked in a low tone.

"Not yet…I don't know if it's because of Mantis being here or my powers which could be giving problems now that's causing us not to detect Lilica." Greg replied as he glided his left hand over the floor until it stopped. "I can still feel her essence strongly though, I'm just having a bit of trouble confirming it."

"How can you tell if it's hers, Greg?" Nagi asked. "If you could give me a hint or two, I should be able to help."

"I appreciate it a lot, Nagi." Greg said, nodding to him. "Although it's kind of hard to explain, you'd probably sense Lilica if you do what I do and call her name mentally and keep thinking about her."

"Is that all there is to it?" Tot asked.

"Well, it worked for me sometimes. I kind of often used it while playing hide and go seek with her back in my younger years." Greg smiled nervously as he said this.

"Ah, no wonder I was never able to find you those times when I wanted to scold you whenever you got into trouble." Rio said, folding her arms.

"Let's just continue looking for her, Sensei. She has to be somewhere in one of these creepy looking cells." Greg said to his surrogate mother as they looked the five cells going down the path. They were protected by clear glass bordered barricades with brightly lit blue fluorescent lights surrounding the edges.

"You think she could be in any one of them?" Pei asked.

"Well, according from the Tengus who were patrolling this area, they did say they were on guard duty, so she has to be in around here." Maya said. "Everyone should look at each cell just in case."

"Good idea. I'll start by checking the last one at the end. Everyone, watch your backs in case their back up arrives." Greg said while the others began to look around in the other individual cells, he walked to the last one at the end slowly. Stopping in his tracks, he let out a gasp as his eyes widened as he saw a sleeping, young girl lying on a small cot. He recognized the hair colour at once and called her name.

"Lilica!" Greg shouted, as he started to pound on the glass barrier. "Lilica! Answer me! It's me, Greg!"

Rio, Maya and Riku heard Lilica's name being called and rushed over to where Greg was standing and to their delight, they saw Lilica moving groggily, rubbing her eyes. Rio placed her hands over her mouth, as tears streamed out of her face.

"Oh, my…she's alright, Greg!" Rio said, as she called out to Lilica too. "Yo, Lilica!"

"I thought I heard Greg and Rio's voices calling me…must be the hunger getting to my senses that I'm starting to get delirious." Lilica yawned as she looked to the side and saw her friends. "Huh? It can't be Rio and Maya? And Riku and Greg's here too?"

"Man, you're slow…so slow." Rio lamented as she wiped her tears. "Snap out of it already, it's really us."

"Tell me…that I'm not dreaming. Is it really you guys?" Lilica stood up wearily and reached for the barrier, though unable to touch her friends.

"It's not a dream or an illusion, Lilica. We're right here in the flesh to rescue you from this nightmare." Greg said with a weak smile.

"Greg, Rio…" Lilica stepped back, almost on the verge of tears. "Somehow…I knew all along…that you'd come. I never lost faith in you guys for one moment. I'd know you'd pull through."

"We know that, Lilica. We never lost faith in you either, since it was you who actually guided us here once we knew that you had found a way to signal us." Maya said, touching the spot where Lilica hands were.

"Then, I guess that makes us even." Lilica said cheerfully.

"Just step back a bit, Lilica. We'll bust you out of there using that trick I did from before." Greg said as he opened his right palm and used his psychic energy to transfer his nanomachines as they able to hack into the panel that locked the door, which suddenly shortened out of power and automatically opened, allowing Lilica to rush out and embrace Rio and Greg on a verge of tears by surprise.

"Oh, thank God for people like you guys." Lilica buried her head into Greg's chest as he patted her head. "I'm so sorry…for all the trouble I caused you…"

"Hey, Lil. This is not your fault to begin with, alright. We're just happy to see that you're okay." Greg said as he patted her head. "I really didn't mind going through all this danger just to save you, it's seeing you again safe and sound that counts."

"Greg…" Lilica cried out as she embraced him tightly. "I'm so sorry…"

"It's okay now, Lilica. Everyone here is going to make sure you'll be safe from now on, you don't have to be scared anymore." Greg said, as some tears rolled down his cheek. "I'm…just so happy right now we can be together like this again…"

Lilica sobbed gently hugging Greg and Rio while Maya, Riku, Nagi, Tot and the Shinsengumi smiled on looking at them.

"Hey, Greg, now would be the good time to make than announcement to Maki, Nanvel, Yuji, and Nastasha to start devising an escape route in case the rest of the mission goes to hell." Maya said, making Greg place a hand over Lilica's dirtied and loose hair and stand firm in front of everyone.

"That's easier said than done, Aunt Maya. Remember before when we got to this base, we started to get interference with outside communications for some reason?" Greg asked. "Even nano-communications are impossible at the moment, so while we're inside of this place…"

"Shoot, so what the hell are we going to do if we want to call for reinforcements from the outside?" Rio asked, clicking her teeth. "Lilica, would you know how we can solve that problem?"

"Yeah, there should be a way to deactivate the jamming device that lies somewhere in this base, but…" Lilica stopped as she sighed a bit. "…it lies in the vicinity where Mantis currently is."

"So we might have to get through him first, huh?" Maya asked while Lilica nodded. "I don't like the sound of where this is going to lead to."

"None of us do, Maya. But if we're to call for assistance in case the worst situation happens, we have to at least fight our way through to get communications going again." Rio said as she looked at Greg. "You think you're ready to face Mantis now, Greg?"

"There's no need to rush things. We still have things to take care of before facing off Mantis." Greg said as he rested his gauntlet equipped right fist over his bandaged chest. "Not to mention that if you take into account the condition that we're all in right now after that run-in with Shade, it really isn't best to say that I'm ready to face Mantis just yet. We have to take this slowly while still getting our bearings together."

"Okay then. We should use this chance to treat ourselves and Lilica some more before the real final battle begins." Rio said, taking out some heated packs of some ramen noodles that he personally cooked before the mission. "I know these are among your favourites, I got them ready for you once we found you."

"Also, I thought you'd like a fresh change of clothes." Maya said, taking out a backpack for Lilica, which she recognized right away after seeing the green colour as part of its designs.

"This is my WARRIOR outfit!" Lilica exclaimed, obviously stunned. "But why would you bring it along?"

"We know this is a rescue mission intended for you, but we're also on the rescue for someone else as well who was missing around the same length of time with you, also since it as a request of a friend we made over the time you were here." Maya said. "I believe you know who we're talking about, right?"

"Wait, don't tell me you guys are here to rescue Yuina Hattori as well?" Lilica asked bewildered as Greg gave a confident nod.

"That's right. We knew who was behind this all along and how it connects with how you and Yuina are being held by Mantis." Rio said. "So, can you help us after you've gotten your bearings together?"

"Sure, just give me a moment to change and eat, okay?" Lilica asked Rio. "Geez, after all that's happened, you're still pushy, aren't you, Rio?"

"Hey, I'm just really glad you're alright. I knew all along Mantis wouldn't dare harm you or else he'd have to answer to Greggie here. He was so bad ass throughout this whole mission; you should have seen him, Lilica." Rio lamented, causing Greg to fluster. "But in the end, he's still just a big softie."

"Will you stop referring to me as a bad ass already? There's no way I'm ever like that, I'm just doing my job of watching over you guys carefully, so there's nothing to make such a big deal out of." Greg said.

"I have good reasons for making such a big deal out of it. Like when we had to face that crazy shikigami that Shade created before, you only got upset out of the fact that he used a homeless guy to do that and he was just being a coward, right? You weren't afraid of him one bit and that was something that made you so different today." Rio asked, causing Greg to step back with his eyes widened.

"Wait a second…did you just say that Shade used a shikigami during your first encounter with him?" Nagi asked when he heard this, causing Greg to nod uncomfortably at him.

"Yeah, it was shortly before we met back up with you guys and the Shinsengumi when we split up." Riku answered bitterly. "This time, one of the few people living in these sewers was used to test us and by the time we realized what was really going on…"

"I…I think we can already guess the rest, Riku. You don't need to go any further." Nagi said to him, remembering their first encounter with Shade back in the Mikage base and how he'd used the same trick on them. Meanwhile Greg's right fist began to shake.

(My only regret is not having enough time to give that poor victim used by Shade's technique a proper burial.) Greg thought to himself as he closed his eyes. (I swear, if I hear anything else about that Shade guy that makes me sick to my stomach…)

"Greg, are you okay? You look like you're in pain." Lilica's voice called him back to reality as she wrapped her arms around his artificial own. Somehow, her presence instantly calmed him as he looked at her.

"Ah, yeah. Sorry about that, Lil." Greg said as he smiled at her. "I'm just fine, really."

"I'm not so sure; I can see that everyone with you is also hurt." Lilica said, noting the bandages on certain parts of the group's bodies. She also looked at Greg's altered appearance in his custom Sneaking Suit.

"We may look it, but we're holding up just fine. We're still on the mission after all." Rio said.

"Anyway, go get yourself changed and fixed up." Greg said to her as he also gave her com unit. "I'll try to formulate a plan on how we should deal with Mantis. Once you're ready, we're going to find Yuina, okay?"

"Okay." Lilica replied with a smile as she turned to see Riku and his partners. "Riku, it's really good that you came as well. I'm very happy to see you again."

"Hey, looking good as always, Lilica." Riku said as he embraced her.

"Oh, Riku. It really is a pleasant surprise to see you here supporting Greg and Rio at a time like this. You really are a wonderful friend." Lilica said, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"Hey, a friend of the Hokage clan is like my family as well. I was worried about you a lot too when I heard what had happened." Riku said to her with a smile. "Though I had to convince Greg and the others to let my partners and myself come along to assist them anyway they've all appreciated the help so far."

"I knew Greg could count on you through times like these, Riku. Thanks for helping us." Lilica said as she finally noticed Nagi and Tot standing next to Riku. "By the way, Riku, who are your friends?"

"We're his partners from FOXHOUND. I'm Nagi Naoe, codename Mystic Crow, and this is my girlfriend, Tot, codename Usagi Ninja." Nagi shook Lilica's hand. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you after hearing from Riku and Greg's family about you."

"Yeah, and it's really good to see you safe and reunited with your friends and Greg once more. I sure am glad that we're able to be here to see this." Tot said with a smile.

"Me too, you have no idea of the hell that we all went through just to get here." Riku said, looking across at Greg and Rio's direction. "I have to say you've got some strong and determined friends here, Lilica. I don't think anything could have stopped Rio, Maya, and Greg, no matter what it was, from coming to rescue you. You should appreciate how much valour they got if they care that deeply about you."

"I know, Riku. I'm really grateful for those guys, Greg especially. He's the reason everyone is together like this. No wonder we actually became like 'family' to him." Lilica smiled as she started her second helping of ramen noodles.

From a distance, Greg was standing by himself, trying to contact someone from the other end of his Codec, but was still getting the 'No Response' signal and static.

"Any luck getting through?" Maya asked.

"None, my guesses from before were right. It's as if this place was built specifically to block certain transmissions to the outside, even using the nanos." Greg replied to her. "I can't seem to get through to either the rest of FOXHOUND or to Maki and Nanvel anymore."

"So, the only way we could probably get through is if we find a communications centre in this facility and connect from there." Maya suggested. "And that will mean having to fight through the security or Mantis to get there."

"We would be lucky if it only has one guard stationed near it, but judging by the capacity of this place, it's a sure bet that it's heavily guarded." Kanashii said.

"Let's hope that it's just being guarded by regular Tengus for now. As I have to agree with Greg, we really can't afford to face Mantis right now being as worn out as we are." Rio mentioned as Lilica, all decked out in her Team WARRIOR uniform now appeared in front of the group. She had finished her ramen and had gone over into a corner to change.

"Okay, we should be focusing on where Yuina could be for the time being." Greg said seriously as he looked at Lilica. "You have any idea of where she could be, Lil?"

"If you guys want to know where she is, the last time I saw her, Mantis summoned her for something important." Lilica said to them.

"How long ago was that?" Riku asked.

"About twenty, or a bit more, minutes ago." Lilica replied.

"Then considering that wasn't too long ago while we were getting down here, not to mention Seraph suddenly disappearing on Maki and Nanvel back home, she should be still close by." Rio said, smacking her fists together.

"Who's Seraph?" Lilica asked simply.

"She's a very close friend to Yuina and the one who came to Greg and the rest of us when she asked for help in rescuing Yuina." Nagi told her.

"Yeah, if it wasn't for her, we would have never been able to know where you were, Lilica, much less found out what was really happening behind the scenes with our traitorous boss, Matthew Reese." Riku said causing Lilica to widen her eyes.

"Wait a second, your Liteunant was the one behind this mess the entire time, Greg?" Lilica asked as Greg nodded bitterly.

"Hard to believe, isn't it, Lilica?" Nagi asked as he shook his head. "We all had bad agreements about him for a long time, but we didn't suspect this until Maki told us. We should have expected someone with a personality like his to be a traitor and to be the one to cause all this trouble for everyone."

"He even confessed to being the one who gave the order to have poor Yuina's aunt killed when Mantis captured Yuina on his last communication before we got here." Tot said sadly as Lilica gritted her teeth.

"No freaking way…" Lilica muttered as she looked at Greg's pained expression on his face. "What are we going to do about this, Greg?"

"We should focus on rescuing Yuina for now, Lil. I'm sure that once this part of the mess Reese created is over, we'll have plenty of time to think about what to do with Reese afterwards." Greg said as he looked around the passageways. "Still, I'm having an uneasy feeling about this place. It would be best if we found out the purposes of this fortress first before we make any wild guesses. You think you're up to it on helping us out on this one?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I'm willing to help you out in any way I can, Greg. It's the most I can do as thanks for coming to the rescue." Lilica said to him.

"Alright, we're counting on you then." Maya Jingu nodded to her. "Don't work yourself too much, though. You're still pretty much under the weather after all that's happened."

"I told you, I'll be okay, you guys." Lilica said as she began to think to herself. (It's actually Greg who I'm more concerned about…those things Mantis said before about him, I just can't seem to get them out of my head for some reason. I'd better hope for the best and think positive so that I can help Greg and Rio get through this after all the trouble they went through.)

The group slowly advanced out of the cell area to where the least amount of guards on patrol were present and with Lilica silently directing them towards a forked passageway, they stopped at a block where they saw circuitry flowing into the doors ahead of them.

"Is that what I think it is?" Rio asked.

"There's only one way to find out, sensei. Keep those fingers crossed." Greg said as he touched the door with his left hand and holding unto his USP with his right. The double electric doors swished ajar and revealed a large console room that was decorated with monitors and surveillance equipment. Seeing the room was vacant of life, Greg signalled the others with him to follow.

"Well, at least we infiltrated the com room with little resistance." Maya said as she surveyed the room. "It's almost too easy and convenient."

(Did Mantis want us to find this place on purpose? It could be a trap, but at least we can solve the communication problem for the time being.) Greg thought to himself as he shook his head. "Lilica, you think you can work your magic inside here?"

"It's a sure thing, Greg. From the looks of the technology in this room, I could easily create a net dive into the mainframe and turn it off manually without being detected, no problem." Lilica said confidentially.

"What's the fastest estimate of when you can get communications online again, Lilica?" Nagi asked.

"Five to seven minutes tops." Lilica answered, taking a seat and putting on a visor that was connected unto the computers in the room.

"Okay, we'll stand guard while you do your thing. We're counting on you, girl." Rio said as Lilica started to type away on the keyboards as several other monitors showed her progress in accessing the mainframe. While this was going on, Riku looked on and stepped closer to Greg.

"What do you think this place's purpose could really be for?" Riku asked.

"I'm not sure about that, but my guess is it has to be related to the Arsenal Gear that's docked in Tokyo-3 at the moment." Greg said. (That or it could be something else. Why is it that while even though I'm standing here with everyone, I'm still feeling something very uncomfortable about this place?)

"Okay, everyone. I think I'm getting through with it…almost there." Lilica said as she typed on with a determined smile on her face. Nagi Naoe was rather impressed with her hacking talents as he saw them firsthand.

"Well, she seems to be enjoying herself a lot, isn't she?" Nagi asked.

"Yeah, all of this comes like child's play to her." Rio said with a smile. "This is more like a hobby to her than just a regular day job. It's one of the reasons why she joined WARRIOR."

"Her family also happens to be pretty rich and Lilica could have spent the rest of her life living off of them, but she prefers to work with us to earn her own living." Maya said.

"I see, that's pretty impressive for her." Nagi said, nodding his head, observing her fingers working over the keyboards with a gleeful smile on her face as he thought to himself. (I bet Omi would enjoy having someone talented like Lilica to help us and Weiss if we all got together for a hacking mission such as this. Not to mention Kaori, Yukie, Reina, and Akane. They'd definitely be impressed at her skills.)

During this, Greg was cleaning his wet eyes with a tissue, despite that he was still shedding some tears after the joyful reunion. Riku was observing this and suddenly patted his back.

"You did it, buddy. You managed to get your family back together." Riku told him, surprising him a bit.

"Yeah, but this is just one phase of the mission completed. We still have to find Yuina and Mantis." Greg said in an almost shaky tone. "Man, I still can't believe that I'm getting choked up so easily over something like this, but I guess it's natural. I hardly ever react this way…"

"Oh, really, Greg. Don't lie to Riku about your emotions. I know when you were just a kid, you'd get emotional over the times you managed to surprise us with your gaming skills and you probably still do." Rio said with a snicker. "Like that time when you finally beat the first God of War on God Mode…"

"Rio-sensei, couldn't you be any more serious about my feelings? Besides, that's a completely different matter compared with now, okay?" Greg replied, feeling fidgety. "I'm sure everyone who played that game managed to do the same too anyway, so it's no big deal."

"Okay, how about that time when you beat Resident Evil: Code Veronica X with an A rank with only that free save and in under four hours no less, which got you the infinite rocket launcher?" Rio said, causing Greg to redden some more. "I remember that you and Maya actually celebrated for three days straight over that."

"Alright, that was an exception, but it didn't come easy, particularly when it came to fighting the final boss forms." Greg said. "Still, I think my S ranking from part 2 in under three hours and using only two saves was something to be proud of, but I don't think I could compare to aunt Maya's speed run in part 4 using the no-upgrade, no merchant, knife and grenade only, two hour speed run on Professional mode, in a lifetime."

Riku, Nagi and Tot stepped back as they heard this and stared at Maya in shock as the gunwoman smirked at them.

"Are you serious?" The three of them all asked in amazement before Riku spoke to Maya.

"Maya, you have to be the one to tell a friend of mine who's about as hardcore a gamer as you and Greg are about how you managed to do such a thing, it would be great to see his reaction." Riku said, smiling while shaking his head.

"Okay, sure thing, Riku. But the only reason I did it was for the challenge of the game, there are other gamers who've done much weirder challenges, believe me." Maya said with a smile.

"Yeah, like clearing all the S-Rank missions of the first Naruto: Narutimate Hero, especially 'Reconstruction of the Hidden Leaf Village' and 'Passionate Battle of Men'." Riku added. "You'd have to have a lot of time on your hands to complete those two. That's for sure…"

Suddenly, the conversation was interrupted as Lilica called out to them.

"Everyone, I did it." Lilica said as she removed the visor with a tired sigh. "I managed to get communications restored from our location to the outside."

"That's great, Lilica. I know you could do it." Rio said, patting her head. "Now we can call for back up just in case something happens."

(It would probably be good for all of us if I could get into contact with my Dad and Uncle Kurei to let them in on the situation and request help from them as well.) Riku thought as he folded his arms. (But knowing them, they may have contacted everyone by now and have formulated a back up plan. Hopefully, whoever they could send should be able to find us if things get rough…)

"We should call Yuji first." Maya said.

"Alright, we'll make a connection with Maki's frequency as well when we contact him. I wonder what it is that Yuji could be doing right about now? I hope he's okay so far and is on the ready in case something happens soon." Greg asked himself as he contacted Yuji's Codec frequency next.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Back on the above ground and on one of the lonely rooftops of old Tokyo, Yuji Naruo was seated in the backseat of the transport helicopter, waiting for a call from his team-mates who were gone for quite a long time now.

(Man, Greg, Rio, Maya, Riku and his partners as well as the Shinsengumi who came with them have been off-line for a while now. I just hope they are all okay and that they managed to find Lilica yet.) Yuji thought as he leaned back to relax. (Well, since that's the case…)

The perverted pilot smiled as he reached for his side and whipped out a DVD cover as he held it up with glee.

"Now, since I'm the only one here, I can use this chance to watch the long anticipated and awaited third episode of the best hentai anime ever made, _Akiba Girls,_ which I finally got on this single disc after so much sacrifice and knocking of a few heads, of course!" Yuji exclaimed as he opened the cover to pop the disc into his portable DVD player which was hooked up onto the monitor inside the deck of the helicopter.

He was almost into pure bliss before he heard the loud ringing of the Codec in his ears, which regrettably made him jump suddenly and accidentally drop the disc which landed on its edge once, before rolling off the edge and off the building.

"NOOOOOO!" Yuji cried out as he tried to reach for the disc as it fell, but to of no avail as he saw it was already far gone from his reach. "No…my lovely Mei…"

"Uncle Yuji? Uncle Yuji? Please respond, it's urgent." Greg's voice called out from the Codec as his face appeared and saw the perverted pilot looking stressed. "Whoa, Yuji, are you alright? Did something happen outside that we should know of?"

"Um…no." Yuji replied miserably, as tears rolled down his cheeks as Greg looked on wide eyed, as Rio's face was shown next.

"Yuji, you'd better not be slacking off and watching those dirty DVDs that are in your personal collection during a mission again. I don't want to think about the last time we caught you enjoying those kinds of things again." Rio said as one of her eyebrows twitched. "Get your mind out of the gutter, okay?"

"Nothing like that is going on, okay?" Yuji said, still in a sour mood. "In any case, what happened to you guys? I was worried something might have happened to you guys."

"A lot of things have happened, Yuji. But we're all okay for now." Rio said. "We managed to find Mantis' stronghold."

"Then, Lilica is…" Yuji stopped before her face appeared onscreen.

"Hey, Yuji. I see you're still acting the way you should be." Lilica said with a bright smile as Yuji's face lit up.

"Lilica! You're alright!" Yuji said with a smile. "Did that Mantis creep do anything to you?"

Lilica gave a quick shake of her head. "No, he did nothing like that, Yuji. Although I was starved a little, but it's really nothing to worry about…"

"Thank goodness for that." Yuji said as he tone got serious. "Well, it's good to know that you're doing fine."

"We're going to contact Maki now and let her in on the good news." Rio said. "In any case, has there been any unusual movement on the outside while we were gone?"

"Nope, everything is still normal for now, we still have a clear sky while the city is hardly having any activity for it to notice us." Yuji reported.

Just then, the Codec tone was heard as Maki's frequency was the one to call in next. Her face appeared onscreen over Yuji's.

"Rio? Greg?" Maki asked. "Are you guys okay?"

"Yeah, we're all okay, Lilica included." Rio said as Lilica waved to the Codec screen at Maki.

"Hey, Maki. It's great to see you guys again." Lilica said as Maki sighed with a smile.

"Thank God that you're safe, Lilica. You had Nanvel and I very worried." Maki said as Nanvel's face appeared next with tears streaming down her eyes.

"'Worried' is an understatement, Maki. Don't you know that I had to pick up after you just for Rio and everyone else to find you, Lilica?" Nanvel spoke now, as if she was almost angry with her. "It's not easy for someone with only moderate computer skills like me to track you, you know that."

"Sorry if I've put so much pressure on you guys, this wouldn't have happened if it wasn't me who was captured." Lilica said as Nanvel shook her head.

"Aw, come on now. This wasn't your fault, Lilica. We were just caught by surprise by the enemy, that's all." Nanvel said. "Besides, we were able to find you thanks to your signal, so you actually lead us on."

"Yeah, we would still have no idea where you would be if you hadn't shown us the way." Yuji said.

"Thanks, you guys." Lilica said with a blushing smile.

"Alright, Rio…what's left for you guys to do now?" Maki asked.

"We still have to find Yuina and then Mantis. Chances are that they could be together by now for something." Rio replied.

"Has Seraph returned to you guys as yet?" Maya Jingu asked.

"Nope, and that is what is still worrying me." Nanvel replied. "Guys, I think what could have happened to her has to be involved with what Mantis is doing with Yuina."

"Yes, it would be best to assume that she could be in more grave danger than before if she just happens to be with Mantis." Maki said. "Greg, you have to focus on rescuing Seraph and Yuina now, it seems like the best thing to do now before facing Mantis."

"Right, they have to be secured from danger first before all hell breaks loose." Greg replied. "I'll make sure to see to that, Maki."

"Oh, and Yuji, because the entrance that we went in from seems to have been sealed off, you've got to pick us up at the ocean where the map indicated where there are several exits connected to the sunken areas of the city." Rio said. "We'll contact you again before the mission's over, got it?"

"Alright, I'll be seeing you guys soon. Good luck on the mission and be careful around Mantis, okay guys?" Yuji said.

"You know we will, Yuji." Greg said nodding at him before the screen logged off. Leaning back on the cockpit, Yuji smiled to himself, feeling better than before now know that Lilica was safe and sound. Thus, he reached for his DVD collection again and took up another case as he thought to himself.

(Well, until they call back, at least I've got '_Anyone You Can Do, I Can Do Better!_' and '_Hitozuma Kasumi-san'_ to fall back on until I can get back that _Akiba Girls_ episode somehow, not to mention buy the game versions for all those once I get the money for them especially since Milk Junky 1 and 2 are now sold in a single pack together. And the story in _Akiba_ at the end of the second episode was really something to look forward too…) Yuji thought with a grin as he was close to taking out the disc out of the case until he heard a male voice called out to him.

"Excuse me, are you Yuji Naruo of Team WARRIOR?" One of them asked as Yuji turned to the direction where he heard the voice and saw about four tall males of about six feet in height, standing near the helicopter, all dressed in ninja gear.

One of them, the speaker, had long black hair tied back in a long ponytail to the back and deep and stern brown-golden eyes with a ferocious look to them to match his face. He was dressed in a dark blue ninja gi, and was holding a katana to the side of his waist. The other man next to him had black hair as well with bangs to the side of his head and had blue eyes. The other two men with them included a man dressed in strange black and white armour and carrying a strange spear like weapon, while the other wore a typical ninja's outfit, and he had long, flowing black hair.

"Hey, you guys are from the Hokage clan, aren't you?" Yuji asked as a smile came on his face after recognizing some of the people in front of him.

"Yes, we are from the Hokage clan and Uruha respectively. Kurei Mori and Recca Hanabishi, as well as Kagero, were told of the situation and have sent us to assist you." The tall man with the black ponytail spoke in a gentle tone. "Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Gennosuke and the man standing next to me is Kurei's eldest son, Kenshin Mori. The other two with us are two of Kurei's most trusted allies, Joker and Raiha."

"My father has told us of the situation that transpired a couple of days ago from what my cousin, Riku, has told his father and soon after, a number of us have managed to gather the available members of the family and ninja clan to discuss with them about this matter." Kenshin said in a calm tone. "He also mentioned that he also arranged to discuss such a matter with your superior, Maki Kawasaki, by the time we meet you. That way, it would be easier for us to help you out with knowledge of the details of the situation."

"I see, Maki always has thought ahead in these kinds of things." Yuji replied as he rubbed his head. "Well, I assumed from what you just heard that my friend was just recovered safely and they are proceeding with their mission. However, I've got to start looking for another escape route since the one that they used as an entrance is now sealed off."

"We're aware of that, Yuji-san, that's why we're here to make sure you get to that point safely, as well as to aid your comrades when things get hot." Joker said.

"So, how about it? We're just as worried for our family who are doing their best to help out yours." Raiha said as Yuji grinned.

"Sure, why not? You guys are already our allies anyway. But you have to fill me in on the way on what Kurei told you about the situation." Yuji said, opening the door to the helicopter for them so they could enter.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Well, that takes care of the transport and escape problem for now." Maya said as Rio logged off from her Codec call. "What's the next course of action, Rio?"

"It's just like Maki said before, we've got to look for Seraph and Yuina now. But the big question is where to start from without having to run into Mantis before we do." Rio replied. "And it's not like this place is going to make our jobs any easier either."

"Yes, we still have no idea as to what this place is capable of, not to mention the dangers it has inside it. We'd better stay on our toes from now on now that we've interfered with their security a bit." Greg said as he noticed a door to the side of the room that wasn't investigated yet. "Maybe if we start looking for clues, we're bound to come up with something useful. I'm going to check inside that room since it hasn't been checked into yet."

"Okay, Greg. I'm coming with you." Rio said, quickly standing at his side as Lilica, a bit weary to what was happening, rushed to their side. "Hey, Lilica, what's wrong?"

"Is there something in that room we should avoid?" Riku asked as Lilica shook her head.

"Um, no, I don't think so. But really, I don't think it would lead us to where Yuina is." Lilica said quickly as Greg shook his head.

"I know its good to be cautious, but we can't just overlook the possibility. Besides, we'll make sure to protect you if anything happens, so there's no need to worry, Lilica." Greg said as he stepped in front of the door, which automatically opened in front of the group.

As Greg, Rio, Lilica and Riku cautiously stepped inside the other room, Nagi was quietly observing what was going on as Tot stood beside him.

"Nagi-kun, what's the matter?" Tot asked as Nagi's eyes lowered a bit.

"Maybe it's just me, or how Lilica was acting since we managed to rescue her, but something about this place is making me really uncomfortable." Nagi said. "It's like she didn't want Greg to be anywhere around here to begin with."

"You mean…we could be in one big trap and we don't even know it?" Tot asked as suddenly, as if on cue, the electric door closed behind Greg's group, separating them and Nagi, Tot and the Shinsengumi after Maya was the last to step in.

"Greg! Rio!" Kanashii shouted as she rushed to the door and pounded on it, while on the other side, Greg and Rio who realized the trap they were in, stopped at the door themselves. "Are all of you guys alright?"

"Yeah, we're just fine for now." Rio shouted back. "What just happened? "

"We just walked into one big trap, that's for sure. Mantis must be watching us from somewhere." Maya replied calmly.

"Well, we just have to find a way to bust out of here and join up with the others before…" Before Rio could finish, they then heard a voice speak from above the ceiling as Greg listened intently to the words spoken.

"Welcome, Gregory. Consider this area a…'special' playground…I prepared just for you and your friends." Psycho Mantis's voice spoke through the speakers surrounding the corners in the sealed room Greg, Maya, Lilica, Riku, and Rio were trapped in. "Please, try and keep me entertained and do not disappoint me by dying too soon. I so want to enjoy this."

After hearing a loud cackle from Mantis' voice, Greg gritted his teeth and faced his friends. "Damn, I should have realized this before. He's toying with us for some reason and he even managed to separate us from each other as well."

"Or he's just testing our strengths." Riku said. "We can't go back to the others for a while, but I'm certain that Nagi has begun trying to find a way to get around this security by now.

"If that's the case, I guess we shouldn't start to worry then." Lilica said. "I did manage to update everyone's Soliton radar with a map area of this place in case something like this ever happens, so they should be okay as long as they are able to keep track and meet back with us soon. I'll try to find a way to reroute the security locks in this room so it could be redirected to another area of this place so we can get out of here, but it will take me a while."

"Alright, Lilica, you go do what you go to do." Maya said nodding her head while Riku examined around the room for any possible traps. To the captives in the room, it appeared to be another surveillance room with monitors, but it also looked like it double functioned as a storage room for records.

"What is this place anyway?" Rio asked.

"It must be another one of this facility's secret rooms." Riku said as he stopped near one of them as he suddenly turned to call Greg after noticing something.

"Greg, come over here and check this out." Riku said as Greg walked over to the monitor and looked closely. "It appears that Mantis is in charge of something big that the Patriots are running."

"Which could explain the stronghold's existence and its capabilities, I assume." Greg said. "I wonder what kind of project they're running in the underground area of Old Tokyo."

Lilica stopped as she observed the monitor and started to type in on the keyboards once more. It was then on the monitor that appeared a few seconds later that made Lilica stepped back in shock.

"What's wrong, Lil?" Greg asked as he stepped closer.

"You should see this for yourself. It appears to be a list of test subjects for an experiment or something." She replied as Greg took a look at the monitor himself, then his eyes widened, before his arms started to shake.

"Gregory?" Rio called out as he shook his head in disbelief, holding it with this right hand. "What's going on?"

"Why is my name among the list of test subjects?" Greg spoke solemnly as he pointed to the monitor. "Soldier X subject number three, Gregory Matthews…there's no mistaking it, that's surely my name on the database."

"Come on, Greg…certainly there are more people with the same first name like you in the world." Rio said, holding unto the cloak that Greg gave her earlier which was still keeping her warm, as she was feeling uncomfortable. "This has got to be some kind of twisted coincidence that the Patriots are probably scheming."

"Sensei, this is not just some coincidence. Maybe this whole thing doesn't just involve Yuina anymore, but me as well in a big way." Greg said seriously as he folded his arms and shook his head sadly. "Besides, I've never told anyone of you this before, but…my old surname…was actually Matthews. It was one of the few relevant things that I could still remember before I met you and Seishiro-san."

Rio stayed quiet as Lilica and Riku looked at Greg in silence as well after this was stated.

"Wait a second, you guys… You trust me, don't you?" Greg asked. "There's no way I could be something the Patriots manipulated…I'm a normal human being, you all believe that, don't you?"

"Greg, you know I really trust you at times when you can be dependable. But…maybe what Mantis is trying to do is just trying to psych you up with stuff like this so that you'll end up falling into whatever other traps he has planned.." Riku said before pausing and then he shook his head. "Then again, as much I hate to say this, you have told me before that your memories of your childhood past were always hard to remember…"

"What are you saying now, Riku?" Greg asked, looking at him sternly, causing the ninja some surprise at his friend's sudden change in tone. "That all of my memories were probably manipulated by the enemy as well? But if that's the case, then for what reason?"

"I…" Riku's voice seemed hesitant. "I'm sorry, I can't answer that…"

"Greg, there's no reason to get so upset about this. Riku is probably right. This is probably just some kind of twisted mind game that Mantis must be playing." Rio said, walking to him.

"But, Rio…there's no sense trying to deny it further." Greg said miserably. "The reasons for the attack all those years ago, why I'm having trouble keeping my powers in check at certain times…my memories must be the reason behind those. And from what we've seen so far, Mantis is probably the one who knows all about this situation and this is why he's toying with us like this. I can't just run away from all of this anymore without knowing all that there is about what happened to me all those years ago, Sensei!"

Rio's eyes widened as she saw Greg's speech had more resolve than before when he told her this, but she could also feel a great sense of fear rising in his voice. He sounded afraid of learning about the painful truths of himself, knowing that it could fully well destroy him. Sighing a bit, she took his nano wrist and then clenched it tight.

"You're scared, aren't you, Greg?" Rio asked. "About learning of yourself and why your name is in on one of the Patriots' databases…well, you've got every right to be. While I may never be able to fully understand what happened to you or, rather what could happen to you, just remember that no matter what the case, I'm not going to give up on you. I'll be right here to support you even if there's a lifetime of pain ahead of you in your future. So, don't try and wuss out on us at the last minute, okay?"

"Yeah…I got you, Sensei." Greg said, bashfully and calming down a bit. "Thanks again, I'll do what I can to try and stay focused."

"Alright, then." Rio gave Greg a light tap on his shoulder as he looked at Riku and did a quick bow to him.

"And Riku, sorry for when I overreacted like that to you earlier. I just…couldn't think straight after thinking of the possibilities of my past. It seems this is also part of Mantis' plans, whatever they could be." Greg said as Riku patted him on the shoulder with a smile.

"Hey, take it easy, Greg. I know that you must have gone through a lot, but we're here with you all the way. Besides, there's no way a cool guy like you could ever be one of the bad guys. We would never think that way of you or each other." Riku said. "So, whatever happens, I'll do what I can to help you too, okay?"

"Thanks for that, Riku." Greg said as Lilica smiled seeing this as suddenly, the door behind them opened suddenly and Tot, along with the Shinsengumi entered the room.

"Riku, are you and the others okay?" Tot asked.

"Yeah, we're just fine. It seems that door was just meant to scare us for awhile." Riku replied as Kanashii noticed the room they were in, then she saw the look in Greg and Rio's eyes.

"Did something happen in here that we should know about?" Kanashii asked as Rio suddenly spoke before Greg said anything.

"It's nothing, really. It was just a false alarm like Riku said." Rio said as she pulled Greg's arm and lead him out of the room. "Come on, we've got a mission to finish."

Kanashii looked on silently to her partners, Dee and Pei before speaking once more to Rio as they met with Nagi, who was working at the keyboards on the computer systems in the room they were previously in before.

"Well, it seems that while you guys were trapped inside, a couple of new areas were accessed by your other psychic friend, Nagi here." Kanashii said. "We overheard Mantis's message and traced it origins where we were able to locate him."

Nagi pointed to one of the screens where they saw a large dome like hall that looked more like a generator area of the facility, where the group saw a tall and cloaked figure standing over two sleeping female figures on the crystallized floor. Rio instantly recognized the man while Greg recognized the figures on the floor near him.

"That's Mantis, isn't it?" Rio asked sternly.

"Yeah, and that's obviously Yuina Hattori and Seraph with him, just as I feared." Greg said seriously. "Where is that room located, Nagi?"

"Just to the north-northwest from here, it's as if he was waiting for us." Nagi said as Greg sighed and clenched his fists.

"Well, we might as well face him cautiously if we're going to save those two." Greg said. "And from the looks of it, we might have to face him head on first for that to happen."

"I was getting tired of all this trekking anyway, Greg. We have to finish this here and now." Rio said. "So, what's the plan?"

"Since this is Mantis we're going to fight, we'd best be ready for anything he may throw at us, so be prepared to watch each other's backs." Greg said. "However, if any of you sees a chance to get Yuina and Seraph out of harm's way, don't waste any time on doing so."

"Alright, Greg, we'll do what we can." Riku said. "Now, let's say we get to rescuing our friend, Seraph and her friend Yuina and wrap up this mission, shall we?"

Greg gave Riku a silent nod as the others gave their own before they left the room and made their way through the clear passageways of the facility to the generator core room where Mantis was waiting for them. As they did, however, Riku looked back at the room where they had found those files with Greg's name in one of them.

(All this stuff about some sort of project involving test subjects...) Riku thought to himself. (While I hope that this is just some fabricated data to confuse us, if whatever is in those files is all true, then...if my guess is correct, which I hope to God it isn't, then that means Greg could very well be...)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Well, you've all taken your time coming here, Kinezono and friends." Mantis' voice spoke as the group stepped through the large door, cold compressed air being released around their feet as they stopped into the giant hall of the facility. After a few seconds, the air cleared and Mantis was visible. He was wearing a customizable metallic armour with a grey and red mask which protected his face to suit. "I was wondering how much longer I'd have to wait before I got bored."

Greg stopped midway along with the rest of the people with him as they examined him. Swallowing a bit, Greg could sense the immense power Mantis held within him even from where they stood. However, Rio held onto his arm and gave him a confident nod, making him remember that he has everyone's support. Looking back at Mantis, Greg began to speak.

"Okay, Psycho Mantis, if it's me you wanted all this time, then here I am finally." Greg said seriously. "I don't know what kind of game you're playing with us, but I'm certain that you know at least part of the reason why I came all this way to face you today. And that is so you can answer some important questions I have."

"Ah, yes. And you need not to worry about that; I have all the answers to your questions regarding Yuina and Seraph, my dear boy." Mantis said before he pointed at Greg. "However, as for the ones regarding your past…you know fully well where they lie."

"What are you talking about?" Greg asked simply.

"My, my…the Patriots are should definitely consider giving the late Dr. Clark a lot of credit for wiping childhood memories from you, even though it would only last for a limited duration." Mantis spoke. "You really don't recall what happened to you before you encountered your dear surrogate family, do you, Greg?"

"Barely." Greg said seriously. "But, I'm still determined to find out anyway. And even if my past is something that I had gone through and hated all those years ago, it's alright. Because I know that my friends and family will support me in everyway possible since I have faith in them...something that you probably can't ever understand."

"You're an amusing individual, Greg. Not many people with an understanding like yours are even brave enough to say such things with a straight face…even if they know about the things they've done in their past lives." Mantis said.

"Cut the small talk and start to fess up, Mantis." Rio said, stepping forward. "What's the Patriots' deal with Yuina and Seraph?"

"Ah, yes. It's about time you asked about it, Miss Kinezono." Mantis said as he raised an arm. "In case you haven't noticed, Yuina holds a very special ability that's exclusive to Seraph and herself, as rather than going into the trouble of explaining it, I'll have her put up a little demonstration for all of you."

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Maya asked as Riku stepped forward, kunai prepared in hand.

"Be careful, Maya. We may not know what trick he's going to pull on us next." Riku said as Mantis used his power to make Yuina stand on her own two feet as her dreary looking eyes stared at Greg and his group.

"Yuina! Snap out of it!" Lilica called out as Yuina stared on at them with a blank look in her eyes.

"It's no use, Ebett. Her mind's in a different place at the time being because she shut away her own consciousness ever since the time she lost her dear aunt, thus allowing me to easily take control of her mind without any resistance." Mantis said, causing Rio and Greg to glare at him.

"Damn you, Mantis!" Rio shouted. "So, that's how you're going to do this, huh? Using your own captive to do the fighting for you, while knowing fully well that we can't harm her. How low and dirty you've gotten."

"Actually, this is not the first time that he's used a tactic like this, Rio." Nagi said to her. "During our VR training, we were instructed that there are always chances of a psychic as strong as Mantis using a weakened person's mind in order to make that person his weapon, or worse yet, his shield in some cases. Don't forget that he used this on our commander's daughter, Meryl Silverburgh, during Snake's famous Shadow Moses mission. That was the basis for that training session."

"He's got a good point. It'd be pointless to just attack him head on without considering what he could do to Yuina in that state." Greg said.

"You've got quite an observant friend with you, Kinezono. He did point out the obvious as you are now able to see that it will prove to be a useless effort to do something when I have this girl's life in my hands." Mantis said. "However…this girl is too valuable to be killed so soon and I've got another use for her, of which I will show to you all now."

Mantis turned to Yuina's side and whispered to her while still controlling her mind.

"Yuina, dear…the one responsible for killing your dear aunt is standing right before you now." Mantis said, causing Greg and the others with him to gasp in shock. "Your chance to avenge her has come…now, say the keyword to integrate with Seraph to kill Greg Kinezono and his associates."

"What did he just say?" Maya said, getting into a pose by drawing a handgun.

"Mantis, you creep!" Rio took out her tonfars and got into a fighting pose. "How dare you go on and say that to her when you know fully well that you're the one who did it!?"

"Now you've gone and done it, Mantis." Greg muttered as he stepped back a bit to prepare himself for battle, however what the group saw next surprised all of them as Yuina began to mutter a sequence of numbers.

"Inputting the keyword: '01110101110110110100001101'." Yuina's voice said sullenly as Greg noticed the term she just used.

"What was that?" Greg asked as he lowered his gaze. "Did she just use a binary code?"

What happened next also managed to surprise them as they saw Seraph standing up right behind Yuina with her eyes watching them for a brief moment before muttering in silence as her body began to fade into Yuina's own body much to the surprise of everyone.

"What the hell's going on?" Maya muttered as they continued to watch in shock at the image of Yuina, who was now engulfed in a bright flash of light and appearing nude before them before her long, purple hair became a silvery colour and a large pair of feathered wings appeared from behind her back. Now her body was covered somewhat in an outfit closely resembling Seraph's, coloured in black and silver that shone like something from the heavens. She had a pair of gauntlets that appeared bigger than her hands, her knuckles and the areas where the wings were joined protected by mirror like shields.

After Yuina had completed her amazing and beautiful transformation, Greg, Riku, Nagi, and Tot stood in awe at what they were facing.

"Whoa…so this is Yuina's power." Greg simply muttered as Rio clobbered him on the head once to get him back to reality.

"This isn't the time to stand there and gawk, Greg. Or have you forgotten that Mantis just forced her to do that in order to kill us?" Rio lamented.

"Shoot!" Greg said simply, as he looked back at Mantis.

"This is her when she has integrated with that biodroid, Seraph or to put it simply, her complete transformation when the two of them have become one being after Yuina recites a password, which happens to be a binary code exclusive to Yuina's use." Mantis explained.

"It sounds like someone's been doing their homework on the existence of biodroids." Maya spoke at Mantis in a disgusted tone. "And just how much about Seraph do your employers know of?"

"Oh, a whole lot more than you simpletons ever would in a lifetime to fully grasp the concept." Mantis retorted. "'One who knows nothing, can understand nothing.'"

"No wonder Mantis has been harping a lot about Yuina's abilities since she and I were captured...this is what happens when a human with a strong mental feedback and a combat biodroid capable of integrating itself with the human mind merge, Greg." Lilica said silently to Greg and Riku, who were still trying to understand what was going on.

"So in other words, Seraph and Yuina are one being, with Yuina being the one in possession of Seraph's powers, is that it?" Riku asked which got a quick, silent nod from Lilica. "Is that the reason Seraph was captured too, to complete this process?"

"Now that it's coming together, I'm beginning to understand a bit of what's going on here, but it appears to be more than just that, Riku." Greg said simply in a low tone. "This was not just some ploy to draw us all here, isn't it?"

"You guessed correctly, Kinezono. But, even though I would love to fill you in on why you were brought here as soon as possible, let's first see if you're worthy enough of learning the truth. If you all succeed in my little test, then I will tell it to you." Mantis said as Yuina prepared herself by getting into a serious fighting pose. "I should inform you all a bit about Yuina's fighting prowess as an emulate. Seraph's just about as lethal as any of you put together, and with Yuina's burning desire for revenge, she will have no qualms of disposing of you. Since I've taken her under my wing, she has been receiving the right training to use her emulate powers that will serve my needs."

"Don't you mean Reese and the Patriots's needs?" Maya asked out loud.

"It makes no difference…you all are going to die by her hands or by mine anyway, so it doesn't matter any more." Mantis said as he raised his arm. "Now, Yuina…do away with them to your hearts content. Remember how Greg Kinezono mercessily killed your aunt before your eyes and ruined your life forever."

"Yes, master." Yuina replied as she stared blankly at Greg's group.

"Mantis, you've crossed the line now!" Rio said as Greg's fist began to shake out of fear.

(So, it has to come to this, hasn't it? Why am I always faced with these tough decisions?) Greg thought as his heart grew heavy over having to fight the person, or rather persons, he'd just met and was assigned to rescue. Could he really make the right choice and keep his promise to Seraph, who is part of Yuina now, fighting within her just after becoming a close friend to her and winning her trust a couple of days ago? That was what he kept wondering to himself.

Biting his lip and cursing himself, Greg made a fateful choice as he reached for his lance weapon as Rio noticed the look on his face.

(Greg's reaching for his Ascension to use against Yuina and Seraph?) Rio thought in shock. (Is he really serious about fighting them, just after everything we've been through?)

"Yuina, please don't make us do this." Greg said with a hurtful tone as he gripped the hilt of his lance as he stared intentionally at the possessed emulate and its host. "I promised Seraph that I'd bring you back safe and sound from Mantis, who was really the one who killed your dear aunt, not me."

"Silence! You're the one who killed my aunt, he showed me everything!" Yuina cried out. "I will not stop until I see your blood split after what you've done to her!"

"I see talking to her won't do anything to change this." Nagi said bitterly. "She must be…feeling so hurt and confused inside…"

"Oh, poor Yuina…this is almost like what Aya-san had to go through when Ceres was still a part of her." Tot said softly. "But after coming this far…we really can't give up on them now, we have to try and help her and Seraph-san, Nagi-kun."

"I agree with you, it can't be too late for them yet." Nagi replied.

(Oh, Greg…you must be really hurting because of this. But…I swear, I will help you find a way to save them both!) Rio thought mentally as she panicked and took up a fighting stance after seeing her surrogate son's reactions.

Battle theme: **_Desire for All That is Lost _**from _Kingdom Hearts 2_.

(Looks like we do have no other choice but to try and bring Yuina to her senses, which I'm betting will not be so easy considering she and Seraph are now integrated, not to mention they're the ones we're supposed to be rescuing.) Greg said in thought.

(You got to be kidding us…isn't there any other way without hurting her?) Riku thought.

(I wish had a better suggestion, Riku, but we've got no other option due to the sudden circumstances.) Greg replied as he thought for a few seconds. (I think I've got a plan we could use, but there's no guarantee that it will prove effective. Riku, you and your partners have to find a way to distract Mantis' concentration so Rio and I can try and reverse the effects done to Yuina's mind. I will act as a decoy since she will probably be after me the most. I should be able defend most of her attacks by using my style of CQC training.)

"You got it." Riku replied as he looked at Nagi and Tot. "Well, you two think that you're up to this?"

"We really don't have much of a choice now, do we?" Nagi said as he faced Mantis' direction. "I just hope Greg and Rio will be able to handle themselves against Yuina…just by looking at her like this, I could tell she's pretty formidable."

"Okay, everyone…Rio and I will start with the initial attack. Riku, I'm leaving Mantis to you and your partners while the Shinsengumi help us." Greg said as Rio rushed at Yuina with tonfars in hand, but stopped midway in order to predict her movements which were actually fast as Yuina dashed at her, her right fist ejecting a blade like weapon from its knuckles and missing Rio as she sidestepped back near her feet. Rio then managed to dodge several swerved punches from Yuina's quick fists by swerving her body sideways between strikes, as she then dashed back with Yuina pressing one behind her with the blade pointed at her face.

(Damn…is this really Seraph's combat ability?) Rio thought as she felt herself being cornered by Yuina's attack, but managed to recover as she then leaped on top of Yuina's arm and jumped off of her, letting Greg rush in from under her cartwheel. Still equipped with his gauntlets, Greg threw a left-right combo at Yuina who ducked away in time before she actually caught his outstretched left arm before it made contact with her face.

(What?) Greg thought in surprise as he felt Yuina's strength clenching on his arm, before she lowered it enough to give him a good look at her clear eyes, before lifting him off his feet, then performing a roundhouse kick at his abdomen that sent him flying.

"Arrgh!" Greg groaned as Rio saw what was happening in time as she caught her surrogate son before he hit a nearby wall in time. At the side, Lilica gulped as she saw what was happening as she looked at Maya next to her.

"We got to do something to help them, Maya." Lilica said. "I know Yuina's in trouble, but we're the ones getting our asses kicked because Mantis is trying to distract us."

"Damn it…looks like we have no other choice. We should take her on at the same time, Lilica." Maya Jingu groaned as she took out a combat knife from her inventory and rushed Yuina along with Lilica and swerved at her, as Yuina simply leaped over the two WARRIOR females with ease as they stopped behind her open back. Stopping midway, the two girls rushed at her once more as she spun her body over them and landing safely behind them again as she turned to look at them with a grim look on her face.

"Yuina, snap out of it now. We don't want to hurt you, but you're starting to leave us with little choice." Maya said as she and Lilica rushed Yuina once more, only to hear a loud 'Clang' that ran as an echo in the hall they were all in as Yuina managed to stop Maya's knife with a right raised leg, while Lilica's fist was blocked effortlessly by Yuina's left fist.

"What…in…the…hell?" Maya muttered slowly as Mantis laughed from the background.

"Now do you all see? With her emulate ability and my perception powers, your attacks are practically useless against her." Mantis spoke. "It's hopeless, I tell you, just accept it."

"We still have a long way to go before anyone of us starts to give up, Mantis." Riku's voice spoke as he threw a set of flaming kunai at him, which was deflected by a psychic barrier he put up in time.

"That was just mere child's play, little ninja. What can you hope to accomplish by trying to distract me by using that?" Mantis said as he suddenly saw the kunai that were deflected suddenly became jolted with an electrical charge as they sent surges of electricity on the floor up to his suit. Suddenly rising off the ground using levitation, he then saw Nagi Naoe at a distance, concentrating his psychic powers to the ground beneath him.

"So, that was just a decoy to lure me into that trap he set, wasn't it?" Mantis said. "I must admit that was almost admirable to an extent, but you and Kinezono have a long way of reaching my level of power."

"Maybe so, but..." Riku then spoke up so Mantis could hear him. "You shouldn't underestimate a ninja team's ingenuity."

Mantis suddenly noticed that there was a third team member missing. He then turned and saw Tot standing behind Nagi just as she pressed her hands together to complete a hand seal.

Suddenly Mantis felt an immense weight on his body, and he was quickly pulled down to the floor, reacting just in time to use his powers to break his fall. He then gave a yell and the weight suddenly seemed to break apart. As that happened, there was the sound of water splashing against the floor. It was then that Mantis realzed that water had gotten onto his suit.

"When you put enough chakra into water, you can manipulate it however you want to." Riku said confidently. "That includes making it as heavy as you want it to be."

Mantis then gave short laugh as he shook his head.

"I see...now it makes sense." He said. "You noticed the mist created by the cold compressed air when you entered, and so you must have signalled that girl to start gathering chakra into the water composing that mist. Interesting that you were able to conceal that from me, but it was all for nothing as your trap failed."

"And who said that part was the trap?" Riku asked with a smirk.

"All we were doing was trying to get your suit wet!" Tot called over to Mantis.

"What?" Mantis exclaimed and looked just in time to see the kunai shuriken on the floor become charged up with electricty and then rise up due to Nagi's telekinesis and then launch themselves at him.

"I hope you took into account that water is a natural conduct for electricity." Nagi said simply as the shuriken plunged towards their target.

Mantis immediately put up a barrier to deflect the blades, but not before sensing Riku's next move.

"Take this!" Riku shouted as he threw another pair of kunai shuriken, these ones with explosive tags attached to them.

Mantis said nothing as the shuriken struck his barrier and exploded. After the smoke cleared Mantis simply looked over at Riku.

"Do you children honestly think this is going to work?" He asked simply, surprising Riku, Nagi, and Tot. "I could tell from the start that you're simply trying to get me to use enough power to stop your pitiful attacks so that my grip on Yuina will falter. A waste of time...now enough of this foolishness."

Riku barely had time to guard as he felt an invisible force slam into him and send him flying back across the room. Nagi quickly put up a barrier to shield himself and Tot just as the force of Mantis' psychokinesis struck at him. The force of it smashed through the barrier, strikking him and sending him flying, but Tot quickly caught Nagi and then leaped out of range of Mantis' attack. Meanwhile, Riku, who had landed on the floor managed to regain his footing. The suit he was wearing had manged to block most of the impact.

(It looks like there's no way we can do anything about Mantis without fighting to kill.) Riku thought to himself as he checked to see that Nagi and Tot were alright and then turned to look in the direction Greg and co. were and ran over to help them. Nagi and Tot did the same.

Mantis then turned his attention back to Yuina who was still holding Maya and Lilica at bay. He then waved his hand at her, making her kick away the two girls with force at a distance while he powered his energy into a sphere from his free hand.

"Is that all you youngsters have to prove your worth?" Mantis said as he raised his arm. "It is not even enough! And yet still, you hope to challenge me?"

Hurling the energy sphere at the group, Yuina dashed out of the way as the ball came closer to the group. However, Greg managed to gather his bearings in time and stepped up to execute his defensive barrier move that he used before.

"Charge Drive Activation Mode…Kai Tsuki!" Greg shouted, raising his right arm to create a dark blue barrier which stopped the incoming sphere's impact for a while before it dispersed in a small explosion, knocking some wind out of Greg as he fell on one knee, panting for air. Mantis smirked at this before thinking to himself.

(He managed to neutralize that attack using just one hand, not to mention without bothering to even concentrate his power into forming it like before when he was fighting Shade…his power must certainly be growing as long as he's standing at a place like this, just as Reese predicted.) Mantis thought.

"Hey, is everyone alright?" Greg shouted to the people behind him as Rio and Lilica nodded.

"Yeah, we're fine. But Greg…what are we going to do about Yuina?" Rio asked, rubbing her head. "Mantis knows our every move and is using Seraph's fighting ability to boot against us…how can we possibly stand a chance?"

It was then that one of the Shinsengumi women spoke now. It was Kanashii who had a very serious look on her face.

"Greg, do you really think that it's possible for you to save her without possibly harming her more than intended?" Kanashii asked him seriously, causing him to stare at her wide eyed as he listened to her.

"What do you mean, Kanashii?" Greg asked in a serious tone, having an idea of where this was going.

"I meant that it is an impossible task for anyone to try and save everyone in a mission such as this one. You may think that you may be able to do so, but that's a naïve and selfish way of thinking, especially at a time like this if you wish that Yuina could be saved without having to harm her." Kanashii said.

After a few moments of silence as Greg stared intently at her, contemplating what she told him, his dark counterpart started to speak to him from within his mind once more. He seemed to be becoming more active than ever now with Greg's release of his inhibited powers since the aftermath of their encounter with Shade.

(Ah, yes. That woman is certainly right for one thing for this just situation, Greg.) Violent Greg spoke. (How would you be able to save Yuina and Seraph without killing her? You and your friends can die by her and Mantis's hands or you can do the honours and spill her precious blood by yourself, ending this battle quickly, yet staining that so called pure conscience of yours. What will it be, you failure of a psychic?)

(Has anyone ever told you that you have a really bad sense of timing? Just keep silent so I can think properly before I have to punch myself once more just to shut you up again.) Greg replied in thought, biting his lower lip hard enough that it almost bled from being agitated from the pressure he was feeling right now.

He knew for sure it was impossible for him or anyone to save everyone when danger strikes, and he knew that he would never have the strength to do so. Yet still, Mantis had placed him and everyone else in a tight compromising situation and he already ensured Seraph that Yuina will be with her again, but not like this. Taking a deep breath to make sure his dark counterpart keeps quiet; Greg collected his thoughts together as he spoke to the Shinsengumi swordswoman.

"Kanashii, I'm serious when I say that I know what you just told me is very true and I stand by every one of those words. It is obvious after everything that has happened so far has shown that even us, combined as we are right now, are not capable of such things. Also I know that I have much bigger issues to be concerned about. But even so, there has to be some way we can do this without having to kill the two of them, now that they are both one individual." Greg replied to her now. "There's still much about those two that we have yet to understand and we really can't afford to end things just as Mantis intends without knowing what the hell's happening."

"I hope you're right about that, Greg." Kanashii said as Rio was glancing over to the pair this entire time in silence, overhearing their conversation as she glanced back to Yuina.

(This really is hard on me too, Greg. I almost feel the same as you do right now, thinking what should be done for Yuina and Seraph.) Rio thought, gritting her teeth. (But it is as you said before, they're the victims in this mess and it wouldn't be right if they had to die in order to settle things. Don't worry, Greg…I'm sure there's a way we can get them free from Mantis' control if we think about the best options to use…)

Just then, Nanvel's voice rang in suddenly on Rio's Codec with an alarmed tone.

"Greg! Rio!" Nanvel cried out. "Are you guys okay? I'm getting very strange energy readings from where you guys are now."

"It's really hard to put it, Nanvel, but right now, we're tangoing with Yuina and Seraph who just happened to be one being now kicking our asses thanks to Mantis." Rio replied. "We could really use some of your advice for how we can help those two."

"Hmm, judging from what data I've managed to gather of Seraph since we met her, she happened to have an ability exclusive to her alone to be able to merge with her host, just as you guys are seeing now." Nanvel said.

"That much we know already, Aunt Nanvel." Greg said now. "Isn't there any way that she can be UN-merged without having to hurt them?"

"I wish I could give an answer so easily, but even I'm new to this emulate thing as well…her CPU and thinking process is something that that I've never seen before, it's as if the origins surrounding her are not of this world." Nanvel said as he shook her head. "I'm afraid to say this…but it's hopeless for those two now…"

"It can't be…oh, poor Yuina." Lilica muttered as Greg pounded his right fist into the ground near him.

"Dammit…I won't accept this. I can't give up on Seraph and Yuina this easily. There's got to be way we haven't thought up of yet." Greg muttered. "If only there was some weakness we could use…"

Riku, Nagi, and Tot walked over to where Greg and the others were. They were all listening to what Navel had to say. The young ninja glanced over at Nagi, but the young psychic shook his head to show he had no idea what to do.

"I'm sorry…" Nagi said with his eyes lowered.

"I see…" Riku was silent as he knew what he had to say. He glanced over at Greg before taking out a kunai shuriken, gripping its handle tightly. "Then I'll be the one to…"

"I'll do it." Nagi said before Riku could.

"Hey, now hold on a second!" Rio objected.

"Do you have any better alternatives? If so please tell us so we won't have to do this!" Riku said, his voice almost to shouting, yet even Rio could hear a pleading sound in his voice. "None of us want to do this, but…"

"Rio, the worst thing you can do right now is just do nothing and hope that the situation will miraculously resolve itself." Nagi said, he then turned to Riku. "Riku, you shouldn't do this. I have more experience in this area. More than enough…"

"You can't be serious!" Rio shouted. "And what do you mean, you have 'experience'?" Rio then turned to Greg. "Greg, isn't there anything you can think of that we can do?"

"I…" Greg was at a loss for words as he realized the weight of what his answer may actually have to be.

Before he almost gave in to despair of the situation, he suddenly heard a voice in his head as it clearly called out to him.

(Gregory! Greg! It's not too late for us…) Seraph's voice called out to his mind as he held his head a bit. (There is a way you can end this without having to shed Yuina's blood.)

(What the…Seraph!) Greg exclaimed in thought. (But how did you…?)

(Greg, I don't have…much will…to be able to talk to you more than I can…handle.) Seraph replied as if she was in pain. (Mantis…he's controlling…my mind as well, making me do things I don't ever want to do to…kind-hearted people such as you and all of your friends.)

(Don't struggle too much, Seraph. Remember you've got Yuina riding with you on this, quite literally.) Greg replied in thought. (Just tell me what we can do to free you guys.)

(Since Mantis is the one controlling Yuina's mind, as well as my own body, Yuina already has part of my personality and abilities, since it's easily possible for him to control both of us without any resistance.) Seraph explained. (Mantis has used his powers to take total control and advantage of both of these. Only Yuina can undo the integration and return to normal, so she can be free of the spell Mantis placed on her.) Seraph spoke. (But chances are that she can be controlled again from Mantis just by remembering the password.)

(Password? Do you mean an access to make the integration happen?) Greg thought. (Was it that set of numbers she just used?)

(That is correct.) Seraph spoke. (Also…when a contract between a bioroid and its host has been initiated, the host is able to recover from most life threatening injuries. So, Greg…it is okay not to hold back when you're fighting Yuina, because I will always be able to make her alright.)

(You make it sound so simple, but this is really hard for me, Seraph. What if…I make a mistake?) Greg thought as Seraph replied.

(It is alright…I've seen how confident you are in your abilities as a soldier and a psychic as well how much you've relied on those closest to you. I don't think that the promise you made to me, which has been on your mind since the start of this whole thing, would let you think that you could afford to fail us now, Gregory Kinezono.) Seraph spoke to him. (Just do your best to help Yuina, I'll handle the rest.)

Swallowing as he heard Seraph's kind words, Greg clenched his fists as he looked up bravely at his group.

"Listen up, everyone. I just talked with Seraph a few moments ago while she was still within Yuina." Greg said. "She said that she will be able to take care of Yuina on her end while she leaves things to us."

That news brought sighs of relief from everyone.

"What are you saying, Greg?" Rio asked. "That it's okay for us to hurt her?"

"No…while Yuina's ability as an emulate will allow her to regenerate some of the inflicted wounds, Seraph won't be able to repair the most serious ones." Greg said. "This is what she just told me."

"What is it that you have in mind, Greg?" Riku asked as Greg looked at him in silence first before switching back to the Codec.

"Aunt Nanvel, isn't there any other way I could use that Charge Drive that's imbued within these gauntlets?" Greg asked.

"Yes, there's another way I should inform you now since you asked." Nanvel spoke. "Your nanomachines for instance, can be concentrated into a mist like form which should temporary infect the functions of certain areas of the human body by latching themselves in a parasite-like form onto the person's body. The person you use this on will be temporarily paralyzed or stunned."

"A nanomist…" Greg muttered as he looked at his right wrist. "All I have to do is just concentrate them into the air?"

"That's it, but there's a catch to it. Once you use the Charge Drive release function, there's no telling what the other nanomachines inside your body will do since they will all function in more different ways than before." Nanvel said. "You have to be careful and hope that the last thing they do is turn your powers against you when you need them the most."

"So, there's basically a fifty/fifty chance that it will end up working positively." Greg said as he clenched his fist. "My mind's made up…let's do what we can for Yuina and Seraph."

"Yeah, let's do it." Rio said, stepping closer to him. "You hear that, Mantis? My son is not going to give up on his new friends and we're not going to give up on them either, even if it means having to hurt them a little along the way."

Mantis simply smirked at the group once more before speaking.

"Ah, always the reliable one, aren't you, Kinezono?" Mantis said to Greg. "That's expected though...a psychic like yourself who's been running around like a goody two shoes all these years in FOXHOUND would have gotten rusty during that time period."

"Well, at least it's better than than running around, terrorizing innocent people's lives like Yuina Hattori's and following orders from the Patriots and Reese." Rio said as she growled at him.

"Oh, yes...thanks for bringing that up. She has done an excellent job of being such a welcoming doormat for you, hasn't she?" Mantis asked. "But I grow tired of your attempts of trying to deny the impossible. It's high time that we ended this. Yuina, the enemy is weakened. You should finish the job."

"Now, Yuina...attack!" Mantis ordered at Yuina who nodded silently at him.

"Everyone, spread out!" Greg shouted as the emulate warrior dashed at lighting fast speed at Greg first of all people. So fast that if he didn't place the Ascension above his head in time, her energy sword would have cleaved straight through him. A spark of white flame and psychic energy so bright that it lit the room exploded from the clash of the weapons. Yuina swung again and Greg countered with another swing. Another clash and another flash of light exploded.

(To think that she's a sixteen year old sophomore, but she's actually just as tough as Mana, Kari, and Scorpion are. It's almost like she was a part of FOXHOUND's younger recruit crowd. She would give even those three quite a hard time like this.) Greg thought to himself. He swung to parry the next attack once more, only to feel his legs getting weak from the force of Yuina's attack that was impacting on him. (But I can't afford to let my guard down...I have to start concentrating my nanomachine release soon by counterattacking some of her attacks.)

Yuina swing a fourth time, but Greg added an extra momentum in his strike and the white flame managed to get in contact with one of her arms. She yelped in pain as she simply retreated from the strike and stopped attacking, giving Greg a chance to breathe.

Yuina held onto her arm for a few moments, while Greg looked on. He began to feel her pain and suffering of what hardships she went through as certain glimpses into her past life as he stopped his movements for a while.

"Greg…what are you doing?" Rio called out as she saw the two of them standing and staring at each other in silence as Greg moved first.

"I see it now…you've had it rough with your family too before all of this happened. Now I've seen it for myself." Greg said as he held his lance up. "But its okay…I've been down the same road too and someone very dear to me and who raised me well also went through the same thing, so it's safe to say we've all been gone through the same thing."

Yuina simply stared at him, but it was apparent that her eyes were starting to water because of the contact just made.

"But Yuina…from what Seraph told me about you from the short time we've known each other, you're a much stronger person than that than to just let your emotions be taken control of like this. I know it's been hard on you since you lost your aunt…and it's okay for you to blame me for what happened, but know this well…I'm not going to give up on the promise I made to your friend and until your eyes have been opened once more to the truth of what's happened, I'll see to it that I'll help you using my power." Greg said as he returned his lance to its hilt as he began to move his arms in a circular motion.

"Fool! Whatever you are going to attempt is futile." Mantis spoke. "Now, Yuina…while he's open, strike him down! Avenge your dear aunt who he had slain!"

Just then, he was distracted by a sound of a rifle firing at him as Maya shot at him from a distance.

"Oh, shut up about it already, Mantis! You're the one who killed her." Maya said. "And besides…Greg knows what he's doing."

"What exactly is he doing?" Nagi asked Nanvel over the codec. He was keeping an eye on Mantis, preparing to counter any move he made to interfere with what Greg was planning to do. Tot and Riku were doing the same.

"Since I'm reading a strong resonance of energy that's unreadable from Yuina right now, mostly because of Mantis's influence residing within her, Greg must have thought up of the best way to safely defeat her. Which is by breaking the spell itself that Mantis placed on her by using his nanomachines." Nanvel explained through the Codec.

"I hope that this will work." Riku said as he began to see Yuina advancing at Greg who was in the midst of chanting his commands. "I don't want to consider the alternative…"

"Cursed Guardian Flame, grant me the power to turn the air around this troubled soul into a purifying wellspring of hope." Greg muttered with his eyes closed as the wind around him began to circle around his body. As Yuina charged at Greg, he pulled back his arms as both of his gauntlets were now infused with energy as he now opened his arms towards Yuina, a small energy barrier surrounding him appearing around his body as she got within range of him.

"Unleashing…Charge Drive Trigger Release!" Greg shouted as he suddenly was able to parry her incoming attack by crossing his arms. Before the barrier surrounding his body shattered like glass, the energy transfused nanomachines began to latch onto certain areas of her body and began to send surges of energy through her body as Greg stepped back to see her yelp in pain.

"Is it working? Did that do it?" Maya asked as Yuina started to hold her head, as from a distance, Mantis began to do the same as well.

"Arrrrgh!" Both of them began to cry out in pain as Greg was starting to hope he didn't do anything wrong. Before he could do anything, he suddenly saw Seraph's arm appear from Yuina's body as the rest of her then emerged from it.

"Nuunnnhhh…" Yuina moaned as she felt her head started to spin and her sight clearing as she then saw Greg standing in front of her with the group following behind him.

"Greg, it looks like you did it!" Rio exclaimed happily before she saw the tired look on his face as he was still staring intently at Yuina Hattori who was still stunned as she was watching the people in front of her.

"Are you alright, Yuina Hattori?" Greg simply asked. "Can you speak?"

"Who…who are you people?" Yuina crawled a bit back as she then noticed Seraph lying next to her. "Seraph! What did you people do to her?"

"Hey, now, kid. Take it easy, we're not your enemies. We're the ones who came to save you because Seraph asked us to." Maya said.

Yuina's watered eyes blinked twice before she looked at Greg once more as she began to sob.

"I'm sorry…I'm so sorry." Yuina cried out, tears flowing freely from her innocent looking eyes. "Seraph…she kept calling and calling to me…about not to try and hurt you all…you really are good people if you were concerned for our safety. I was…just so…hurt and confused…I had to listen and follow what Mantis told us, I had no idea what he would have done to me and Seraph if I..."

"I see, so you were trying not to attack us too, huh?" Riku asked silently and solemnly. "But it's going to be okay now. We're here to make sure you and Seraph get out of here safe. Greg here made sure to that, you should be grateful to him."

"You're Gregory, aren't you?" Yuina asked as she looked at Greg who nodded silently at her. "I'm so sorry…all of this had to happen…because of me. Seraph has been saying much about you and your friends during that time."

"Yuina, you know for sure that you're not to blame for all of this. It may come as a surprise to you, but I really didn't mind doing this for a stranger as well as family." Greg said in return. "Besides…I took things lightly and misunderstood the pain of your burdened heart during that fight from before and now I know I did the right thing by coming here today. I have no regrets for what I've done for you and Seraph."

Yuina looked up at Greg before holding her face as she began to sob once more. Lilica came across from where she stood and started to embrace her gently.

"It's okay, Yuina. Everything's going to be fine now." Lilica said as Greg sighed to himself.

He can feel Mantis influence strongly in control within her, but it was dimming rather quickly, as her mind wrestled with her own emotions, Seraph's mind and her own personal hardships.

(Mantis...what in God's name have you done to this girl?) Greg thought. He could then hear Seraph's weak voice calling out to him.

(I knew it…I knew you'd keep the promise.) Seraph thought as Greg kneeled next to her. (I've never lost faith in you and your comrades for once. You truly are remarkable people.)

(Enough of that already. Your kind words are starting to make me choke, Seraph, it's too much.) Greg replied in thought. (Hey, are you going to be okay?)

(I just need some rest, I'll be fine as Yuina is already is.) Seraph thought. (Just promise me…that you will do the same for Mantis as well, if you're still up to it.)

(Well, make sure to rest well, your job is done for now, Seraph.) Greg replied as he stood back up. (And another thing…thanks for helping back there when I thought it was impossible for Yuina. I couldn't have done it without you.)

He didn't get any reply, but a gentle snore from her as Greg simply sighed.

(Guess she must be tuckered out from that fight. I can't really blame her since she possessed half of Yuina just now.) Greg thought. (Now then…)

"Okay, Shinsengumi, Lilica, do you think you can get them to a safe place and meet back here?" Greg asked.

"Yeah, we should be able to do that." Lilica said. "What are you going to do now?"

"Get down to asking Mantis why he is doing all of this." Greg said as he stepped forward to Mantis who was observing what has going on, having long since recovered from the effects of Greg's attack. The stronger psychic then began to clap at the group.

"Well, well...that was quite a show, Greg. You are much a stronger psychic than I originally thought you to be. I must say that you're truly resourceful, Kinezono. You managed to save them both, using your unique psychic powers." Mantis said. "The girl was growing to be useless anyway, but I already have what I wanted. Her importance is no longer of any concern to me. I simply told you beforehand that she was valuable because I wasn't sure if you had what it took to defeat her."

Placing one foot in front of him, Greg looked at Mantis as he pointed at him to speak as Yuina and Seraph were guided out from the room by Lilica, Maya, and the Shinsengumi.

"After all that has happened, are you proud of yourself now, Mantis? First, you killed her aunt in cold blood, before kidnapping Yuina as orders for the enemy, the same enemy we both have!" Greg shouted. "And even now, he's the very one who brought you back to the world of the living, the one responsible for this mess to begin with. You should know by now that Matthew Reese is trying to get you killed! He has no more use for you, Mantis! Can't you see that?"

"Yes, he's right. Reese was using you all along." Nagi had his say.

"How could you, Mantis? How could you have caused Yuina to suffer so much?" Greg growled at him, clenching his metallic prosthetic right fist that it made that disturbing meshing sound once more.

"Now, don't get angry, Greg. This is all according to my will for the Patriots. Yuina was just my little trump card for the plans they have in store for the future, while you on the other hand, are actually the star attraction for this little drama that will soon be unfolded before all of you today." Mantis spoke.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Greg shouted as Mantis cackled.

"Yeah, fess up now. We just might have to cause you some pain." Rio said as she glared at him.

"All of this actually occurred because of the existence of that man who you call your surrogate son, Rio Kinezono." Mantis spoke. "And it all started with your father's research, Gregory Matthews."

Stunned to hear Mantis' mention of his father, Greg tried not to let the surprise show on his pained face, yet pressed on to find out more about the details.

"What do you know about my father?" He asked.

"Greg, let me tell you a very interesting story." Mantis folded his arms. "Ever since the private studying and research for psychic soldiers began around the late 20th century, many of the army's institutions dedicated for that area were in need of great minds capable of producing men such as myself, you, and your young psychic friend who is accompanying you. In other words, the need for psychics, as well as modified or enhanced humans, to be used as weapons of war has grown intensely over time. As a result, the call for the researchers and scientists to help expand into that field were great, but little came to our aid. However, out of that group of brilliant minds, some stood out in successfully creating their own efficient brands of psychics. One of them was none other than your father, Greg."

"Greg, he's still just playing mind games with you! Don't listen to whatever crap he tells you!" Rio shouted to him. "You yourself know for sure that whatever he says about your father can't be true."

"Oh, don't be so quick to judge, Rio Kinezono, I've barely even begun my story which is indeed true. So you may as well listen in on this as well if you're so concerned about your dear student." Mantis said. "Now, where was I? Oh, yes…your father was quite a dedicated genius in his field, but he was always putting his work ahead of everything else, even his own family, am I right?"

Greg remained silent as he lowered his gaze at Mantis. "Just what are you getting at, Mantis? I've barely known most of the bad details about him before now, what is it that you know about him that I don't know already?'

"The fact that your father once worked with Dr. Clark, who at the time was one of the most renowned geneticists throughout the world. He had even selected his research on psychics to be among the next selection of the creation of super soldiers. This was an incentive created by none other than the Patriots themselves to follow along the lines of the infamous Les Enfants Terribles project." Mantis said. "But somehow, your father, who believed that his research would be offered to certain high profile armies which were dedicated to protecting your former homeland and the United States, ended up finding out about the Patriots intention for his work and proceeded to do something about it."

Mantis began to walk about as he stopped midway before a monitor from where he stood, which then lit up and the image of a secret laboratory appeared, illuminated by many monitors and lights. It showed a capsule and a young boy immersed in blue water, while a tall dark male and a Caucasian woman dressed in lab coats were standing close to it. Greg took a closer look and gasped in horror as he recognized the image.

"Greg, what's going on?" Riku asked him as he stumbled back. "Who's that on the monitor?"

"That…was me inside that capsule, wasn't it?" Greg asked as everyone gasped.

"What the hell?" Rio muttered.

"Yes, Greg…your own father was responsible for putting you in that state to begin with. You can see it quite clearly now, can you?" Mantis asked. "In order to protect his greatest legacy from the world's most powerful rulers, he instilled within you the power that he created, a psychic power under the gene called Soldier X, Greg. Your very own father manipulated and modified your own body without your consent at the precious age of ten. You were even listed as one of his test subjects… 'Number 3', to be precise."

"No, it can't be…it can't be true! How can you expect me to believe all of that?" Greg muttered in utter shock. "And you said that I was only one of the test subjects… are you telling me that he used others as well?"

"Yes, he most certainly did. You see, the gene that was used to create your psychic powers was far too powerful for a single human body to contain, so it was separated into different functionalities and abilities before he was able to divide it up amongst yourself and four other subjects." Mantis replied before he smiled. "One of the first was your late dear younger sister, but she died before her powers were realised during that attack that took away your family, what a pity indeed. She had a miraculous healing ability as part of her psychic abilities, but the poor child was unable to utilize them at the time she died along with her parents"

"My…own sister too?" Greg stuttered, started to feel sick all of a sudden. "He did that…to her as well…?"

"But during that time, the Patriots and Dr. Clark suspected your father had other plans for the gene he had created that was branded as Soldier X. It was said to bear certain unique features that haven't been found in other known psychics as of today." Mantis said as Rio took a quick glance at her surrogate son's back as he continued glaring at Mantis.

(Soldier X? Greg was branded an experiment by his own kin?) Rio thought as she looked back at Psycho Mantis once more.

"And for that, the Patriots wouldn't have allowed their newest weapon to be something that could do whatever it pleased, so they had to put to rest the man behind the legacy of what could have ushered in the newest era in the area of genetics." Mantis continued.

"You don't mean..." Greg said before he was stopped.

"That's right." Mantis said, with a smile. "The Patriots organized the death of your family, so Clark could easily get his hands on the data. What they didn't expect was that you would be among the few people to have survived the explosion. They wanted to extract that gene from you even if it meant killing you."

Greg stepped back a bit in shock. "My family and other innocent people died...all because of me?"

"However, Clark was there to see to it that you didn't live without the power that was bestowed upon you." Mantis spoke.

"What do you mean?" Greg asked. "What did Clark do to me after my family was killed? Tell me, Mantis!"

"He already had a team of special researchers that were sent to extract the DNA within your body that stored the genes of this incredible power you hold, even if it meant endangering your life as it already was on the brink of death." Mantis spoke, causing Greg to stare wide eyed at him even more. "Do you remember anything about how you got all tof hose strange scars you have across your body, Greg? The ones that had trouble healing for awhile?"

Greg looked down to the open areas along the right side of his chest where he saw the scars and stitches of the wounds he obtained from his fight with Shade. Most of them were healed up from the nanos, but there were the other wounds that weren't properly healed up.

"Clark had his turn and did his own experiments on your body in its injured state similar to the state it is in now in order to steal the knowledge your father had instilled within you." Mantis said. "You sustained some very serious injuries in the process that should have killed you, but you lived on, Greg. That willpower of yours eventually became attuned to your psychic abilities and had even made them accessible to integrate with nanomachines of certain types. Did you ever wonder how you're able to access the areas of this base up to now or how you're able to wield a totally artificial arm made out of microscopic, living machinery? That's part of the power that the Soldier X gene provides...the complete control of nanomachines under any circumstance."

Greg looked on in stunned silence as Mantis continued.

"Eventually, Clark managed to find what he was looking for and managed to copy the data your father instilled within you. You were then listed to be trained by the Patriots for a time as well, so you were held in a 'training facility' of sorts created by the Committee and were held there for over a year." Mantis said.

"What are you saying, Mantis?" Greg shouted. "That my powers were specifically theirs to begin with?"

"That's right, Greg…you were originally part of their property, and you were assigned to be brainwashed just as I was to become one of their special elite soldiers. But something happened which prevented that, which led you to coming here to Japan." Mantis said. "You escaped."

"How, Mantis?" Greg asked.

"One of the test subjects for the Soldier X gene had your dead sister's DNA integrated into her, and because of her own natural psychic ability, it was believed that it was her own consciousness that awoke within her and gave her the traits to make her act just like your own dear sister would. She helped you leave from the facility. But not without gaining some attention from the security detail." Mantis said as Greg felt a pounding on the side of his head, as he clutched it.

"Arrgh!" Greg groaned as Rio looked on in shock after seeing all that has been revealed.

"It's coming back to you, isn't it? The memories that you had from that time that you, by the conscious use of your own powers, had shut away for so long." Mantis asked. "Come on, its no use trying to deny it. You know what happened at that time more than anyone else, don't you?"

"Nooo! Stop it! I told you, don't make me remember them!" Greg shouted, slamming his fists into the ground. "I didn't ask for this! I'm not the one responsible for what has happened! It was all because of him! This…all of this was his fault! Everything happened because of that man!"

After seeing the drama unfold before her and her comrade's eyes, Rio began to shout at the more powerful psychic in a tone of protest.

"Mantis, stop it, right now!" Rio shouted. "I don't know what is it you're trying to do, but whatever happened in Greg's past was the enemy's fault! Stop trying to pin the blame on him!"

"But it is also true that it was his own father who defied their plans, so it is fitting that it be the son who should carry the burden of his sins, as well as the consequences." Mantis said. "You shouldn't deny the truth that your own surrogate son was to become one of the Patriots many weapons, but denied being ever wanting this power, Miss Kinezono."

"Damn you!" Rio shouted, looking at Greg once more, who had a blank look in his pupils while his hands quaked. He suddenly then saw something fall from the right side of his face, it was fresh blood that ran from an open cut over his right eye.

"What the…?" Greg muttered as he then saw both his hands being covered with blood. With his quaking hands, Greg began to cry out.

"No! No! NOOO!" Greg shouted, clutching his head. "Stay out of my head! I didn't want any part of this! I told you…stay out of my memories!"

"Greg, snap out of it!" Riku called out to him, as he was beginning to feel frightened at what he was seeing. (What kind of hallucinations must he be having, or is it that his memories are truly something that he wants to forget?) He then looked at Mantis. (If everything he's said is true, then that means I was right. Greg's experiences as a child almost mirror Alice's. Could those two projects by the Patriots have been connected somehow?) Riku then shook off his thoughts. (Forget that for now. The most important thing is helping Greg, but how can we do that?)

"I can…I can still sense it…no, I can actually feel it! I can still hear their screams…her screams! The blood, the explosions, the fire…everything!" Greg shouted. "Please…make it stop...MAKE IT STOP!"

"Yes, Greg…you shall pay dearly for trying to deny yourself as being a psychic." Mantis said as he lifted his finger up. "There is something else that you should know, Greg." Mantis said as he turned to him and pointed to his temple.

"Your father's progress on the field of research on psychics was so valuable that it created enough power for two types of psychics, one with a will to control his very consciousness while the other would lose control of it. In other words, he had to separate the stronger essence of the gene into two of his subjects, meaning that you only have half of the original data for the Soldier X gene. The other subject is currently living with the other half of the gene, which contains twice the amount of the data than the number in you."

"So in other words, you're the reject of the project that was only given the faulty powers, Greg. It's all because of the mental instability within your mind that caused that other personality to grow within you." Mantis spoke.

"I told you already…this wasn't my fault!" Greg shouted out as he then suddenly saw a silhouette appearing just before him and everyone else and transformed into Violent Greg once more. The dark counterpart simply nodded his head as he grinned at Greg, and shocking everyone before him.

"Well, it's about time you got that out of your system. You've pretty much been doing such a poor display of skills lately, especially while you were holding up to that Shade freak." Violent Greg spoke as he stepped closer to Greg. "Now thanks to all of that you've come close to remembering who you truly are, and I can finally attain my own psychical form in front of all these people."

"Oh, no…is that…is that Greg's darkness taking form?" Rio asked. "What kind of a psychic Greg is to be able to do that?"

Greg remained silent as he grunted after a few seconds, falling on one knee. "What is it that you want now, you poser? Are you here to tell me more of the past I tried to forget like Mantis just did before you try and possess my body once more?"

"Please, Greg, I won't try anything so base, not just yet that is." Violent Greg stood closer to Greg as he held his Sneaking Suit collar as he brushed back his lowly cut hair. "Besides, taken the situation to heart, I'd say this is quite the time to look at the bad side to this, Greg. Imagine what would happen if Mantis succeeds in his plans, I wonder what kind of sight it will be, hmm."

"Get to the point. What's really your purpose if you're supposed to act as my own powers?" Greg asked, acting still as this was normal.

"You still don't see it yet, do you?" Violent Greg asked with a shake of his head. "Fine, I'll break it down to simple terms for you to try to understand. Since you're the one who didn't want any part in becoming a psychic, you tried to hide yourself from it all by shutting your own memories away because you were afraid to look reality in the face. What did you think happened after that, hmm? They created yours truly right in front of you, an actual being capable of inflicting pain and suffering to you because of your worthlessness."

"I…I sealed away my own memories?" Greg asked himself in shock.

"Didn't you hear Mantis tell you that himself? You truly are slow. But yes, that's right, you have that amount of power, but it's all going to waste now thanks to your selfish acts." Violent Greg said. "Now, we're both are going to be screwed sideways by Mantis because you've failed to change things before today."

A small cackle was then heard from Mantis. "Now you see why you and I share the same qualities from when we were young. We have so much hatred for this world that rejected us; they would go through so much just to eliminate our kind. And you've even created a mirror copy of yourself to prove to that point. Your hands are tainted with blood. Truth or not, your sins are eternal."

"That's not true! I'm different than you! So different…" Greg shouted, gripping unto Violent Greg's arm "You can go about saying that it's alright that you can go ahead and blame everyone but yourself for the pain you endured, but it's not that simple!"

"So you say, but haven't you always felt exactly that way about your own existence, Greg? Not being able to fully remember your true past and allowing yourself until now to be taken over by your own powers because you're choosing to turn away from reality…that's always been your true self, young psychic and it has led you to this outcome." Mantis said.

"You're so wrong, Mantis! You're the one who allowed yourself be taken over even now by the darkness of your powers all those years ago! All I'm doing is just fighting with myself in order to stay as myself." Greg shouted, struggling to stand. "You can't let a thought about being an outcast bother you so much because that's the start of the downfall to begin with."

"Silence, you have no right to say that!" Mantis said.

"But you have no right to go about hurting people with your powers, not after what you went through back in Shadow Moses and what you learned before you died." Greg shook his head sadly. "No one ever does, not with the possibilities of the good things you can do with that power. It's not too late to come back from the depths, Mantis."

"You have little idea of what real pain as a psychic is until I'm done with you!" Mantis said, beckoning Greg. "Enough lecturing...have at me, Greg!"

"Stop this foolishness, Mantis! I don't care how hurt I will get; I will change you back no matter what!" Greg shouted at Mantis as he began to get up to take a step towards Mantis, but just as he did, Violent Greg's right fist rammed itself hard into the shoulder area of Greg's chest.

"What in the….Greg!" Rio shouted as Nagi tried to move.

(What is this feeling? Why can't I move forward to help Greg?) Nagi thought. (Is this…fear that I'm feeling?)

"There's no sense trying to help him, Nagi Naoe. He is far beyond saving as you all will be very soon." Violent Greg said as suddenly his counterpart's right arm suddenly gripped his forehead. "What…?"

"You may be the memories that I'm trying to forget, but you're still a part of me! Don't even dare think of using me to harm my friends and family again, got it?" Greg shouted as he gripped unto the forehead area harder. "So, I'm going to put you in your place for now and borrow your power a bit for the real fight ahead. Get thee gone, darkness!"

"How did you…ahhhhh!" Violent Greg shouted as Greg raised his arm and opened his palm over Violent Greg who cried out in pain as a bright burst of light suddenly filled the room. Rio shielded her eyes from the blast before her.

"Ahhhhh!" Rio cried out as she saw the energy field surrounding Greg subside as she saw him standing with a calm look on his face. Stepping cautiously nearer and closer to Greg, the psychic Marine turned to them.

"It's okay, Sensei, he's gone for now. There's no reason for you guys to be afraid of me." Greg spoke.

"Greg, is that really you, man?" Riku asked he nodded at him silently. "There's something different about you…"

"Yeah…it's because I now remember everything as to what happened with my family in the past. It somehow…awakened something within me, something I must have forgotten about my powers a long time ago." Greg said as he looked at his fists, before rubbing his head. "My entire body…it feels like its on fire, but it's also calming and reassuring at the same time. This is much more different than before…is this how my powers were supposed to be all along?"

"Ah, yes, Greg. You are correct." Mantis said. "Your very soul feels as if it's on fire, isn't it? That's the reason why the Soldier X gene is so special to Reese and its no wonder he wanted you to 'awaken' like this so badly."

"So, this was really something he was behind all this time!" Greg exclaimed. "Mantis, we've got to stop this. He's the one responsible for this mess…"

"I think not. You see, now that you've finally accepted yourself as a psychic and your own past, it is time that I take off the gloves and show you how muchI've progressed over the years." Mantis said as the cloth around him began to glitter with a dark energy.

Greg stopped in his tracks. "What the…"

"It's time for the advent of the gods...the time when humanity shall bow before the ones destined to rule this world...the Patriots!" Mantis raised his arms, as the energy began to form a force-field around his body. It got so strong that it spread outwards at Greg.

(What is this feeling? No! Something's happening to me again!) Greg placed his arms in front of him to block the energy, but it seemed to be surrounding him, tearing some of the remaining jacket Greg was wearing, and then the skin way from his nano arm, that the exposed and grotesque veins began to show. White flames could be seen pouring out from the cuts and wounds, totally covering the arm in a flame. His body also began to receive pain, while Mantis' transformation was injuring Greg, even through his defence.

Nagi placed a barrier to protect himself and his friends, as the floor in front of them began to open. A ray of light could be seen from below, shining on Greg and Mantis.

After Mantis was done, he looked more powerful than before, his outfit had totally changed. He was holding a lance of his own, while the cloak represented a pair of large, black wings, with long scythes at the ends.

"Mantis...don't tell me that you're able to use Seraph's abilities as well?" Greg asked.

"Why, yes. Her genetic structure was easy to manipulate thanks to the nanotechnology in your body. Not to mention, the functions of this facility that we're in serves as a core of sorts to Ultimatum Gear...the weapon that shall lead the Patriots to their goals." Mantis spoke. "I have attained enough power from that emulate and yourself and put them together to become one with a god. You haven't even come near my level, Kinezono...even with your newfound current powers; you are still no match for me. Ten years of practice can really do me good, and I have the Patriots to be thankful for."

"Why, Mantis...?" Nagi asked. "You were never like this from what I heard about from 'In the Darkness of Shadow Moses'. If anything you've become worse since that time."

"That Mantis was weak and pathetic to let himself be overcome by Snake, and to help him like that." Mantis said. "Thanks to Reese and the Patriots, I've been reincarnated into someone more powerful than the Angels and I will rightfully take my place as the most powerful psychic in the Earth's history!"

"I see it now…so this is what it's been all about this time, hasn't it, Mantis?" Greg asked, crossing his arms. "Your ambition to become the most powerful psychic on the planet… is that what you were thinking when you killed Tokiko Hattori? That is was just to make a step in that process, Mantis? You do know Reese was just setting everyone up and still, you murdered an innocent, despite knowing that you could at least spare her and the same goes for what you did to my mother as well."

"Why bother with the needless details, Kinezono. I was hoping you could at least entertain me if you're still seeking the answers." Mantis said, lifting an arm.

"Of course I am, you can bet on that." Greg said, getting into a pose. "First to begin with, what's this Ultimatum Gear you speak of and why did you really kidnap Yuina?"

"If you really are seeking the answers, you should come at me before I change my mind." Mantis said, as the floor in front of them opened up, allowing him to levitate above it. "I'll give you at least five more minutes to catch up whenever you're ready."

"Wait, Mantis!" Rio shouted as he descended into the abyss below him. Rio looked at Greg in shock as she panicked. "Now what the hell are we going to do?"

"Are you sure you think that we can fight him now, Greg?" Nagi asked him.

"I really don't want to do it, even if Mantis forces our hand, but he's leaving us with very little choice now." Greg said as he looked at the abyss below. "This really lies with my fault, you guys. I took things too lightly and misunderstood the situation and now this happens."

"Aww, Greg. Don't talk too seriously about it; you know the fault doesn't lie with you." Rio said, reassuring him. "How could all of us have known that Yuina was capable of that kind of power, huh? Besides, we all did what we could for her, but I don't think that's even enough now that Mantis has plans for her and Seraph from what he told us even after we did managed to save them."

"Damn…what should we do now?" Greg muttered, folding his arms. "I'm more confused about what's going on with me as well…"

The whole group got silent for a couple of seconds before they were interrupted by the Codec tone that ran in Greg's ears. The psychic looked at the comrades with him as he reached for his left ear.

"Who is it that could be calling me?" Greg asked himself as he pressed on the Call button to see Maki Kawasaki's face appear.

"Gregory, is everything alright?" Maki asked with a worried look on her face.

"Yeah, we managed to get Yuina and Seraph out of the danger, but it's still far from done." Greg replied. "Mantis seems to be making us come after him now for the answers we're looking for….and I'm actually scared about it, now that I remember everything about myself."

"You don't mean….?" Maki asked as Greg nodded silently.

"Yeah, I somehow got the memories of my childhood past returned, but…they are not good ones. Almost all of them aren't…I'm shaking, Aunt Maki. I don't know what I should do now because I'm not so sure of myself anymore." Greg said sullenly.

"Greg…" Maki said before a smile appeared on her face. "…you really shouldn't sound so distressed after working so hard today. Besides, there's someone here on the line who wishes to speak to you and I think his words will cheer you up now of all the needed times."

"Who could that be?" Greg asked as the screen changed to his surprise to a familiar face, who was wearing a black eye patch over where his left eye used to be. A smile appeared on his face as he spoke to Greg.

"Hello, Greg. Maki, and Nanvel as well as Riku, Nagi, and Tot. Michael over at NERV has been filling me in on all that has been happening, so I called to check on how you and everyone else were doing." Seishiro Takeda spoke from his screen. "I've also just heard what transpired…you're doing well taking care of everyone, Greg. I'm really proud of you and what you've done for this Seraph and Yuina Hattori."

"Seishiro-san!" Greg exclaimed almost happily, as he then started to shake. "I…I don't deserve such kindness…not after knowing what I did in the past. My father…he made me into something I didn't wanted to be…and I tried to deny everything because I turn my back on reality. I'm not sure if I will be able to stop Mantis from going through with his plans…what I should do, Seishiro-san? Tell me, please? I feel so small in front of him, but I still feel that I should help him..."

"I know that you must be afraid of knowing the truth, Greg. And while it is right that you must help him because Reese was the one who started this, you have no reason to be afraid since you have people to help you." Seishiro said. "As for your past…I know it must be hard knowing of the things you've done and been through, but aren't you able to face them now since Rio and the rest of us are with you?"

"Yeah…you could say that." Greg said solemnly. "But even so…now that it's still coming back to me, there are things that I'm still unsure of…I feel really uncomfortable about being alive now than before."

"Then promise me one thing…make sure to stay alive to the end so when you get back after things have settled down, we will all sit down and have a long talk about it and we'll be there to support you, how do you like that, Greg?" Seishiro asked, causing Greg to cry a bit.

"Yeah, I'd like that very much, Seishiro-san." Greg replied with a smile wiping his eyes a bit. "You can count on that."

"Good, it's settled then. I'm counting on you to come back to us, Greg." Seishiro said as he looked at Rio and Riku's screens.

"Rio, Riku…make sure to help Greg, okay?" Seishiro said as Rio smiled at him.

"Upon my honour as a shinobi of the Hokage clan, and as a friend." Riku promised.

"It's a sure thing, Seishiro. Leave things to us." Rio replied. "We'll be seeing you soon after this thing is over."

"Yes, I look forward to the safe return of all of you." Seishiro said as he then smiled at Greg once more before logging off. Greg, who was done, wiping his tears from hearing Seishiro's words, looked at his group once more.

"Well, you guys…don't you think I've gotten you involved into enough trouble for the day already?" Greg asked with a smile as Rio talked.

"Well, you used to have a knack for getting your nose into minor things just to help people even if it meant getting into trouble back when you were younger, that's for sure." Rio said. "Maybe you're still like that today, Greg. It's hardly any guess as to why you're risking your life to save a complete stranger and now going after Mantis like this."

"Both Seraph and Yuina aren't strangers to us anymore, Rio. Now that I know personally the pains that the poor girl went through, I won't back down from my obligation to help them, despite the odds that are stacked against us." Greg said as he started to look down at the abyss below, he then sighed as he walked over to the platform silently before stopping once more to look at his friends.

"There must be a way we can still help Mantis. I'm not going to give up so easily after getting this far." Greg said, holding unto his right arm. "No matter what, I won't abandon a friend."

"If that's how you really feel, Greg, allow us to come with you." Riku said as he stepped onto the platform with his two partners. "I'm not sure how effective our attacks will be against Mantis, but we hope we can be of some help to you in this battle. Besides, Seraph is our friend as well; we want to keep on helping her and Yuina just as much as you do."

"He's right, Mantis doesn't have to go through this and we're curious as where this will take us next." Nagi said. "Please, allow us to help you out one more time, Greg."

"Okay, you guys. I couldn't say no anyways." Greg said as he let, Rio, Riku, Nagi and Tot step into the elevator with him with their weapons in hand. "Is everyone ready?"

"You bet. Let's go and kick his ass for good time's sake, shall we?" Rio smiled as Greg nodded, pressing on the descent button to chase after Mantis for one, final battle…

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

ShardclawK: Phew, this chapter was a bit longer to revise than I previously thought, I must admit now, but at least it's done now for you guys to have enjoyed it.

Again, sorry for the extremely long wait, I've been working a lot more than often, not to mention being hooked on gaming (FF12, Tales of Legendia/Abyss still? Yes, pretty much as well as recent faves like God of War 2 and Shining Force EXA along with some Bishoujo titles which a few of them will be crossed into this fic later), watching new anime titles and releases recently (like Bleach, Naruto: Shippuden, Black Lagoon, Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni, and a loong list of others that would make the fanboys jealous) as well as reading several manga titles I've downloaded, one of them being the current Gantz manga storyline, which surpasses the anime in more ways than one in terms of action, story and its exclusive, bad-ass characters. I'd recommend to anyone who liked the anime, read the manga, you'll like it even more than its anime counterpart.

So in short, I was REALLY OCCUPIED for a while and most likely will be for months to come, but it won't stop my revision/updating progress in any way.

In any case, I hoped you liked the number of references I've thrown into the chapter, as I will list the most notable ones below now:

For the Yuina fight scene, I wanted to have a theme which could build a dramatic effect before the events of final chapters of this arc and I had several conflicting choices to choose from the Kingdom Hearts games during the revision, (thanks to GreyWolf4 again for linking me to the sites where I could get the original soundtracks/mp3s for these games and others a while back, their music has helped me a lot during the revision and my fiction work) such as **_Destiny's Force_**, (KH1) **_Tension Rising_** and **_Desire for All That is Lost_** (KH2). The third choice seemed like the best for the scene according to the situation and I got other plans for the other themes in the future as well. Also, that small quote that Mantis used before the fight began was also something Ansem from KH used as well.

Another Kingdom Hearts reference used in this chapter was the one between Greg and Linn which was really based off the sweet Cloud and Aerith conversation scene midway on your second visit to Hollow Bastion, I hope that most of you liked that one as well and I couldn't help but not use it. That small quote that Mantis used before the fight began was also something Ansem from KH used as well.

'_Hitozuma Kasumi-san' _or_ 'The Hills Have Size' _in Englishand_ 'Anyone You Can Do, I Can Do Better!' _that were mentioned by Yuji in this chapter were two recent hentai anime titles I've managed to come across during the hiatus and really enjoyed that I couldn't help mentioning those as well for those whose into titles like that and never come across those yet. While_ 'Hitozuma' _is more drama based in terms of story, '_Anyone You Can Do,'_ had one of the funniest and enjoyable storylines I've come across in a hentai for a long while. Also, the latter was based on a bishoujo game series called_ 'Milk Junky' _and both '_Hitozuma'_ and '_Akiba' _are based on bishoujo games too. I'd highly recommend those as well as Akiba Girls up to the hard to find, recently released third episode three to anyone who hasn't seen them yet.

In any case, I've already started the revisions of the next SX chapters following the next chapter, which will be the swan song of this current arc. I hope everyone's prepared for the revised main battle that I'm sure you all will like.


	11. Final Ascension

ShardclawK: Here it is folks, the revised chapter to close off the first and already famed Psycho Mantis arc for this fic. I hope everyone is prepared to take in what's going to happen as since the very loooong delay brought about by my busy schedule of work, gaming, and anime viewing, along with the late inclusions of the stuff ahead that you'll be seeing in this chapter alone was worth the wait.

Like I said in the previous chapter, I'm increasing the pace story-wise a bit and to fully accommodate, I have decided pull out all stops just to bring together this one massive, EPIC chapter while staying true to the revision progress and including some new added stuff as one of them will be a new feature to the story: The Chapter/Arc Recap, which will detail most of the relevant need to know information of what's been happening in the story thus far as means to help new readers get a good gist of the story up to this current point.

In any case, thanks again to everyone who reviewed the last revised chapter with their most pleasant and encouraging comments, especially the ones regarding the crossover with Basilisk into this story, which will surely be answered in this revised chapter, so brace yourselves for plenty of more pleasant surprises to come in this chapter and later on.

In any case, time to kick the chapter of with the new Arc recap, some more new interactions, new twists, and revelations; and, of course, a set of newly revised final battle sequences that everyone's supposedly been waiting for months to bring this arc to a close. Please do enjoy to your heart's content.

* * *

_  
What Happened So Far in Soldier X: _

_Out of concern for his surrogate family consisting of the female task force, Team WARRIOR, Gregory Kinezono, who is also known as Psychic Panther to members of the Black Ops unit known as the reformed FOXHOUND that is currently stationed in Tokyo-3, set out to aid them in their current situation in Neo Tokyo. _

_However, what he found out when he returned home was that the point leader of WARRIOR, Rio Kinezono was attacked and another one of their own who is a dear one to Greg, Lilica Ebett was kidnapped by forces connected to the Patriots. Later seeking for information to remedy the situation, they received aid from Nastasha Romanenko, an old friend of Maki Kawasaki's, who revealed that FOXHOUND's own Lt. Matthew Reese was responsible for the attack that was lead by the resurrected Psycho Mantis, proving that he was a spy under the Patriots' service all along. _

_To further complicate matters, the group encounters a mysterious woman who is actually a combat android from another time and space named Seraph, who was in pursuit from one of the deadliest assassins of the group known as Schwartz, Farfarello. After managing to rescue her and driving off her pursuers, they also learn from her that a close friend of hers, Yuina Hattori, was kidnapped by Mantis as well. The group agrees along with Greg to help her in getting Yuina and Lilica back, but not before preparing themselves for the long and hard fight ahead first._

_As Greg and Rio head off to a secluded location in order to train in secret so as to strengthen Greg's psychic powers, the remainder of WARRIOR prepares to assist Seraph, while being able to accommodate a trio consisting of one of Greg's comrades from FOXHOUND, the young Hokage shinobi, Riku Hanabishi and his two partners, the younger psychic of the unit, Nagi Naoe and his girlfriend, Nanami Hibino/Tot, as all of them, Seraph included, filled them in of the situation thus far regarding Mantis and Reese while Greg and Rio are filled in on more information by former SouthTown kingpin, Geese Howard and FOXHOUND's Maggie 'Dark Eden' Thompson._

_After the training and exchange of information by Geese was complete for the time being, Greg and Rio returned to WARRIOR's current safe-house where they learned of Riku's arrival and his team's willingness to assist them get Lilica and Yuina back, which they also agreed on. During the final preparations for the rescue mission, memories of Greg's forgotten past began to resurface along with the dark emotions which had begun to take a physical form as they began to slowly reveal themselves. _

_After being able to find Lilica's current location, the combined group of WARRIOR, FOXHOUND, and a mercenary team consisting of the trio of sword wielding women known as the Shinsengumi set off on the mission, encountering Reese's private army of the Death Squad, lead by the immortal ninja mercenary and enemy of FOXHOUND tactician Michael Hansen, Shade. They were able to defend themselves against the Squad, but even with the combined forces of the team's skills and Greg's amplified powers and strengthened resolve, they weren't enough to best Shade in combat. However, just before he was to fulfill his assigned task, the mercenary was called back by Reese and the orders canceled as it was revealed by Reese that the battle was simply a test to further push Greg's psychic limits under pressure._

_The group managed to recover from their wounds and find the facility where Lilica and Yuina were kept and went on to rescue Lilica first before they faced Mantis. During the encounter, they were forced to fight a possessed emulate version of Yuina, who was eventually defeated and saved by Greg's psychic ability to use nanomachines according to certain situations. It was then Greg learned that he was a test subject for his own late father, who participated in a human modifying project known as Soldier X, while the remainder of his memories continued to surface. _

_After learning to his shock that he was responsible for sealing his own memories after the accident which claimed his family's lives when he was still a child, he was able to temporarily overcome the side effects of his powers within him for the time being, now giving himself an even stronger resolve than before. After some words of encouragement from his surrogate family and friends, Greg along with Rio, Riku, Nagi, and Tot proceed deeper into the depths of the facility in an attempt to stop Mantis one final time and gain the answers to the questions they hold, while Lilica and Maya, supported by the Shinsengumi, secure an escape route out of the facility while with Yuina and Seraph in tow...  
_

* * *

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

Metal Gear: Soldier X

Chapter 10: Final Ascension

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

In an urban apartment building back in the United States, Matthew Reese had already stepped out of his SUV along with a group of black suited men wearing the Death Squad uniforms under their clothing. Some of them were holding onto their handguns, despite the fact that some of the neighborhood children who were across the street playing saw this happening. Luckily for them, they scampered away at the call of their parents who were hiding behind the windows among the urban living area.

Reese spat out some of the tobacco that he was chewing from smoking his cigar at the curb nearby, detesting the sight and appearance of the residential area that Greg Kinezono had actually been living in. Considering this was the Southside area of the city, that particular area was mainly occupied and run by average people of his coloured race and the common hoodlums, street children, gangsters, and the like were the welcoming committee to Reese and his troops.

"No wonder he feels at home in a place like this." Reese muttered to himself as he eyed the building some more before calling to his men. "His apartment is on the third floor from here, follow me."

The group of suited men and Reese entered inside the building as if nothing could bother them, not even the piercing glares of some of the curious neighbors that passed them by seemed to faze them as they walked up the stairs to the second floor area where they stopped at the apartment door marked '37.'

"This is the one, his living quarters should be here." Reese said as two of the suits didn't wait to kick down the door, causing a bit of a commotion for the neighbors. Reese kept some suits near him and gave them specific orders.

"If any one snoops around here, you have orders to shoot to kill. No witnesses." He said as he followed the pair of suits that invaded Gregory's apartment.

Looking around some, he saw that it was in adequate condition as a place to live despite the outside appearance. It was only a small sized apartment with four to five sections that would come close to an actual family home and was kept clean for that matter.

Reese turned to the suits once more as he crushed his cigar on the coffee table at the centre of Greg's living room before speaking.

"Search everything that's not nailed down. We're looking for every single document from fabricated birth records to medical bills for this man and anything else that I can use to incriminate him." Reese said as he smoked. "Trash this apartment inside out while you're at it, leave nothing unturned. He may even have spare weapons locked up somewhere."

Thus following the orders of the traitorous, former FOXHOUND lieutenant, the suits began to search every area of Greg's apartment that it was possible something could be hidden in, causing havoc as they trashed the kitchen and bedroom areas, destroying most of the property that was there.

As Reese stood where he was in order to supervise what was happening, one of the suits called to him from Greg's partially destroyed bedroom. "Lieutenant Reese, sir, come take a look at this."

Reese entered as the suit brought him a medicine cabinet that was filled with several variants of up to date medical age painkillers, antidepressants, and antibiotics. Another one brought several silver canisters which were kept in a small ice cooler that seem to contained nano colonies for his right arm and his body.

"Excellent, he must be using these without authorization from his time in FOXHOUND." Reese said as two more agents entered as one of them was holding a bag of documents while the next was carrying a grey suitcase on wheels almost twice his size.

"We also found these as well, sir." One of them said as he showed Reese Greg's confidential records from dental and medical ones, to graduating certificates. As for the suitcase, it was firmly locked by an automated code.

"That suitcase could be holding some sort of weapon, confiscate it along with the records and the nanomachine colonies." Reese spoke as the men walked out of the now nearly destroyed room with them. "Is that all?"

"It seems so, sir. With the evidence acquired in this room today, it will be enough to set your plan into motion." One of the suits said.

"Yes, we're done here. Let's leave quickly before any of his neighbors gets nosey and decides to call the authorities since we've caused quite the ruckus today." Reese said as he began to walk out the room, when he and the remaining group of suits suddenly stopped as they saw a tall and semi muscular white male standing in front of them wearing golden tinted shades with shoulder length grey-black hair that is tied to a single short ponytail a tired look on his eyes and a younger male of American descent with shoulder length dirty blonde hair with red streaks that ran down over his eyes, stood in front of them, both were wearing full bodied hoods over their particular uniforms.

"What's the hurry, Matthew Reese?" The taller man spoke as Reese simply scoffed at the two males, as the younger one's natural glare stayed watch on the Patriots' spy. "I thought you'd be more efficient than this, with the attention that's drawing to you and everything you've done so far and all."

"Hmph, I'm only doing exactly what was ordered by the Patriots to get Kinezono into the position that he's in now, 'sirs'…or should I call you as I know you. The originator for the Soldier X gene, Overboss, Patrick Dixon and the second variant for the Soldier X program, Kendall Martin?" Reese smiled at the mysterious male in front of him as the younger subordinate stepped forward sneering at Reese, clutching at what appeared to be a sheathed blade.

"Commandant! Let me…!" Martin shouted as Dixon put an arm at his side to subdue him as Patrick Dixon spoke.

"Well, it's no surprise that one of the Patriot's first psychic projects for the U.S military could be known of by the likes of you. But I would be more careful about the words you choose the next time you address those designated with the Soldier X gene more carefully." Dixon said to him. "My subordinate here would have shut you up before you could talk to me in such manner and he doesn't take a liking for men of your so called 'level of honor'."

"Sorry if I hurt your feelings, but I did as you told me and here's the result. In order to bring your runaway experiment out from hiding, I turned against the group I was overlooking these years under the Patriots orders so that you could pursue him easier." Reese said as he showed the trashed apartment of Greg Kinezono. The blonde male next to Dixon spat at the sight and turned his back.

"So, this is where the reject lives, huh?" He asked as Dixon nodded.

"Well, it's not likely Gregory would be coming back to a place like this as it is. Besides, Martin, he's not even in the country any more. You'll have plenty of time to share your disagreements with him the next time you meet him." Dixon spoke.

"Hmph, what an eyesore." Martin folded his arms as Reese spoke once more.

"In any case, Dixon, why are you here anyway?" Reese asked as Dixon spoke.

"I just came to deliver a message from our employers to you. They have decided to rescind your mission dealing with Gregory Kinezono/Matthews and Yuina Hattori for the time being and you are to go back on the focus on searching for the remaining emulate and biodroids." Dixon spoke, causing Reese to get angry.

"What did you say?" Reese asked suddenly as Dixon spoke calmly to the man some more.

"They've been particularly getting edgy on your movements lately, even their best scientist and psychic, Robert Thorn, who just got informed of what just happened with Greg Matthew's retrieval of the girl you were sent to capture to begin with, is very upset indeed about the whole thing." Dixon said to him calmly. "Instead, they left the job of finishing the retrieval process for the Seraph biodroid and Number 3 to me and my Hunter group."

"The Hunters…the five member unit made up of Soldier X psychics that always had the Patriots backing since the announcement of the Human Enhancement Project just before the Second Impact…" Reese muttered as Dixon nodded.

"As you can see, my other two subordinates are on another recovery mission right now, while what you're seeing here is the only remainder of the group." Dixon said as he stared down at Reese. "As you may already know this, that psychic you betrayed and are trying to ruin actually belonged to our group originally when he was a mere child as the third ranking member of the unit years ago."

"That much I do know, but why is he that important to you, Dixon?" Reese asked as Dixon shook his head.

"His ability as a psychic alone differs from the rest of us, and that alone makes him very valuable not just for the rebirth for the Human Enhancement Project, but for the Patriots as well." Dixon said to him. "I must commend you though for having him prove his worth as he was years ago when he trained under me by having him fight that mercenary ninja earlier. The battle data I received on his nanomachines and physical strength would prove good research material to start the project once more, but I will be needing the actual physical being himself to kick things into high gear once more."

"You…you deceived me, didn't you, Dixon?" Reese asked as Dixon smiled at him.

"Come now, I've done nothing so base in the least. After all I managed to hold up my end of the bargain and get that all new Death Squad ready for you in time as well. The Patriots didn't fail us this time again after their little miracle with Mantis." Dixon said.

"You mean…." Reese was cut as Dixon spoke ahead.

"Your chance of becoming a General not to mention attaining a place within the Director's board of the CIA anytime soon is not too far off, since the Patriots went through the trouble of bringing back some of the most dangerous and skilled assassins for our time." Dixon spoke. "I'm certain that since you failed in having our employers gain Yuina this time around, you'd do better with the group provided to you."

"I see, well that's good to hear." Reese said with a grin. "Still, to think that they'd go through the trouble of sending psychic sweepers to continue where I left off, the late Dr. Matthews must really have been proud of you to carry on that legacy of his, even though…"

"Didn't I tell you before…to shut up?" The male named Martin suddenly drew out what seemed to be a superheated energy weapon in the form of a long katana that fizzled right in front of Reese's face. "You may be a lowly lieutenant for all I know, but my commander already warned you on how you should address us members of the Soldier X unit. Unless you want your lips to be cauterized together the moment this blade touches you, I'd keep quiet if I were you."

"Hmph, understood. It was time that I departed anyway and start to exchange information with the media about Gregory Kinezono." Reese said as before he left, Dixon stopped him.

"Hold on just a moment. Everything else that you confiscated inside Matthew's room is yours, but the suitcase containing and its contents will come with us, if you please." Dixon said to him, holding his right hand out for Reese to give it to him.

"Have it your way, then." Reese signaled the suit holding unto Greg's suitcase and handed it over to Dixon while Martin returned the sword into its sheath, the blade dissipating into vapor as it did so. "Now then, if we don't have any more to say to each other, we shall be leaving now."

"Please do be careful when you report back to the Patriots, Reese." Dixon said to him as Reese left quickly from the apartment building with the suits while the two Soldier X hosts stood next to Greg's apartment.

"Just as I thought, he's not to be trusted." Martin said as he folded his arms. "Are you okay with this, Overboss?"

"I had to deceive him in order to attain the final data on Matthew's nanomachines at this current rate and he fell for it." Dixon said as he fixed his shades. "In the meantime, the selection for his own group of sweepers was quite willing to work for him, considering the only thing they had in common was vengeance."

"Not to mention that we'd played a part retrieving some of the recent corpses for those assassins before." Martin said. "I'd doubt that they would be obedient to Reese's command to a point, but we'll just have to wait and see how he uses them."

"Now that his part's done, we can start plans for our arrival in Japan soon where you will certainly meet up with your old friend, Martin." Dixon said as Kendall pounded the wall next to him.

"That man is no friend of mine, ever since he took everything from me." Martin said, gritting his teeth. "I'll show him eventually after all these years who shall be the one that rightfully deserves to hold the title of Soldier X."

"All in good timing, Martin. For now, we should depart from here and regroup before the local authorities come to investigate." Dixon said. "Both Blood Dancer and Abyss Saint should have completed their mission by now."

Kendall Martin stayed silent as he nodded to his leader. "I see…however, what about the possible witnesses that saw everything that happened?"

"As I said before, there's no need for spilling blood here, all of the proper arrangements will be eventually taken care of." Dixon said with a grin. "Let us go now, Martin."

As the two of them left the building quietly, a tall dark skinned male wearing a basketball shirt and cap silently opened the door from the apartment next to Greg's while another occupant of the building, a young white teenage girl of a slim build stepped out cautiously.

"Yo, is it safe to come out now, Clair?" The man asked as the girl nodded.

"Yeah, it seems clear for now, Trey." She replied as she and a few other people came to investigate Greg's trashed apartment. "What were does guys looking for, dope or guns?"

"No way, Greg's not the type to be dealing into those kinds of things. Those guys looked like some nasty mothers trying to get him into some kind of shit, from the way they were talking about him." The tall male said. "I'm going to call the landlord, Mr. Tanning and tell him what went down while it's best to lay low for now till Greg gets home, got it?"

"Yeah, you do that." The girl said as she nodded and went back into her apartment and locked it from behind.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Meanwhile, inside NERV hallways back in Tokyo-3…

Linn Aramaki sighed as she sat on one of the cafeteria benches by herself as some of the other staff from NERV were there as well during their break, having a drink or snack and just hanging out with their fellow crew members. She seemed really stressed out after what's been going on recently over at Greg's side and needed time to herself to get over things emotionally.

"I wonder if he and the others with him had already started their fight with Mantis yet?" Linn asked herself with her right hand on her chin as she looked down into the empty plastic coffee cup in her left hand. Next to the cup, the memento pendant that she was wearing was lying on the table she was using, the diamond glistening on the table's reflecting sunlight.

Before she could think any further about what was happening, a tall male with black hair that was tied into a ponytail to the back, an un-kept beard under his chin, and was dressed in a usual blue dress shirt and red tie suddenly sat down next to her holding onto two full cups of coffee.

"You seemed to be really troubled, my dear." The male's voice spoke as Ryoji Kaji broke Linn's deep train of thought as she finally noticed him.

"Oh, it's only you, Kaji-san, wasn't it?" Linn asked as Kaji gave a slight chuckle.

"Please, no need to be formal, Linn Aramaki of FOXHOUND. We're all allies against the war against Angels and now terrorists in this crazy city of Tokyo-3; we should be getting to know each other better. Just Kaji would be fine." He said as he sipped his coffee and offered Linn the spare cup that he had brought with him. "Please, as a show of my understanding for your troubles, you can have this."

"Thanks." Linn simply said as she hesitantly took the cup and sighed once more. "So you know about what's been going on with my boyfriend as well, huh?"

"Well, it's becoming one heck of a gossip topic around NERV right now. And I do have a way of getting around in terms of gaining information in a base like this." Kaji said as he started to speak seriously. "I know it must be hard on you to think that all the odds are against that guy with the way things are…"

"You have no idea." Linn said as she looked up. "Do you think Greg and the others will be alright?"

"Since I've yet to personally meet the rest of your squad, it's kind of hard to tell." Kaji leaned back to look at the GeoFront through the cafeteria windows as he spoke. "But I do know for one thing that ever since that time everyone saw him when the last Angel attacked us, he must be fighting for something other than just protecting those that are dear to him. You may go so far as to call it a way to the acknowledgement of his own existence, I suppose…"

"You talk as if you already know what kind of person Greg is." Linn said as Kaji grinned some. "But even if Greg wanted to fight just to prove his existence in the world, it has to be more than that that he's putting his life on the line for."

"Well, it seems that he is not just fighting for honor or anything of the sort, I suppose. It would be enough for him if he can validate his worth through something like this; he probably was prepared for it to begin with." Kaji said as he stepped closer to her rather dangerously close.

"Hey, what do you think you're…?" Linn asked, feeling flustered as Kaji sat closer to her.

"Now, now, I know you must feel grievous over the way that he's been treating you up to now before he left, but you can get over that if you could have lunch with me." Kaji said as before his face came in contact to hers, another female hand suddenly grabbed his cheek, pinching it hard.

"Yeeeoooww!" Kaji screamed out loud as Misato Katsuragi, Michael Hansen, Solid Snake, and Meryl Silverburgh were standing in the cafeteria room as well, watching what was taking place.

"Kaji, don't you have any shame?" Misato said as she lifted him off his seat, still gripping his cheek skin with her fingers. "This girl's going through a tough time right now because as we speak, her boyfriend is risking his life to get his family back together and here you are all quick to make the moves on her?"

"Come on, Sub-Commander Katsuragi. I didn't mean any harm; she just looked like she needed the company." Kaji replied as Misato squeezed him harder.

"Yeah, right. You're just lucky that her friends are here in place of her boyfriend to take care of things and that I got to you in time before any of them could hurt you for pulling something like this. I'm warning you for your own good if you don't want to incur any of their wraths not to try this stunt again." Misato said as she bowed to Linn. "Sorry about that, Linn. He does this kind of stuff all the time with the female staff of this base as well too."

"I think that's called, sexual harassment, Ryoji Kaji." Michael stated simply folding his arms. "Unless you don't want the new Commander to start setting ground rules to your attitude as of late, you'd better shape up and be more of a help to her and the staff if we intend to get Shinji back, okay?"

"Okay, okay. I'll do as both the good Sub-Commander of NERV and the tactical leader for FOXHOUND says. I'll behave from now on." Kaji said, putting his arms up in a surrender gesture.

"And no more sharing crappy advice to Linn either as well." Misato warned him. "Trying to pretend to know Greg just as much as his friends and Linn does isn't going to win you any favors if you're trying anything sneaky."

"Most certainly, I'll keep that in mind as well." Kaji said. "In any case, why are all of you here?"

"The Commander wants us in the war room to discuss how the terrorists have begun to lay low ever since Arsenal was docked here." Snake said seriously. "He insisted that you join us as some of the word regarding SEELE is also included in the agenda."

"I see, this must be serious indeed." Kaji said as he bowed to Linn one last time. "Well, I must thank you for the time, Linn Aramaki. I do hope we can do this again some other time."

"Oh, believe me, there won't be a next time if you carry on like this!" Misato angrily said as she pulled him away now, this time by the ear. "Come on, Kaji, we can't keep the meeting held back any longer now!"

As Misato dragged Kaji away from the cafeteria room with Snake following behind them, Meryl and Michael were the only ones other than a few of the NERV staff crew in the cafeteria with Linn now.

"You're doing okay right, Linn?" Meryl asked her as Linn nodded a bit.

"Yeah, thanks to your quick timing." Linn replied. "I wouldn't know how to react if that guy came any closer and tried something I didn't like…"

"After hearing the stories about him, it would be safe to say that you're normal reaction would have been a quick slap to the face if you're your usual self, but today's different." Michael said to her.

"My usual self? What's that supposed to mean, Michael?" Linn asked him.

"I meant how you reacted earlier after we found out about Reese and what he's been doing to make Greg and our other buddies, Riku, Nagi, and Tot go through enough hell as it is when they had to face Shade and eventually face Mantis." Michael said as Linn understood where he was coming from.

"Oh, about that, I'm really sorry about before." Linn quickly apologized to him. "I must have looked really foolish, behaving like that in front of everyone…"

"I don't blame you for having to act like that when you did, news like that would make everyone react emotionally just the same way. Even I found it hard to believe when I heard it, but I had to keep my cool for the sake of thinking up a way to help Greg and the others with him." Michael said as he sat next to Linn and spoke to her. "It would be best to keep yourself at a level head about this and just leave things up to Riku, his partners, and the Shinsengumi to help Greg and his family sort things out."

"I know where you're coming from and I understand, it's just that...it just made me angry at Greg that he would do something like this, it's so like him. Even though I should get used to it by now, this happens without anyone of us knowing until the last minute and I react in the way I shouldn't have." Linn said, shaking her head. "It sounds kind of silly to be worrying about him; I know that he's in good hands with everyone over there whose with him, but…"

"Take it easy, Linn. I understand that it's perfectly natural for you to be like this." Meryl said. "But what Michael says is the truth; there are better ways to look at this situation than just worrying about Greg."

"She is right. Even though you're the closest person to him, you could have trusted him and everyone else that was with him to assist him and they would have done everything in their ability to keep the situation in control." Michael said to her.

"Yeah, I know what you guys mean…but considering the situation…" Linn said as she glanced to the side with her eyes lowered. Michael knew that she was still confused about what has been happening lately and decided to cheer her up a bit.

"I wonder…whatever happened to the brave and courageous Linn that I always admired and knew, hmm?" Michael said as he looked about the café a bit as the woman chuckled some to the gesture he was showing.

"What are you doing, Venom?" Linn asked him as he replied to her.

"Normally, you're probably not like this, since I've come to know you over the years." He said. "Knowing you, if Greg was here, you'd waste no time getting into an argument with him for pulling something like this. But then again, you're probably admiring what he's trying to do to make things straight once more."

"You're probably right about that. Even though he can be a bit slow and clumsy at times and selfish to a fault, he's the type willing to take the heat for a friend when they are in trouble." Linn said. "Maybe he tries too hard to be just like you and Garland and as a result ends up in weird situations like now…"

"It must be hard for him trying to keep his status within the group due to his personal problems." Michael said to her. "That is why it's best that I suggest to you start to become stronger for his sake when he gets back here. He will definitely need your support then more than ever for when he starts to depend on you in the future more than ever."

"I think you're right. It must be what he would want anyway out of me." Linn said as she stood up to stretch herself. "By the way, just where are Garland and the others right now?"

"Garland's taken Mana, Kari, and Scorpion over to the simulation room to do some training with them along with the Section 2 guards as well." Michael replied. "I was about to go and join him, you want to come along too?"

"Yeah, I'll try anything to get my mind out of this slump." Linn said as Michael offered a hand to help her stand up. "Will you be joining us as well, Commander?"

"I'd like to, but I've got to join Katsuragi and Snake as well. Ever since everyone found out about Reese, chances are that Campbell would be joining in the discussion as well to talk about what he will do about this situation." Meryl said to Linn. "And don't worry too much about Greg and the others, they will all be okay, we should be hearing from them soon."

"I know, the training will be a good way to pass the time until then." Linn said to her. "Good luck at that meeting."

After saluting at Meryl as she left, Linn turned to Michael before speaking.

"Shall we be going, then?" Linn asked him.

"Anytime you're ready." Michael said as the two of them started to walk out of the cafeteria as Linn began to think to herself over the matter.

(Just you wait, Greg, I'll make sure to become stronger too by the time you come back to me.) Linn thought to herself. (Until then…please do what you can to survive this day.)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Meanwhile, somewhere else in Japan over at Tokyo-2….

"Seishiro, are you doing okay?" A male voice called out to Seishiro Takeda, the speaker was Marcus Blackthorne, a former FOXHOUND recruit, now member of the Wolf Pack under the name of Ice Wolf was standing next to him with a cup of coffee.

They were a small faction of the disbanded group of recruits that left FOXHOUND a year ago who joined a new one formed under the leadership of Michael Hansen in order to continue the cause of supporting the fight against the Patriots under his leadership under the code name, Alpha. This was after a tragic incident occurred and most of FOXHOUND was disbanded for certain reasons. The fact that Michael participated as leader of the Wolf Pack was kept a secret even to Michael's superiors at FOXHOUND after he rejoined the group.

Today, they were stationed outside a grass field in the countryside, observing suspicious movements near a suburban town that could be linked to the recent terrorist activity in Tokyo-3. So far, nothing out of the ordinary has occurred, but it sure was slow in terms of progress.

He along with Seishiro known as Black Tiger in the group, Trang Nguyen Han known as Black Cougar and Kojiro Shimura, codenamed Hawkeye, were few of the members that were on duty on this side of the country for today. There were a number of their other comrades who were either out on the field or training until they got orders from Alpha to regroup in case something came up.

For the time being, this was a good time to get their minds and bodies organized before their next mission was called.

"You looked really worried, did something happen?" Marcus asked him as Seishiro replied to him with a smile.

"Well, it's really nothing to be overly panicked about as long as Greg is with them." He said to his friend. "I was just having a conversation with him after just being told about what's been going on at their side, and I figured that he would need my words to get him through the fight that's ahead."

"Hey, there's no need to hide things from us; he's in some sort of trouble, isn't he?" Kojiro asked him. "Is it that bad?"

"Yeah, all thanks to none other than Reese." Seishiro said to him as Kojiroh shook his head.

"What did that guy do this time?" Trang asked him as Seishiro told him and his comrades what Maki told him just minutes before about what happened recently from Lilica's kidnapping to Reese's betrayal and Mantis's revelation to Greg. Most of what they heard was pretty wild and hard to believe when they first heard it, but they were now composed enough after hearing that Lilica was now safe from harm and Greg was just about to face Mantis along with Rio, Riku, Nagi, and Tot.

"Man, this is some wild stuff taking place." Kojiro said to Seishiro. "Maybe if Greg had taken up your offer and followed you to join us instead of going back to that group, his family wouldn't be put into that kind of danger because of Reese."

"He would still be in danger anyway since he has something Reese wants. This is probably why he took it upon himself to go and fix this mess that that man started." Seishiro said.

"And you're okay with that?" Trang asked him. "Wouldn't it be best to go and give him a hand? You are the next closest thing he's got to a father since he's come to depend on you as such over the years and he could use your experience."

"I wish more than anything else right now to do so, but then again, we are far from where they are currently located and what if something happens here if we make a move?" Seishiro asked. "It pains me to know about what Greg is going through, but the most I can do is lend him my voice for support. Also…I trust him enough that he can handle things efficiently as a leader should. He may be young still, but he's trying his hardest to be like me for those with him right now and from what Maki told me, he's doing quite an exceptional job so far."

"Does Alpha know about this as well?" Trang asked.

"Yeah, he will most likely tell us what's been happening, so we need to stay sharp in case we got a part to play as well. But chances are that the Hokage ninja clan has already been informed about all of this and have sent reinforcements since Riku's with him." Seishiro said. "Still…"

"I know, you can't help but feel worried about them. It's okay; we'll be rooting for them as well." Marcus said as he patted his field leader. "Knowing Greg and his friends from FOXHOUND since I met them, they will do just fine."

"I trust them enough to believe that they will get through this as well." Kojiroh said to Seishiro as well. "In any case, until the remainder of the Pack returns and we're regrouped, we should be expecting something to happen soon, so keep your eyes and ears peeled."

Nodding to Kojiro's suggestion, Seishiro got back to focusing on the current mission at hand. Still, he had to give one last prayer for a success on the mission that Greg was partaking.

"Greg, please, come back to us alive along with our loved ones." Seishiro said to himself as he placed his clasped hands over his mouth. "I don't know what the future will be like for everyone if you leave us."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

As all of this was going on, back at the underground citadel, Maya and Lilica had now returned to the computer room with the Shinsengumi covering for them as they had Yuina Hattori and Seraph in tow now. As they made their way through there, they had to find the safest route that will take them back to the surface without alerting the security detail.

"So, what's the situation like now?" Maya asked her friend while Lilica got a laptop in hand and plugged it into a nearby terminal. "Can we bust out of here without raising too much hell?"

"It seems so, there's more than one way out of here." Lilica said to her. "Still, it won't help to take some information with us. We're going to need as much data as we can if we're going to be prepared for the future." Lilica began to type furiously on her keyboard. "So far, I have only about 30 percent of data stored that could be considered valuable to Greg, Riku and the rest of their FOXHOUND friends."

"Then, we should just keep it safe with us for safety measures until its time for Greg to get back to Tokyo-3." Maya spoke. "This place is like a goldmine of information that we can use later on."

"We shouldn't be here too long...I'll just snag enough relevant data while I work on the exit out of this place." Lilica said. "I just hoping Greg and the others will be able to deal with Mantis and meet back soon with us before something happens."

"Don't worry; knowing Greg and Rio, they won't be late." Maya replied, as Lilica started to download the data into the laptop.

"Ummm...auntie." Yuina Hattori's voice mumbled while she rested in Seraph's arms. The biodroid held her more comfortably as she watched the people around guard the room.

"Will they be okay?" Dee asked Lilica after observing her for a while. The physical strain after the recent fight had made Yuina's body tired and she was catching up on some much needed sleep.

"She could use some serious resting after all that she's been through, but if what Seraph said was true before, they should be." Lilica replied, as Yuina's eyes slowly began to open. She looked at Seraph and the other people around her, before letting out a big yawn.

"Where are we now, Seraph?" Yuina asked her as Seraph replied to her.

"Yuina, you have awakened, I'm glad." Seraph spoke, feeling tired herself. "We're not totally out of the danger yet, we're still at this accursed place where you were being kept."

"Glad to see you guys up and going." Lilica said to the pair as she continued to hack away. "How are you feeling?"

"I feel a bit nauseous, but I'm fine, really." Yuina held her head for a bit. "What about your friends that helped me and Seraph? Where are they?"

"He's still down there with Mantis finishing up some loose ends along with our buddies who are helping him." Maya said to her. "Greg wanted us to get out of this place ahead of him, before the enemy reinforcements come to swarm the exit."

"Will they be alright?" Yuina asked as Seraph nodded at her.

"After seeing what they are all capable of, there's no question about it that they will see through the fight. They will be fine, Yuina." Seraph said to her. "So, Lilica-san and Maya-san, what is your plan from here on out?"

"If things start to get hairy, we should leave the clearing of the path thing to our Shinsengumi friends if we're to get out of here the next time those Death Squad guys show up once more in one piece." Maya spoke as she turned to Lilica. "Anyway, Lilica, from the time you were here, did you get any idea on what functionalities this base holds?" she asked.

"From what I can recall, all I know is that it's a processing facility of sorts for collecting data. It's possible that it's linked to the new Metal Gear that we heard about recently that the Patriots have in the works." She said as Maya leaned closer as to share the conversation between her and Lilica so Seraph and Yuina wouldn't overhear.

"Still, what benefit did Mantis gain by keeping you here? Certainly he and Reese wouldn't have put you and Yuina in danger unless there was something that he didn't want your relatives to find out which in turn will fall into Greg and his comrade's hands." Pei asked as Lilica replied with a shrug of her shoulders.

"It could be the case. Reese may already have known about Seraph's existence before us and he must have had me captured as a means to sidetrack Greg and the others from his true objectives since he would already have gone chasing Yuina anyway just to make things easier for him." Lilica said.

"So the Patriots already were after Yuina and Seraph from the start and used Mantis to even complicate things…" Maya stated sullenly. "What really are Reese's intentions for Yuina and her emulate abilities?"

"I managed to get some information from Yuina from the time she and I got to talk to each other when we first got here." Lilica spoke. "It seems that she's more connected to Seraph in more ways than one...Yuina's very own father is the one responsible for the creation of the emulates, running a project he named 'Eden'."

Maya gasped out loud as she heard this from Lilica as she gritted her teeth. "Of course, it makes sense now. Reese would use her since she's become blackmail material for him and the Patriots to use, so her father would have no choice but to reconsider working with the enemy. We've seen just how deadly Yuina can be when she's integrated with Seraph, are you saying that the Patriots are seeking to turn emulates into a new state of the art weapon for warfare had things gone Reese's way?"

"It's the only conclusion. Wanting her for a special bargaining chip so that they can blackmail her father into forcing him to join the Patriots next set of forbidden projects." Lilica replied.

Turning her sight back to the pair, Maya stayed quiet about what Reese may be planning until Dee's voice broke her concentration.

"Heads up, everyone. It looks like we've got company coming." She said as she took out her katana after seeing a wave of Tengus enter through one of the passageways of the citadel.

"They're coming sooner than expected." Maya growled as she looked at Lilica. "You'll be alright here?"

"Sure, I don't have long again. You guys just go and hold the fort while I work on the escape route." Lilica said typing away.

"Okay, we're counting on you." Dee nodded to her as she went with Maya and her two other partners, Pei and Kanashii to the outside of the computer room. As they did, they stopped to see a wave of Death Squad troops heading from another direction from their position.

"What the...?" Maya glared to the side and saw several more Death Squad members entering the area with sniper rifles.

"Great! There are more of these punks?" Maya exclaimed. "I thought we took care of all of them above!"

"They must be a new batch..." Pei said, as the door behind them that had Lilica, Seraph and Yuina in it locked manually from the inside. "Are you ready?"

"Yeah, I'm still up to play with these guys some more." Maya replied with a grin as she took out a handgun. "We can't let them beat us after coming this far!"

Making sure that the gun was loaded at first, she fired single handedly with some warning shots before she aimed at the pressure pipes in the passageway to cause difficulty in their visibility through their specially equipped visors. Steam and cold air rushed out, covering the passageways as Pei managed to cut down three of the troops in the confined space before she retreated for cover from another round of gunfire from the troops behind the ones she just cut down.

Now it was Maya's turn to get some hits in, after shooting down three of the troops in their vital points, she reloaded her guns and simply flipped one of them to counter one of the sword wielding foes that ambushed her from the side. Her expertise in gun-kata was surely helpful at a time like this.

"Drive By Shooting!" Maya said, dashing at her enemy and firing a shot at him, then landing on blind spot to fire again at him. She turned to her side and switched to her assault rifle and fired randomly at the troops while laughing maniacally.

"Let's take them down, then blow this joint!" Maya said, firing at the troops.

"Those Squad goons have got the exit back up blocked..." Dee spoke, taking down two of the katana wielding troops near the passageway they came from with her blade. "Is there another way out of here?"

Just then, Maya heard Lilica's voice contacted her through her com unit. It seems that she managed to work her magic again.

"Everybody, I managed to unlock a secret passage out of this place around the prison areas." Lilica said. "I'll show you on your Soliton monitors right now."

"Okay, we could use that to get out of here too." Maya said, reloading out one of her handguns once more. "Lilica, get out of that room once you're done and let's start making for the exit at once."

"We'll cover you guys on your escape." Pei spoke, taking out her katana as the door behind them opened, allowing Lilica to step out first, but as a caution, she advised Seraph to guide Yuina's eyes from the carnage that just took place.

"Yuina, please follow us this way. Whatever you do, don't try to look." Seraph said as Yuina nodded to Seraph, not wanting to see what just happened, although she heard all of the evident noise from inside.

"Thanks a bunch, you guys. Hurry up and join us soon, okay." Lilica said, as she stepped back, with Yuina and Seraph following her. Several of the troops took aim at them, but before they could pull their gun's triggers, Kanashii quickly stepped in and slew them in a single extended slash.

"As much as I want to continue doing this for your friend's sake, even this is starting to grow tiresome." Kanashii said to Maya. "Its like there's no end to this, they just keep on coming."

"Dammit, Yuji, where in the hell are you and the backup?" Maya exclaimed as she fired some more rounds at the unrelenting wave of Death Squad group in a heated gunfight.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Meanwhile, in Yuji's transport helicopter, just some miles near the drop off point…

"I see…so Riku called his father up and told him everything that's happened, huh?" Yuji asked as Kenshin Mori replied with a nod. The group of ninja males was explaining to him about what's been going on with the Hokage ninja clan since they heard about Reese's recent action.

"Yes, and it was my father who also notified me and the rest of the clan and their allies of the situation soon afterwards." Kenshin said. "Most of the people affiliated with us that were closest to the area at the time for now managed to gather at the mansion where Recca and Kurei discussed on what they can do to help you out."

"Well, considering how things are looking, it was a good judgment call." Yuji said as he continued to pilot the helicopter to the other side of the city. "Maki told me about the alliance of Warrior between the Hokage clan only recently, so it really surprised me to see you guys ready to help us out."

"We made sure to make all the essential preparations, thanks to Kurei-dono's planning." Gennosuke said to him. "Even now, the mansion is gathering its remaining allies and forces to look into this situation as well."

"That's good news; we can use all the help we'll need in case this mission blows over." Yuji said as he listened in on the ninja's words while he focused on the flying.

"Especially with all the recent disturbances happening lately in Tokyo-3, everyone's on edge about the enemy's movements up to late." Raiha said to Yuji. "It was one of the major discussions that went on while we prepared for today."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Two days prior to the current events, at the Uruha mansion in Kurei's meeting office…

After having received information from Riku regarding the recent events involving Reese's betrayal of FOXHOUND and how Riku's friend Gregory Kinezono and his surrogate family had been thrust into the midst of it, the whole entire Uruha Mansion, which was the current base of operations for the Hokage clan, was in a bustle of activity. Members of the clan had all been notified and were either on their way or preparing to get to the mansion as soon as possible. Steps were already being taken to notify allies as well of the current development.

Recca and Kurei had called a meeting with the more experienced clan members who were currently at the mansion. The ones in the room with them right then were Yanagi, Neon, Miki, and Kenshin. They were waiting for five more to arrive.

"Things sure are going to be getting hectic soon enough, that's for sure." Recca commented. "After we'd heard about the terrorist activities in Tokyo-3, I knew we'd be getting pulled into it sooner or later, but not like this…"

"I can agree with you there, brother, but I'm afraid that's how it is." Kurei stated calmly. "We'll just have to deal with it as best we can."

Just as Kurei said this, two individuals entered the room along with Kagero, Joker, and Raiha. The first one of them being a male with long black hair tied back in a single ponytail and bangs of his hair to the sides of his face, while wearing his traditional clothing of a white and black samurai's casual clothing and the second was a woman with long dark blue hair who was of slightly shorter height than the man she was with and wearing a traditional kimono with an extra length that acted as a robe over her head. After pulling back, it revealed a beautiful woman with purple-blue eyes and full lips who looked as if she was in her twenties.

"Gennosuke-san, Oboro-san." Recca said in greeting as he and Kurei gave a respectful nod as the two entered the room along with Kagero, Joker, and Raiha.

"It would seem that things have become quite serious as of late." Gennosuke said as he noticed everyone's expressions as he and Oboro joined everyone.

"From what Yanagi-dono told us, Riku, Nagi, and Tot have come to the aid of one of their comrades from FOXHOUND as he's gotten into some kind of trouble due to a betrayal in the group." Oboro noted.

"If I understand correctly, they are planning to rescue two people, and they are also to face the renowned original psychic soldier of FOXHOUND, Psycho Mantis." Gennosuke added.

"Yes, that's about the gist of it." Kagero nodded. "Right now we're focusing on getting everyone to the mansion as soon as possible and at the same time, provide what backup we can for Riku and his companions."

"Unfortunately, since it will still be a while until everyone gets here, we don't have very many options of who to send." Neon noted.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Recca asked and got up. "If anyone's going, I'll be going. Riku is my son and we do need to help our friends out."

"That may not be the best course of action." Kagero spoke. "There's a chance this may be a trap for us as well. If the enemy knows Riku is among the group…"

"Then there's a possibility that they'll be expecting us." Kurei finished. "And if that's so, sending a clan chief might be playing into their hands."

"Well, we can't just let this play out without doing something, bro; we can't just leave them because of what might be there." Recca replied, looking a little annoyed at this even though he knew his mother and half brother had a good point.

"Recca-dono, I understand your concern for your son and his friends, but if we are going to help them at all, we need to proceed cautiously." Gennosuke spoke and then stood up. "Therefore, I think I should be one of those going. If there is a trap, I should be able to deal with it while the rest of the team proceeds to aid Riku, Nagi, Tot, and their companions."

"Alright, I see your point, and I think it's a good idea." Recca said.

"As do I." Kurei spoke and Kagero nodded her agreement along with the others.

"In that case, the team shall consist of myself, Kenshin, Raiha, and Joker." Gennosuke nodded.

"Gennosuke-sama, please be careful when you go." Oboro pleaded to him as Gennosuke held her hand.

"It will be fine, Oboro-dono. We both have assisted in helping Riku over the years in his training, which helped him to be the ninja that he is today. I'm certain that he will do his utmost to assist his friends through this until the time is ready for my assistance." Gennosuke said to her. "In the meantime, you need to start making preparations yourself, as by the time that their mission is over, considering whom Riku and his comrades will be confronting sooner or later, strong chances are that they will need your medical assistance."

"Alright, I will start to get the rest of the medical team ready right away with Yanagi's help." Oboro said as Kenshin stood up.

"I'll be contacting my team, the Hokage Ryu group, as well and notify them about this. I'll be notifying Madlax and Limelda about this too since they would be concerned about Riku and his partners. Depending on what we find out from Riku, we may have to warn Margaret, Elenore, and Vanessa as well." Kenshin said. "I take it Riku has informed his teammates of Uruha Ryu, correct."

"Yes, he told Recca that when he last called." Yanagi spoke, and then remembered something. "I just remembered, Riku mentioned that Reese had connections to crime groups. Do you think that…?"

"Fortunately it does not seem likely that he has any connection to 'that' organization." Kurei said.

"Yeah, we'd be in a lot of trouble if that were the case, and who knows who else." Recca agreed and then turned to Kagero. "Mom, you were the one who met with Jodie-san and Camel-san last, so…"

"According to them so far, the Black Organization has not done anything that the F.B.I. has been able to detect." Kagero answered. "And their contact within the Organization has not been able to give a report on their activities either."

"Well, I guess the bright side to this is we don't have to worry about that group for now." Neon said. "By the way, should we contact that detective boy, Shinichi, about what's just happened?"

"We may have to, but for now I think it would be better if we wait to talk about that when Riku, Nagi, and Tot get back." Recca said. "Those three are his main contacts with this clan along with Kenshin."

"And our allies from the Lotsuan Order?" Miki asked.

"They've been notified, though they probably don't have much to worry about." Kurei answered. "They're neutral in our fight with the Patriots even though they're our allies in dealing with the paranormal, since they do not use the Lotus for war. They're still safe though since the Patriots know how important the Order is to the world's stability and leave them alone. At least for now…"

"A message has been sent to Manx and Birman so our allies in Weiss should know soon enough." Miki noted. "The same goes for the Aogiri family, Eldian Queen Patricia Curtis, MakubeX and the rest of the new Volts gang at Infinity Fortress, and the ninja clan lead by Riku's friend, Kyoichi Kunugi."

"Have we sent any message to CRI?" Yanagi asked.

"We sent one, but we're not sure if the message has been received yet." Recca answered. "We may have to send someone to go meet them in person in order to fill them in on what's going on. We'll also have to send some people in person to everyone in order to give them a better explanation once we hear from Riku what happened."

"As for our friends at the Kaede Inn, since only Kohta, Lucy, and Nana know about us we've sent a few people to keep an eye on the inn from a distance, at least until its safe enough to contact them. And since we haven't been able to contact MITHRIL, we'll have to wait until either they contact us or we can send someone later to meet with Sousuke and have him relay the information for us." Kenshin added and then turned to Kurei. "Well then Dad, what shall we do now?"

"Alright, according to what Greg has told Riku, they are moving out on their mission in about two days, as soon as they get a lead, we should be getting things set by then ourselves." Kurei said. "Good luck to everybody."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"And that's how everything basically got prepped up for today." Kenshin finished explaining what had transpired in the Uruha Mansion earlier in order to explain as to why they were there. He had not, however, mentioned by name any of the allies that the Hokage clan had discussed during the meeting, however.

"Knowing Riku, he must have taken good care of your friends up to this point. If they were to receive any injuries, they can be managed since my wife Oboro-dono was responsible for teaching him the medical skills needed so he could at least act as an emergency medic during a mission." Gennosuke said to Yuji.

"Let's just hope we can get to them in time before their luck runs out." Yuji replied as he began to worry a bit still about the situation, but began to hope for the best since he was told by Maki earlier that Greg was confident enough to wrap things up. He then began to think to himself, remembering about something he did before he left the safe-house this morning.

(Hopefully, by the time this mess is over and when we finally get back, the downloading for the manga chapters of Gantz in its Phase 2 arc that I promised Greg before he left that he would be getting should be done.) Yuji thought to himself with a bigger grin as he thought about more of the 'other' stuff that he was downloading as well. (Other than that, when I left this morning, I only had a few hours to go until the all the hentai episodes of _A Heat for All Seasons, Invasion of the Booby Snatchers, Virgin Auction, Mei-King, Lingeries Office, _and _Taboo Charming Mother _should be fully downloaded into my hard-drive by now, so it will be the very picture of paradise for me once I get back to the safe-house!)

Gennosuke looked curiously at the bag stuffed with DVDs and other perverted material in it, recognizing it instantly for what it was, and then at the grin on Yuji's face as he began to think to himself.

(He seemed like a very skilled officer of the law, but he certainly has similar tastes to Jousuke's when he was still alive.) Gennosuke thought with a smile, fondly remembering his perverted and robust companion. Though he knew that it was completely impossible, Gennosuke almost laughed as he pictured just how well Yuji and Jousuke would have gotten along had they been able to meet.

"Just hang on, Rio, help is on the way." Yuji said in a low tone as he pushed the pedal on his copter further for it to increase its speed in order to get to the destination faster.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"I see, so Yuji isn't too far off with help from the Uruha and the Hokage clan, huh?" Rio asked over her comm. unit to Maki on the other line while she was consistently checking her inventory and weapons as she stood on the platform which herself, Greg, Riku, Nagi and Tot were using to follow Psycho Mantis down into the dark shaft where he was awaiting them.

Two minutes had passed since they started transporting themselves and with the exception of Greg's heavy panting, Riku discussing among his two trusted partners last minute strategies, and Rio talking to Maki and Nanvel on the recent developments, everything was quite normal for now. As the platform sunk down deeper into the depths of the mysterious facility, Rio was just informed about Yuji having picked up four people who said that Kurei, Riku's uncle, and Recca, Riku's father, had sent them to assist Riku and his friends for the remainder of the mission.

"Yes, they shouldn't be too far off from where they met, so it shouldn't be long until they meet Maya and the others as well as the rest of you guys." Maki replied.

"But, I'm surprised…are you sure four guys from that clan should be enough to provide us with the extra help when its time out get out of here?" Rio asked.

"I shouldn't doubt the number, Rio. They can get the job of covering for everyone done, they are all specialists." Maki said to her. "While we do know Raiha and Joker, Kurei's oldest son also happens to be with them as well as someone who, from what I understand, is also a long time member of the Hokage clan who is with them, a man called Gennosuke."

"Hmm, first time I've heard of this Gennosuke guy, but I have heard a little about a Kenshin from before." Rio replied, trying to remember where she have heard of them. "They're supposed to be really good too, I assume?"

"Well, you will have to see it for yourself when you meet them and be the judge of that. I've only heard about them myself from Riku." Maki said as her eyes lowered. "Other than that…how is Greg doing?"

Taking a glance over at Greg's sitting position, Rio made a quick sigh as she saw him, constantly moving the joints in his nano arm as if he was exercising it.

"He seems to be holding up for now…considering he's probably having a tough time reaccepting the memories that he tried so hard to forget." Rio lamented sadly. "What can I do, Maki?"

"The most I can tell you that since you're the closest to him out of all of us at the moment, is to be there as much as you can for him. He may not look it, but he will surely need your support through the final battle ahead even now more than ever." Maki said as she nodded to Rio.

"Of course, I told myself before that I wouldn't let him down no matter what the reason. He's putting every ounce of his strength just to see everything through and get things resolved, so I'm going to do the same and help him so that everyone can come back safe." Rio said as Nanvel came onscreen this time.

"Rio, just to let you know one detail about the nanomachines within Greg's suit at the moment…they're showing the same readings from before and it's been in that state for longer than the length of time it was in during that encounter you guys had with Shade." Nanvel reported. "I think with what just happened to Greg remembering must be related to him being able to stay in that state for that period of time."

"So, that's a good thing, right?" Rio asked. "Is that why it was also okay to let him use the Ascension as well in case something like this came up?"

"Yeah, because if you remember from the training you guys had when he started to use nanomachines as a replacement for his nano-arm, most of his latent psychic abilities can be controlled whenever he's in possession of that lance and if his nanomachines are showing readings like this." Nanvel said. "Normally, he would never be able to keep that power under control if that other personality of his wasn't within his mind."

"Or else, he wouldn't be in such risk, huh?" Rio asked as Nanvel replied with a silent nod. "What can you suggest, Nanvel?'

"For the time being, it seems that as long Greg is able to stay himself with the nanomachines at this level on energy, we shouldn't get any problems unless they run out of power." Nanvel said. "He's got about forty or so minutes left of power time on the suit before that happens, so he's pretty much safe."

"Then, we should be finished before then. I just hope everything works out fine, Nanvel." Rio said to her.

"I'm sure it would, Rio. I mean, this is our Greg we're talking about, right?" Nanvel asked with a smile. "In any case, good luck to you guys for the rest of the mission."

"Yeah, be safe, you guys. See you after this mess is over and done with." Rio logged out as she started to walk over to her surrogate son's position.

"Hey, Greggie…how are you holding up?" Rio asked him, bending closer to look at him, still wearing his cloak and her long hair loose. "You've been pretty quiet ever since we started riding on this elevator."

"Yeah, I should be fine as long as I don't black out again." Greg said as he looked at his right gauntlet with a concerned look on his face. "As a matter of fact, I'm doing a little better than before we encountered Mantis just now; it seems that the nanomachines have started to work on some of the damage on the suit and my body."

Rio looked at the seriousness on his face and sighed as she thought to herself. (I wonder if his mind is still okay after what just happened. I mean, come on, he just got his memory back, thanks to what happened with Mantis earlier…would it have been better that he didn't remember what really happened in his past before meeting me and the others?)

"Hey, Greg, you don't have to hold out on us from now on." Riku said as he came forward, breaking Rio's train of thought. "After what just happened before, I'd say some kind of explanation about what's been going on would be useful to my partners and I right about now."

"Yeah, we just need to be sure of something just before we face Mantis one last time, okay?" Nagi asked as Greg stood on his feet now, his expression a hesitant one.

"Just promise me one thing, you guys…that you won't hate me for what I have to tell you. Whatever happened in my past was pretty much unavoidable to begin with, I mean, I was still pretty much a kid with no understanding of what was happening then." Greg said, pausing as he seemed to be recalling the memories as if they had happened just recently. "The only thing that mattered to me during that time…was doing what my mother told me just before she died…do whatever I could do to survive, for the family's sake."

After a bit of silence passed after Greg said this, Riku was the first to reply.

"Well, you've got our word that we'll have no problem on understanding about how things became the way they became for you, Greg. I mean if whatever happened wasn't your fault then I believe you. We just want you to understand that we still want to help you and the others through whatever you're going through once this mess is done and over with." Riku said. "Besides, you've helped us this far already, so we really don't want to abandon you when you and Rio will need assistance yourselves. It was the Colonel's idea to have us keep you out of trouble to begin with, so you really can't have any complaints about that."

"There's no way I can ever win against that, Riku, but thanks." Greg said with a smile. "In any case, while we still have the time, where do you want me to begin with?"

"Well, it would help us if you would care to tell us what exactly you just remembered before?" Rio asked him as Greg gave her a sullen look first before looking down sadly on the metallic floor of the elevator that the group was using. He sighed a bit before speaking to her and his FOXHOUND comrades.

"I was just remembering how it began…how my family died and how I ended up losing my right hand." Greg said his emotion unchanging. "Now that I've gotten my former memories back, it's still clear to me on how it happened."

Rio and the rest of the group stayed quiet as Greg got into detailing that crucial moment to when he was together with his biological family for the last time…

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

It started with several loud explosions; some of them were close enough that it happened right in front of his eyes. Shutting them to block out the sight of death and destruction that was surrounding him, a younger Gregory Matthews of ten years old was hearing the muffled dying cries of the people that were with him that fateful day.

When he finally opened them, there were several fires that were alit in some places while the foundations of the building, a domestic shopping mall in one rural area of the city of New York where he and his family were having a vacation in the United States organized by his late father, were already showing signs of collapsing.

Unfortunately for Greg and those who were with him and his family then, it was the wrong place at the wrong time for a family get-together.

"Gregory! Candice!" A tall and lean woman with light coloured dark skin frantically called out for her children as her clothes of a white dress were now already stained with dirt and blood, both from hers from the sustained wounds on various places on her body and from her slain husband's, Dr. Curtis Matthews, who had died on the spot when the explosions began.

She was separated from her children as the chaos began and most of the building around them started to crumble around them, as the destroyed foundations began to weaken the building's support at an alarming rate. Many other people who were visiting the mall that day also met their untimely ends as a result of the bombing, adding to the death toll that came as a result of it.

After struggling through the fallen rubble and debris, she stopped to see a young boy sobbing over a dead girl's body three years younger than he was. A slab of rubble could be seen covering the lower half of the girl's body as blood began to seep through the open cracks.

"Gregory!" The woman cried out as she ran to embrace her crying son as she instantly found out that the child that Greg was crying for was his younger sister, Candice. Greg himself was covered with cuts and dirt as it seemed that he was trying to get his recently deceased sister's corpse out from under the rubble, but his mourning mother already pulled him away from it and held him close to her body.

"Mommy…Candice….she is…" Greg sobbed as Judith Matthews quieted her son as she cried herself.

"Shhh, I know, Gregory…I know you tried to protect her. It's not your fault that you couldn't…uhhhh!" Judith told him as she grimaced as she spoke. Greg felt a warm and sticky wetness at the side of her abdomen and to his shock, saw fresh blood coming out of a deep gash through her dress.

"You're hurt, Mommy!" Greg cried out as Judith weakly smiled as she felt her strength drained as she fell on top of him, unable to move. "Mommy!"

"Your father's gone too…I'm sorry, Greg." Judith cried as Greg's eyes widened hearing this.

"It will be okay…Mommy, didn't I say to…leave things to me to protect you?" Greg cried out to her as she cried to him while unknown to the two of them, the ceiling above them was about to cave in soon.

"You've…done a good job…watching over me and your sister when your father couldn't." Judith said weakly to him, holding his face as blood from her forehead landed on his wet face while she held him tighter, even though she herself was losing her own strength.

"Gregory…I know you must have hated…your own father for hurting us in the past. But…whatever must have happened…he did what he could for you and Candice…so that you could find what it takes to survive through all of this…through anything that this harsh world will throw at you. So…take my words into your heart…forgive him…for your sister's…and my sake. One day…you'll come to understand everything, why things had to be like this. But, please…Gregory…of all of the important things from this moment, you have to live!"

"Mommy…don't leave me too…I don't want…to be alone…" Greg cried out as suddenly they heard a loud crumbling above them as the rest of the ceiling started to cave in on top of them. "Mommy!"

"Gregory…you were such…a wonderful son. I was so happy…to have been your mother, despite everything in the past." Judith held him tighter as she spoke her final words. "Candice, your father…and I will always…be watching over you from now on…I love you, Greg."

The current Greg shut his eyes at the sight as the younger Greg's eyes watered as they stayed widened in shock and terror as he saw his mother's chest area become crushed under the heavy weight as she covered him with her body while he felt the most excruciating pain shot through his right hand as he felt the weight of the concrete crushing it. The sound of a deafening crash of concrete meeting flesh being pounded into nothing rang through his ears as the slab of rubble landed on top of them, covering everything around his field of vision in total darkness…

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"The only thing I could remember up until now about what happened after that incident was when Rio rescued me from a group of street children that nearly assaulted me after I came to Neo Tokyo." Greg finished as he rubbed his head. "Since that time, I had completely forgotten my parent's and sister's faces or how I was unable to protect my sister when she died in front of my eyes and my mother trying to protect me by shielding me with her injured body as the debris fell on top of us, the very last moment I saw them alive and I lost my right hand."

"It must be tough trying to stay focused after everything's that happened and all…" Rio said, still worried about him.

Greg answered her with a shaky nod. "It probably must be related to what's been going on with my powers. Even now, I'm starting to just remember stuff I couldn't recall from before like my childhood. It's like the gaps in all the memories are being filled up, slowly, but surely."

"Oh, Greg…you don't need to say anymore. It must have been really painful for you at the time." Rio hung her head as Greg shook his head, patting her.

"Hey, now, didn't I say before this was something I have to get used to from now on?" Greg asked with a confident looking smile. "It's not as bad as it looks…I'm still in top condition, Mom. I'm just a bit shaky after learning the truth about my past, that's all."

"Well, if you say so, Greg." Rio simply replied. "Just don't be pushing yourself too much from now on until you're completely better. You're still healing after all."

"I know, I know." Greg said to her. "I'll try to be more careful from now on."

"Do you miss your family now that you remember them, Greg?" Nagi asked him as Greg looked at him in silence.

"Very much, I can even feel the pain in my right arm returning, the same kind when I lost it when we were first hit." Greg said to Nagi. "Though, the strange part of it was I don't really feel angry anymore at my father for what happened…its just like what Seishiro-san said to me not too long ago about times like these."

"And what would that be?" Rio asked as Greg looked back at her.

"'You can't go forward if you keep looking back.'" Greg said in a low, yet assuring tone. "It's a proverb Seishiro-san taught me years ago when we were together during a training session. As much as it pains me still to know about my past now after all this time, the time has come to move on and face what's ahead of me. I really can't say that I'm grateful for those things happening to me…while they made have made me stronger in the end, I still lost precious, irreplaceable things and I still feel responsible for all that's happened…"

As Riku and his partners looked at Greg silently, Rio suddenly came to Greg and embraced him with tears in her eyes as Greg reacted in surprise to this.

"Rio? What are you…?" Greg asked as Rio patted his head.

"It's okay now, Greg. Everything that happened then wasn't really your fault to begin with. You were just doing what a big brother was meant to do, that's all." Rio said to him reassuringly. "You can stop hurting yourself for all the pain that you think you caused for your family. We'll all be making sure to keep taking good care of you like we always did from now on."

Greg felt himself choke up a little as he felt Rio's compassion through her words and smiled back. At least some of the burden he felt he had since he was a child was taken off for the time being thanks to her.

"I know that, Rio, I'll do my best too. Thanks for telling me." Greg said as Rio pulled away from him with a smile, only to gasp a bit as she saw the wound over Greg's right eye start to bleed once more heavily.

"Oh?" Greg simply said as the blood almost covered the entirety of his right eye. In an attempt to stop it from getting worse, he used one of his hands to wipe the blood flow away, but in turn, more blood only covered its place than before.

"Forehead wounds bleed a lot, even if they're shallow." Riku said after observing this as he stepped forward to Greg, holding onto a small container that was from his inventory which had a cauterizing ointment mixed from herbs and after rubbing some of it on his index finger, applied it to the area of Greg's wound, causing the psychic to wince a little as it stung a bit for a moment. "If you're not going to stop the bleeding, there's no point in wiping."

"Sugoi! It really stopped bleeding." Rio exclaimed as she saw the medicine's effect on Greg's wound.

"For now, at least." Greg said. "But, it did a good job keeping the flow back for awhile so it won't obstruct my vision any longer, especially for the fight ahead. Once again, Riku's ninja medical skills become a saving grace."

"Hey, you don't have to put it like that, Greg; it really isn't anything too special on my part. When this is over, you can thank my teacher, Oboro-dono, for all that she did to help me prepare for cases like this." Riku smiled at him as Greg also remembered something else as he looked at his ninja friend with a serious look.

"There's also one more thing…I just wanted to say that I'm sorry if I was too hesitant before when we had to face the decision whether we had to stop Seraph and Yuina even if it meant killing them to save ourselves and I had to leave it to you and Nagi to do it for me." Greg said in a low tone. "If Seraph didn't figure out a way to stop the effect that was placed on the two of them and hadn't told me in time…"

"Greg, you don't need to say it. At least you were able to prevent the worst from happening and we're really thankful that we managed to save the both of them because of you. Besides, something like this should have been expected just in case and it seemed you just weren't mentally prepared for it yet." Riku said, knowing what Greg must have been thinking then.

"Yeah, you're right about that. I guess that even though I've been in this group for so long, I still haven't gotten used to these kinds of things yet…" Greg said sighing as he thought to himself. (Even that personality inside my mind was close to pushing me over the edge about the whole thing, taunting my conscience like it always does.)

Meanwhile, Rio had lapsed into her own thoughts.

(Well, I do have to agree with Greg that he's not the type to go through the mental process of killing somebody unless the threat was serious to his life or the life of a friend. I mean…to kill the very person who he promised to rescue…as if he hasn't had enough to worry about already.) Rio thought to herself as another thought came to mind as she glanced at Nagi silently. (What really bothers me is how Nagi was quicker than Riku on volunteering to end Yuina's life had things gotten worse. Something about him saying he had 'more experience' before is starting to bug me a bit about him, but I'll worry about all that after this is over.)

Thinking of a way to lift the sad mood away, Rio smiled to herself as she lowered the cloak that Greg gave her earlier, showing most of the bare shoulder and the wound she got to Riku…in a nearly seductive manner as she stepped closer to him. Greg almost fell over as he observed this while Tot was quick to shield Nagi's eyes as his face turned crimson while he briefly glimpsed Rio do this.

"Oh, Riku…I was hoping that you could use some of that stuff here too, pretty please, with a cherry on top?" Rio asked in a husky tone of voice that made Riku blush and react nervously.

"Sensei, what are you doing?" Greg exclaimed as Riku gulped in nervousness, as he had no idea what to do in this situation, as Rio approached him, her chest almost revealing itself. "This is so NOT the time to be pulling your seduction techniques just to win favors and on one of my FOXHOUND buddies no less!"

"Ohh, but the wound is starting to bleed again, don't you see?" Rio asked him as she lowered the cloak even more so that he too could get a glance of her now nearly exposed chest. "It's not fair that you alone should get the special medical treatment if Riku's stuff is working so well."

"You've got a point…wait a minute, it is not!" Greg exclaimed, feeling his face get warmer at the sight of his sexy, surrogate mother's seduction skills. "Stop behaving so shamelessly and just ask Riku like everybody else to help you, alright?"

"Hey, it's okay with me, Greg. I was going to ask Rio if she needed some anyway…" Riku replied nervously as Rio began pressing herself on Riku, wrapping an arm around him as Tot sighed.

"Falling for her techniques, Riku?" Tot asked him as Nagi chuckled to this. Even though the young psychic couldn't see exactly what was going on, he could tell from Riku's nervous tone and from what he could feel coming from his friend.

"Yeah, you have to remember that this is your friend's mother and she's twice our age to add. You'd best be careful not to step into dangerous territory if you know what I mean." Nagi said with an amused smile as Greg slapped his forehead with his right hand as he chuckled himself.

(I think I know what she's trying to do, make me and everybody else feel better knowing what we'd been through.) Greg thought as he smiled at Rio's antics. (Still, I feel sorry for Riku about now…Rio is extremely good when it comes to fooling guys by leading them on like this.)

"Well, since things are understandable now, I'll take it from here, thanks Riku." Rio said, taking the container of ointment before the ninja noticed and started to dress the wound with it while Greg stepped closer to Riku and Tot freed Nagi from not seeing what just occurred.

"Hey, Riku, I know that you're probably having thoughts about it, but trust me, she's way out of your league. It's best that you forget that it happened for your own good if you want your conscience to stay clear. " Greg said as Riku replied as his face turned a deeper shade of crimson.

"Come on, Greg. It's not like I was having any bad thoughts about what happened just now." Riku replied.

"Oh, is that so, leader?" Both Nagi and Tot said in unison, making Riku feel even more uncomfortable.

(I really need to work on my deception skills from now on…) Riku thought to himself as Greg spoke to Rio as her back was turned from everybody else.

"Really, sensei…I was serious on the timing of that little display before. We're only minutes away from facing the most crucial battle of our lives." Greg said to her seriously. "Try to keep your game face on for a little longer and we'll get through this."

"I know, I was only trying to get everybody out of that gloomy mood from before." Rio said. "Besides, it's been awhile since I used that in front of you like that. The last time I did was when little Yukari was with us when we last went to check up on her, do you remember that?"

A very familiar name that Greg knew of made him smile as he nodded, as an image of young, petite sized teenage girl of Japanese nationality with long flowing, straight dark hair and wide, curious looking, and innocent brown eyes graced his memory.

"Yeah, I sure do, there's no way I could ever forgot Yukari Imada." Greg said. "I just wonder how she and her mom are doing these days; it's been months since we last checked up on them to see how things are going."

"Who's Yukari, Greg-san?" Tot asked him as Greg simply rubbed his head before answering in a solemn reply.

"Yukari is… you could say she's a friend of the family and a very special friend of Warrior's for the longest time now. She and her mother were in some big trouble around the time we all joined FOXHOUND and Rio was the closest to her the most since that time." Greg replied, almost in a heartbroken tone after remembering seeing her appearance for the first time.

Riku and his partners could tell from his expression that whatever happened to this Yukari that he and Rio had just mentioned must have been something painful for even him to fully explain to them at the moment, especially considering what he was facing inside himself and who he was about to face.

"Hey, she's not just more than 'friends' with us; you were officially titled her 'onii-chan' after all those times you spent with her last time around. I mean, you've practically become one of the closest to her after all she's been through." Rio said as she returned to the group, surprising Riku.

"Greg, just how many other cool secrets about yourself do you have that you haven't told us about yet?" Riku asked him as Greg replied with a nervous chuckle.

"Just give it some time after this is over, you and your partners will come across her eventually, Riku, though I must warn you all first hand that you shouldn't let her appearance fool you." Greg said to them. "She's a very courageous and strong person, both mentally and physically and she's only a high school student at this time."

"Really? From the way it sounded, I thought that she would be older." Nagi said, surprised himself as Greg shook his head.

"I won't ruin the surprise for you. I'll leave it at that for the time being until the time comes, that's the best I can do to spare you guys the heartbreak involved in her past before you'll lose focus, Nagi." Greg told him as he nodded to him.

"Alright then, I won't ask further until we're all past this, I guess." Nagi replied to him. "But taken from what was just said, you're special to this Yukari too, huh?"

"Yeah, you can say that." Greg said to him. "That is another reason why I need to come back from this mission, to see her and everyone else again. I'd promise her that we'd play together again with Lilica last time I saw her and I don't want to break that promise to her as well."

(Even though he just said that he'd been through a lot in his past, he does have a lot of people who mean a lot to him and vice versa.) Nagi said mentally to Riku who agreed with him.

(Yeah, I think so too.) Riku thought. (For the moment, I thought his case was just like Kohta's, but Greg and he are different. To be able to connect with people like this despite his pains…that must be his true power.)

(I think Greg would become good friends with Kohta, Lucy, Nyu, Yuka, Mayu, Nana, and Nozomi once we get to know this side of him better after this is over, he'd probably help them out too. The same goes for Rio-san and everyone else from Greg's family.) Tot thought as well. (I'm really glad that we came all this way with him and Rio-san to know just what kind of person he is.)

"Well, was there anything else that you guys wanted to know about while we've still got the time?" Greg suddenly asked, interrupting their mental conversation as Riku asked first.

"Oh, yeah…what exactly was that earlier with that other apparition of yourself that we all saw from before?" Riku asked as Greg sighed, knowing it wasn't possible to avoid this one.

"I guess it's no point hiding it any longer, but from what I can tell you, it's a side effect of sorts to my recently awakened latent psychic powers. I've had it ever since the beginning when I first realized them." Greg said to his friend. "For it to be able to project itself like that as it did just now into an almost physical form must indicate just advanced my powers have gotten over the years."

"So, your trauma must have had something to do with it, am I right?" Riku asked as Greg replied.

"Yeah, it's the manifestation of my fears and hatred that must have been harboring within my mind over the time I've been alive that it was able to become a personality by itself." Greg replied. "As you all saw as well, it has it own violent tendencies, but more of them are directed to being rather masochistic than usual, accompanied by the occasional mind games as well. It's not exactly a pseudo-berserker effect like Garland's, but if pushed past my body's psychical and mental limits..."

"Is there any guarantee that something like that won't happen again until you can find out how to deal with it?" Nagi asked him out of concern as Greg answered him.

"I was able to suppress that personality for awhile longer, just as I was able to remember my past, granting me more control over him for now at least." Greg replied to him. "You guys don't need to worry about it, I can tell first hand how he will attack before he endangers anybody else and I really can't afford to let him gain control now of all times…not after coming this far."

"Greg...we know it may sound bad, but if you say that you've got things under control with your powers, then I'll trust you." Riku said to him. "But tell us…does anybody else in FOXHOUND know about this?"

"The only people that do know about my second personality, is Linn herself, the Colonel, Commander Silverburgh, Dr. Hunter and Dr. Robert Steiner before he left us to join the Wolf Pack." Greg replied. "And I'm sure Reese knows about it by now as well."

"That must be why the medical records went missing too." Nagi said and then glanced over at Riku.

(Well, I guess this means that Greg's case with having another personality is different from Lucy and Nyu.) Nagi spoke into both Riku and Tot's minds.

(Yeah, and it also seems to differ from the case with Ginji and his Lightning Emperor personality too.) Riku added.

(Riku, maybe it's similar to that thing you said Yukimura-san mentioned a while back.) Tot suggested.

(A while back?) Riku blinked in confusion. (What do you mean?)

(Don't you remember? It was a little after we met Kohta and Lucy and she told you how that thing with her and Nyu was.) Tot said to both Riku and Nagi. (You mentioned that Yukimura-san had mentioned something about Big Boss knowing a psychic who also had two personalities…)

Riku tried to hide the surprise as he remembered.

(Y-you're right…thanks a lot Tot, you're a real lifesaver.) Riku's reply was a grateful one.

(You're welcome.) Tot replied with a smile, glad to have helped.

(So I guess one of the things we need to do after this is contact Yukimura and then…) Nagi began.

"Hey, you guys are still listening, right?" Rio asked, interrupting Nagi.

"Of course we are, Rio." Riku replied quickly trying to act like nothing had happened. "Go on and continue, Greg. So what was it you were about to tell us about some safeguards you had against this?"

As Greg spoke once more, Rio couldn't help but think on something that she had just noticed about Riku and co.

(Those three kept glancing at each other that whole time…) She thought to herself. (There's no question that they were listening to what Greg had to say but…could they have been talking to one another about something using Nagi's telepathy? And if it's about Greg's other personality…could they know something about these kinds of things? Something that we don't…)

As Rio was thinking on whether or not to ask the three of them about their conversation, her thoughts were interrupted by Greg's explanation.

"Well to answer that, if in the case that things do get out of hand, I will just have to apply the teachings that Aika-sensei provided me on how to properly control the levels of my body's nanomachines by using this, the Ascension." Greg said seriously as he took out the lance that he had used in his battle with Shade to show to everybody.

"The Ascension is actually a key of sorts, composed of nanos varying from Nanvel's armor like alloy around the blade area. The way it is designed as of now is meant to with-hold about half of my untapped abilities as a psychic until the nanos' limiters are overridden by the host in case of an emergency or if the nanos themselves are giving off a stronger feedback from before. It has to be used in its complete, final form once all of the nanomachines in my right arm and body along with my mental powers come together in a concentrated form of energy strong enough to change the Ascension's shape, giving it its final form. " Greg said to the group.

"If you had something like that all the time, why didn't you use it when we were confronting Shade?" Riku asked him. "That would have helped us a big deal and saved us less injuries than what we have now, Greg."

"Believe me, Riku, I wished the readings on my nanos were the same then as it is now, but even if it was so, using it fresh off the bat would have been dangerous for me." Greg said to him. "I'd have to sacrifice about seventy percent of both the suit's and gauntlet's powers to achieve the sufficient strength needed to just feed the Ascension with the right amount of power to achieve its final form if I needed to do that. I'd only just be giving myself a lower survival rate at the trade-off when I will need them for the fight ahead the most."

Riku stayed quiet as he heard Greg said this to him as he patted his friend's shoulder.

"I think it would be best to give you guys in a nutshell about how I was able to deal with situations like this by discovering the traits of using my powers and nanomachines along with the Ascension when you'll eventually see once the fight with Mantis starts." Greg said as he got into explaining once more….

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

June 12th, 2011, at an empty and abandoned car park of Old Tokyo's apartment building, sounds of battle cries and grunts, punches and blows were heard as two individuals were seen combating each other. One was a tall good looking woman with light tanned skin and golden brown pupils, long flowing blue hair and was a lone white collar with a green gen around her neck and as also wearing a very revealing, single piece white swimsuit like outfit that was wrapped around only her breasts and lower abdomen areas and had on high heel shoes to match. The other was wearing a black and pin striped motorcycle jacket with white motorcycle gloves, dark jeans and riding boots.

After a few seconds of standing off and examining each other in the shadows, the woman spoke casually to the man standing in front of her as she stepped out to the light. "Are you sure this is alright with you?"

"It was sensei's idea that we trained like this at least once a month." The male spoke, fixing the right side of his glove. "Besides, I'm curious myself on just how effective your ultranate attack capabilities are…Aika-sensei."

"Well, Greg, I'm curious myself how you've improved in controlling that power of yours, especially when going up against someone like myself who intends to go all out." Aika replied to her student. "So, I'm hoping you're prepared to handle what I'll be dishing out to you. Don't hold back anything now."

"The same to you, Aika-sensei." Greg said simply as he got into his fighting pose as he placed his arms closer. Meanwhile, from a safe distance, a small group of women were watching what was going to take place. Two of them were Rio and Nanvel of Team Warrior dressed in their team uniforms since they themselves had just completed a mission before coming there, while the other two were of Aika Sumeragi's female companions that came to see her and Greg in combat action.

One of them was a slightly younger girl with rounded spectacles and short, blonde curly hair, wearing a black t-shirt and loose, short skirt. She looked like a spacey character, but her eyes were fixed on Aika the entire time. She is known to be Aika's partner in the business which was started up since the time of Second Impact known as Salvagers which are hired treasure and artifact hunters who scale into the sunken areas of the world's cities and various places in Japan to retrieve lost valuables of history and valuable data.

Rion Aida just happened to be the daughter of Gozo Aida, who still runs one of the few remaining Salvager companies, the K2 Corporation. Both Rion and Aika work are currently struggling with whatever assignments they could find hoping to find a big pay off on one of their jobs, while dealing with piling debts as of late.

The other female with her had long, red hair and was wearing a backwards baseball cap and low shades while drinking an iced soda from a straw. Her outfit consisted of a half opened dress shirt and tight fitting jeans. Recently joining Rion and Aika to aid in their services as a former Class A agent for the International Crisis Management Treaty Authority Organization, World Secret Agent League Special Expeditionary Foreign Affairs Division that had abandoned her during their infiltration on the underwater and aerial transport craft belonging to an enemy group, the Delmos, called the Regulus. Maypia Alexiametlia leaned against the parked car they used to get there and was observing the action as well.

This was the first time that both her and Rion were able to meet Greg Kinezono and see him in combat as they were curious about Aika's relationship with him and his surrogate mother. The surprising thing to them was Rio's request for Aika to start using her ultranate abilities against Greg during some of their sparring matches, starting from that day.

They knew for sure that not most people would walk away easily from Aika's full power in her ultranate form, but in Greg's case, he would need this secret training to prepare himself in emergencies when he would have to rely on his nanomachines in a tough situation.

"So, why are we here again, Rion?" Maypia asked her partner, who replied with a shrug of her shoulders.

"From what Aika told me about this guy, it has something to do with secret training or something like that." Rion replied while observing the situation. "Those women that came with him are family of his, I heard."

"They sure aren't surprised about Aika right now." Maypia said. "You think they already know about her from before?"

"Most likely or they wouldn't have asked her to do this with that guy." Rion said as she fixed her glasses. "Though, it still boggles me on why he would want to fight her like this."

"He may not look it, but Greg is resourceful." Rio lamented as she came closer to Rion and Maypia to talk with them. "The reason he wanted to do this was to at least start preparing his mind and body for situations when he would also need his nanomachines to help him through. He will need to be quick on his wits and be able to use as much resources that he's picked up over the years including from his time in FOXHOUND so far to be able to get through."

"Still, to spar with Aika in her Ultranate form…isn't he afraid of her enhanced abilities?" Rio asked.

"Well, he's already had Garland Durev, the famous Bloody Hands as a sparring partner, so this should be common to him by now since he knows who he is up against." Rio replied. "If Aika can push Greg past the average limit while he is using the nanos, we should expect different results, if not today, but eventually. That's what Nanvel and I figured out, anyway."

"Let's hope things go okay for him, whatever he can pull off in a fight against Aika in her strongest form." Rion said as she focused back on the two, who were done facing each other and had already started the fight as Aika Sumeragi made the first move.

Battle theme: _**Wonderful Boy-Shiki Tohno's theme**_ from _Melty Blood: Act Cadenza_.

Aika rushed in at top speed in a fashion of a blur and came at Greg with a roundhouse spin kick that would have caught him off guard if he didn't defend the blow in time by lifting his left arm to block his cheek. He was sent sliding against the hard pavement while still on his feet firmly on the ground.

Rion and Maypia looked on in surprise at this. This was the first time to see an average person like Greg be able to retain his balance after getting hit by an attack from Aika like that.

"Did you just see that?" Rion exclaimed. "Just who is this guy?"

"He managed to defend her attack in time by mere seconds…" Maypia lamented.

"He's barely even started." Rio said as Greg got into position and took out a combat knife from his inventory and held it with his left hand.

"I see, you're going for CQC, is that it?" Aika asked as she dashed at him once more, executing a flurry of punches at his face. Rolling out of her path in time, Greg made a low sweep at her feet, which was parried by one of Aika's Ultranate Metal's long tentacles. It grabbed unto his leg as it started to swing him around like a ragged doll.

After five, full 360 degree spins, the tentacle threw Greg back away from Aika, but the psychic was able to regain his momentum and used his nano arm to execute a push of air on the ground below him to make him 'bounce off' the ground and was already on the warpath at Aika once more with a flying kick.

Aika ducked from the kick as she saw an open spot on Greg's back and charged at him, but the psychic was already on his feet as he executed a stance that took Aika by surprise, by using his back to create a force field that pushed her away from a distance.

The transformed woman was able to regain her footing once more as Greg looked at her while Rion and Maypia were impressed with Greg's skills so far.

"Whoa, this guy's good." Maypia said.

"Yeah, my words exactly." Rion said as she yawned. "But he really hasn't done anything impressive so far and Aika's still hasn't gotten serious too."

"I see that you've managed to apply your powers during combat now." Aika said to him with a grin.

"Yes, things changed a lot from the last time we sparred, Aika-sensei." Greg said to her, holding up his knife. "As for the case with you and your compatibility with the Ultranate you possess…it seems you've fully become its master."

"Hmph, you're as observant as always." Aika raised an eyebrow at him. "I guess I should be careful from now on the next time I deliver my attacks, since you have a knack for judging your opponent's certain battle conditions."

"So, you're going to get serious now, then?" Greg asked her.

"I thought you never asked. Here I come!" Aika shouted as three of her tentacles came in the form of a drill at Greg from a long distance. Greg simply sidestepped as he used the underside of the knife to deflect the Ultranate drill while he rushed forward to Aika, as he used his psychic powers to cause the ground below her to cause a minor tremor from her position, making her lose her footing for a few seconds.

Once close enough, he swung at her once before spinning the blade by dissolving his right nano index finger by turning it into liquid form and wrapping it around the hilt. It was a close call for her if she didn't move away in time from the added attack Greg made.

(Even though I'm using my Ultranate form's strength at only one quarter of its full power, he's slowly catching up to match my current speed.) Aika thought as Greg lunged at her with the knife once more. (I should push the envelope a little then to start testing his agility then…)

Ducking underneath him, Aika performed a rising uppercut that Greg was able to side step from, only to be met with an incoming aerial roundhouse kick that got him on his right cheek.

WHAM!

While still dazed, Aika rose into the air and grabbed his right nano arm in an attempt to disable its uses for a while, but Greg managed to use his free left hand to blast a force of air at the ground below him, causing the two of them to rise into the air at the same time.

"I've got you now!" Aika exclaimed as she sent two of her Ultranate tentacles to Greg's head area. Thinking fast, using the momentum gained while he was still airborne, Greg then spun his body and used his own knife to cut into the nano arm's wrist area as a thick line of black substance flowed out, almost like blood.

"What did he just do?" Rion asked herself in surprise as she was wondering why he would cut his artificial arm.

To her and Maypia's surprise, Greg grabbed onto the substance with his left hand and at the instant, it petrified into a short, katana like weapon that he used to cut away two of the Ultranate metal's tentacles that Aika was going to use against him while he was falling back to the ground. After he landed, the nanomachines that were formed like a blade in his hands dissolved into the ground like water and he was back using the knife from before.

As Aika landed, she suddenly charged Greg once more who flipped backwards once from a swift right hook, but soon, the entire right side of his body gave away to a numbing sensation as he felt nauseous all of a sudden.

"Greg!" Nanvel called out as Greg's body was also growing weak as he fell on one of his knees. Just soon after, he then felt the full brute force of Aika's whip like kick in his stomach before he can see what was happening.

POW! SMACK!

The next thing he saw was Aika standing over him, while he fell backwards, his body growing weaker by the second.

"Arrgghh…not this again…" Greg groaned as he blacked out into darkness while Rio rushed over to help him up.

A while later, Aika had already changed back to her normal self and was now wearing her working uniform while Greg was resting on the backseat of Rio's car with an ice pack on his head. Nanvel was taking information data from his right arm while Rio was discussing what just happened to Aika.

"Well, what do you make of it?" Aika asked her as Rio shrugged her shoulders.

"It seems that anemia of his could be a problem if he's going into actual combat with his FOXHOUND buddies later on. We need to deal with it as soon as possible if he's ever going to cut it as a combat specialist." Rio lamented as she rubbed her temple.

"Do you think the superiors from that FOXHOUND group know the truth by now?" Aika asked her.

"I made sure to keep it well hidden when he first joined up, so it will be our little secret for now." Rio said as she glanced at Nanvel. "Well, Nanvel, what's the final verdict?"

"Judging from the usages of nanomachines just now, he already had started to increase their potency as the fight begun." Nanvel said to her. "It was no wonder how he was able to hold his own for only thirteen to twenty seconds the most against Aika in her Ultranate form before passing out, they must have helped him see what to expect from her during that fight."

"Twenty seconds tops, huh?" Aika asked as she eyed Rio. "So the more rigorous training he'll get, the chances of him staying in that form for awhile longer when he's using the nanomachines could happen?"

"That's the plan, but we can't overdo it. There's the mental strain to consider, his body and mind can tolerate so much to a point." Rio said. "If we can work on building up those factors over time, I'm sure he can fight to his best when the time comes."

"I hope your plan works, Rio. I know how much you want to see Greg advance in FOXHOUND, but you've also got to consider his feelings about this you know." Aika said to her.

"He already said that he's okay with this, he just wants to be able to do what he can for everyone he cares about with what he can do." Rio said as Greg started to move as he felt the ice pack on his head. "Hey, it looks like he's coming to."

Greg silently woke up, slightly tired and beat, but was fit enough to move his body.

"So, Greg, enjoyed your nap?" Rio asked him as Greg replied, stretching his arms.

"I wouldn't exactly call it one, sensei. If that was a serious fight, I would be dead by now." Greg said, holding his head as Aika approached him. "Aika-sensei, sorry if I disappointed you before."

"It's okay, it was only day one of the training, you only pushed yourself more than you had to, which was my fault." Aika said as Greg shook his head.

"No, don't say that. I was the reckless one who used his own nanomachines like that; at least I learned something today." Greg said as he stood up. "So, what's the plan from now on?"

"Since we're still looking for ways to find out on how you can cope with your anemia that's probably being caused by your psychic powers, we will need to continue this sort of training at least four times a month while Greg practices on his own during the intervals." Aika suggested as she continued.

"Also, it seems to me that you also need a way to store the nanomachines that can be manipulated into shape and form, just as you were able to make a weapon out of them using your psychic powers before. In order to utilize that ability, you will need a proper weapon to transfer them unto and I just happen to have just the right thing. Rion, can you please bring it over here?"

To Aika's call, Rion came to Aika holding unto a strapped, metallic casing which was almost twice her height. She almost stumbled a couple of times as she brought it to her partner.

"Man, what is in this thing?" Rion asked Aika as she laid it on the ground next to Greg's feet. "It's pretty heavy to be a weapon."

"It's actually one of the few items which was actually a weapon I found during a salvaging mission. It must have been used in an ancient war before the Impact hit us." Aika said as Greg went to open the casing, revealing a dull and rusted medium height spear with glyph like writings that covered the entirety of the hilt.

"No wonder Rion said it was heavy, it's just a piece of junk." Rio said simply as Greg examined it.

"I don't know, I could use something like this for the time being. All it needs is some serious wielding work at the metal shop back at Nanvel's workshop and getting used to its weight." Greg said as when he held the middle area of the rusted spear, it came apart into two, as if it was joined.

"Ah, man, Greg. Look what you did now, you broke it." Rio lamented as Aika studied it.

"I don't think so…it must indicate that it is meant to be used as two pieces." Aika said. "Greg, in your time with the Marines, you took combat training for dual wielding weaponry, am I right?"

"Yeah, it was part of their program." Greg replied to her. "Why did you ask?"

(Maybe finding this spear will serve a good purpose for you later, Greg.) Aika thought to herself as she shook her head. "It's nothing, but I want you to keep that in thought. In any case, I've left some of the Ultranate data with your aunt so in the case you will want to use this in conjunction with your nanomachines; I'll figure that this lance will come in handy once you and it are ready."

"So, I got to keep training until the time is right…" Greg lamented, clenching the rusted hilt. "Well, what can I say but thanks for the gift, Aika-sensei. I'll be sure to put it to good use when it's ready to help me in the future."

"I'll keep it with me so I can pitch in modifying it using the Ultranate data right away." Nanvel said as Rio stepped forward with a smile on her face.

"Now that we've gotten that out of the way for now, how about we all go and get some lunch?" Rio asked in a cheery tone. "And it will be my treat at the usual ramen place."

"Geez, here I am covered in bruises and all you can talk about is ramen at a time like this?" Greg winced as he placed a hand on his forehead. "You could at least have some sympathy after I had to go through a fight against Aika-sensei like that."

"Oh, you'll get used to the treatment. Besides, you've got to get more familiar with Aika's buddies too if we're going to keep training with her in the future." Rio simply replied as Rion, Maypia, and Aika laughed at her words.

"You're not even listening to what I have to say to you, are you?" Greg asked although he was still hurting, but couldn't helped but chuckle along with them as he was beginning to enjoy their company and was starting out to be good friends with Rion and Maypia from that time. "In any case, how's business treating you, Aika-sensei?"

"Slow as ever, but we're getting by." Aika replied as Rion spoke.

"My old man is still getting more and deeper into debt by the day because of his good natured attitude and cutting the delivery expenses by half the original price." Rion said, as if she was complaining as an idea came to Greg's head.

"You know, you can always act as a sponsor for Gozo-san's corporation for the next upcoming KOF tournament, Aika-sensei." Greg suggested. "With your skills, it should be a cinch for you to get into a main match or battle royal annual against the popular fighters in KOF. Think of the sponsor and award money that you would be getting if you fought under K2's name, how does that sound to you?"

"Sounds like a tempting offer, but you know how the boss acts whenever I'm out there fighting." Aika said. "My boss always has had a thing of worrying about me taking on dangerous stuff, even when it requires using the Ultranate metal. As I told you about it the first time, fusion between a human host and the Ultranate is highly dangerous…of all the cases since it was first invented, I'm still the only person capable of being able to stay as myself is without putting my life seriously at risk. Believe me, I've seen what can happen when the fusion fails, and it's not a very pleasant memory."

"Worried about endangering your opponents' lives in case it gets out of hand?" Rio asked her. "There are enough scary people in the KOF already that would make the Ultranate feel right at home."

"I'll give it some thought, though Rion will have to put in a good word for it and convince the boss on changing his mind on his business prospects." Aika replied. "Anyways, should we continue this conversation at the place where Rio's taking us for lunch before anybody finds out about what went on today?"

"Yeah, it's about time. I want to try and keep this private from most people as I can until I can trust my power and body in combat in the future." Greg nodded to her as he got into Rio's car.

"Even your FOXHOUND buddies?" Rio asked. "They would get pretty worried about you if they see the wounds that you've gotten during this training."

"I'll do what I can to hide them, I know it may sound a bit cold, but I really need these preparations without them knowing for the time being." Greg replied to her as Rio silently looked at him and nodded.

"Alright, whatever you say." Rio simply said as she got into the car herself and started the ignition to drive off with Aika and her friends following behind them behind.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Since those kinds of sparring matches started, they proved useful to me at times whenever I was in a tight bind and I only had but my nanomachines to rely on in an emergency." Greg explained. "As for the spear, it seems that today is the day to see if all that endurance training will pay off when I attempt to untap its full potential and use it to free Mantis from his curse."

"This Aika sounds like a really strong person, Greg-san. You must really admire her." Tot said to him as he nodded to her.

"That's true, Tot. She's one of the toughest hand to hand combat specialists that I've come across and if you're not prepared, she could very well take even people like Garland by surprise, and that includes when she's NOT using her Ultranate form." Greg emphasized.

"I see…well, it sounds like there's another intriguing person in Greg's life that we'd like to meet soon, at least after all of this mess is done with. She certainly sounds like a really cool person." Riku said to Greg. "You seem to have a lot of buddies outside of FOXHOUND we don't know about that you've probably helped and they also seemed to return the favor, Greg."

"You could be right about that, but I could say the same about you and your buddies, Riku." Greg replied to him as Riku smiled to himself while thinking of what Greg just told him.

(I really wonder just what this Aika person is like that Greg talked about who helped him with the strength of his nanomachines and what their relationship is like?) Riku thought to himself. (From the sounds of it, I wonder…could she be another agent like Najica and Lila?)

"By the way, Greg…do you have any idea on what could happen if your Ascension manages to achieve its final and complete form?" Nagi asked him as Greg shook his head.

"To tell the honest truth, no, I don't." Greg replied seriously. "I'm a bit scared of even knowing myself, Nagi, but I know that I can trust Nanvel's technology on this one since she too worked on it. I'll just have to put everybody's faith into it that things will go smoothly ahead."

"Hey, you guys, look sharp." Rio called out to the group. "We're finally getting close to the bottom of this place."

"Okay, everyone, prepare yourselves. He's been waiting for us this whole time, so he may have some kind of trap prepared for us." Riku said to the group as he drew out a kunai.

"We got you, Drakken." Nagi said to him as the group walked cautiously to the large double steel door that was opened for them, hissing steam can be seen coming out of the room behind it.

"Nagi-kun?" Tot stood closer to Nagi as he nodded to her.

"It will be okay, Tot. I promise that I will keep on protecting you through this and our friends as well." Nagi told her as she nodded back.

"I know and I will do the same too for you and Riku as well." Tot said to him. "Greg-san, Rio-san…we can depend on you guys, right?"

"Of course, kid. We got your backs like always." Rio gave her a thumb up and a smile. "Ready to rumble, Greg?'

"Yeah, let's do this." Greg said solemnly as the group stepped into the hall like room, the walls covered with monitors, wires, and steel pipes. As the group walked in, they stopped as they saw Mantis meditating with his weapon next to him.

"So, you've come after all, Gregory Matthews." Mantis said without looking at them at first. "To think that you made the foolish decision to chase after me only to die…why didn't you just run away?"

"I came here today to find some answers, Mantis. But not only for that…" Greg stepped forward with Ascension in hand. "We came to free you from the curse that Reese has placed on you. We're not leaving here until that happens."

"My, that sounds so amusing and chivalrous. I should commend you for earlier when you were able to break the spell I had placed on Yuina, though." Mantis said as he stood up. "You should realize by now that your own power is only partially what the Human Modification Project should have accomplished all those years ago before they were shut down."

Greg remained silent as Mantis turned to face the group.

"No words this time? You should know very well why your father gave his very legacy to his son in desperation because the enemy wanted the power for themselves." Mantis said as he raised his arm. "But it won't matter just how capable your powers are against the new form of emulate power…you along with your friends will fall before me."

"What is the Patriots intention for the biodroid data, Mantis?" Rio asked him.

"Well, it's not that hard to figure out. This data will change the tides of warfare for years to come." Mantis said to her. "Once the Patriots are able to perfectly manipulate the technology that Seraph provided me, a new breed of soldier can be made."

"And they made you the first subject to prove that?" Riku asked him.

"But of course, isn't it fitting enough?" Mantis asked him as Greg raised his Ascension at him.

"I don't know what Reese exactly did to fill you in on what happened to me from long ago, but we'll get to the bottom of it eventually." Greg said seriously. "Now, Mantis, are you going ahead on fighting us or will you surrender?"

"Giving up before the real battle begins doesn't suit me at all. I did say I will test this new power on all of you, even if you are relying on the failed test subject to aid you in this fight." Mantis said to the group.

(Even with our numbers…we don't bother him at all?) Nagi thought seriously as the group stood to face him firmly as he pointed his weapon at them.

"I see that you all are eager to die." Mantis said to the group coldly. "But before I can pass judgment on all of you, I want you to tell me why risk your lives to face me today. Is it all really worth the trouble?"

"Isn't it obvious by now?" Rio stepped forward first. "It's to put a stop to your rampage before anybody else gets hurt and to set things straight. But while coming down here, I realized something else…no, all of us may have caught onto something about why we're standing in front of you right now."

"That you are also being used by the same enemy that wants control of me and Yuina and I really can't blame or hate you for that." Greg inputted. "Sure, Reese may have betrayed you too, but it's not too late to rectify for what he forced you to do, Mantis. Please, reconsider this and cease this battle…we don't need to fight you."

"I know it must have been hard for you to be a part of this world who rejects you, psychics like us are indeed outcasts, but that gives us no reason to hate the world for that." Nagi spoke. "Maybe it is natural for everyone else to hate us because of the simple reason of not understanding us. Even so, there are still a few people able to look past that and accept us."

"Even you realized it before just you died, Mantis. That this world still needs psychics like you help those who were unfortunate." Riku said seriously. "Is your hate for everyone who you thought may have detested you in the past much stronger than your will to help others after knowing the feeling that you had realized of what it feels like helping someone?"

"Which is why we're all here to make sure that you remember the last moment you had from Shadow Moses, even if that means hurting you." Tot said as she prepared her Muramasa. "We're going to give it everything we've got until you yield to your memories, Mantis."

"Do you all think that you can easily undo what cannot be undone?" Mantis asked as Greg took out his Ascension and held it.

"Whether or not you now have the emulate ability doesn't change the fact that our strength can still outmatch yours once we put our resolve into the fight, Mantis. I've got a job to do and I intend to get it done right." Greg said to him.

"In other words, you'd better be ready for a serious beat-down from here on out. We won't be pulling any punches." Rio warned him as Mantis laughed.

"My, you children sure are entertaining to an extent. Still, to see that you're set to stop me for your reasons are valid enough reasons for me to test your so called resolves." Mantis said as he swung his scythe like weapon that created a strong gust at the group, who remained unfazed by this.

Battle theme: _**Boss Battle theme **_from _Final Fantasy XII._

"So, to see if you can prove your worth, I too won't hold back this power as well. I'll show you all this power of the biodroid and just how strong MY resolve is!" Mantis spoke as he rose higher. "Show me…your true strengths!"

"Here he comes!" Greg shouted as Mantis hurled a dark sphere at the group, that crashed into the metallic floor on the spot they were just on, creating a medium sized crater.

"Whoa, talk about intense." Rio said after seeing how that attack missed her by just a hair.

"We should be more careful." Tot replied to her as the blonde nodded to her idea. Taking out her Muramasa, she executed her Water Snake attack that sent a rush of moisture in the air around Mantis in the form of a snake at him.

"Futile!" Mantis called out, simply dispersing the snake as it dissolved in front of him, only to send a gravitational force back at her that pushed her back a few feet.

"Alright, have a taste of this as well…Dragon Strike!" Riku cried out from his position, as he charged at Mantis with a flame-enveloped fist. However, what he thought he hit wasn't his intended target, but a barrier put around Mantis' body.

"I already saw that attack coming, little boy. Let's see how you can outlast through my defense." Mantis spoke, as he raised his scythe over Riku's head.

Suddenly stopping mid way in his attack, Riku recovered and used his 'Shadow Step', using his chakra to teleport a short distance from Mantis' position and was already behind him away from the direction of the swung scythe. The young ninja then shifted to his next attack.

"Double Dragon Strike!" Riku said as he added onto his previous attack, now attacking with two, flame engulfed fists at the same time in an attempt to break through Mantis' shield. However, the reflective effect that it had only made Riku's attack just as impervious as before.

"Do you insist on using the same, boring technique twice?" Mantis asked as he turned to the side to see Rio aiming her hand gun and firing at Mantis with a couple of rounds, while Nagi was covering her fire by charging a psychic energy attack.

"Psyche Shot Plus!" Nagi shouted, firing his psychic ball of energy, while Rio's handgun bullets were sent at Mantis' direction. Simply raising an arm, the bullets stopped in front of Mantis and fell to the ground while Nagi's energy attack bounced off Mantis' shield.

"Hmph, this is a sorry excuse for a fight. Are you trying to buy time for your dear friend, who's plotting a way to try and break through my mighty defense?" Mantis said, as if he predicted the plan, Greg suddenly leaped from behind him, his two gauntlet equipped fists in a haymaker style over Manti's head.

"Heaven's Hammer!" Greg shouted as his two fists suddenly missed Mantis as he dashed out of Greg's path while he smashed the spot he was just standing on. After creating a crater after slamming into the ground below him, Greg stopped his advance as he thought to himself what Mantis would pull next.

(Did he just teleport?) Greg thought to himself as he suddenly felt Mantis right behind his back. Without waiting any longer, Greg countered with a reversal attack using a low, sweeping kick while his back was turned.

"Red Haze." Greg lowered his body in time and tried to sweep Mantis of his balance, but failed to do so as the older psychic deflected his kick and raised him off his feet.

"Greg!" Rio cried out, taking out a small flash grenade that she was keeping. After disposing the pin, she threw it at Mantis as Greg used his telekinetic powers to guide the grenade to Mantis's face as it exploded, breaking his concentration for a few moments, throwing Greg to the ground.

"Arrrgh!" Greg groaned as he fell back, almost knocking himself out while Mantis spoke as his scythe began to cover itself in flames.

"You children still have ways of learning how to face the likes of me." Mantis said as he pointed his weapon at Greg and the group. "I'll show you how to properly use psychic powers…like this!"

Before Greg realized it, he was pushed out of the way by Nagi's psychic power as Mantis hurled a huge psychic ball, now that it was covered in pryokinetic energy, hot enough that it almost covered the radius that he, Nagi, and Tot were just standing. The pair was quick enough to move in time before Mantis threw his fiery sphere at the group.

"Be careful, that was a powerful attack." Tot said as she recovered quickly from the extremely powerful move Mantis just executed.

"You watch out, too!" Nagi called out to her as well while Greg was back again on his feet and Mantis was preparing another charged psychic attack.

"So, Mantis is able to produce flames like that as well…" Greg asked as Rio called out to him from behind.

"Frontline, stay focused!" Rio cried out as Greg suddenly dashed in after she managed to evade the attack in time by cart-wheeling while in mid-air and landing on her feet firmly on the platform.

"Sorry." Greg replied to her as he clenched his fists. "Why aren't our attacks getting through to him? Is it because of that barrier he has?"

"It has to be it, or else he wouldn't be able to defend himself so well." Riku replied to him. "The only way we're going to have to get through his strong defense…"

"…is to penetrate that barrier in some way or the other." Nagi finished. "I think I've got something in mind on how to do it, but it's rather risky…"

"Nagi-kun, don't even think of trying that technique again. Remember the last time you did that, you almost died because you couldn't fully control it the first time and everyone's lives were in danger." Tot said to him as Nagi knew what she meant by it and understood, while Greg and Rio didn't just yet.

"I have to agree with Usagi on this one, Crow. It's best that you forget trying out that attack against Mantis, considering that he can turn it back right at us if you don't know what you're doing." Riku said seriously.

"Well, whatever Nagi is forbidden to do at a time like this may sound right for his sake, how are we going to break Mantis' shield still?" Rio asked as Greg suggested something.

"How about we try to flank him with a variation of different attacks while I'll help Nagi concentrate one of his attacks to getting that job done?" Greg asked. "All I need is some time to cast a couple of enhancement nanomachines unto his Sneaking Suit to double his energy for only a short length of time."

"Can you really do that?" Nagi asked him.

"Yeah, my nanomachines can also work as an enhancement for defensive and offensive support capabilities for not just my own Suit, but fellow FOXHOUND recruits as well once it has sufficient energy left in them." Greg said as he turned to Riku. "You're okay with that for now, Drakken?"

"Sounds like a plan, I'm all for it." Riku replied to him. "Alright, Rio, Tot, will you assist me on this one?"

"Sure thing, I got your back." Rio said as Tot nodded to her leader.

"I'll see what I can do to get an opening so you can land an attack, Drakken." Tot said as Mantis raised his scythe once more at the group. "Here he comes again!"

"Are you all done chatting? I so want to finish this fight as soon as possible, so no idle talk amongst yourselves. All your planning is useless against me." Mantis said as Greg and Nagi went on one side of the room while Riku, Tot and Rio went to the opposite direction. Tot prepared another katana attack, but added a little something to the mix…

"Rabbit's Feet!" Tot cried out, taking out the Kuchibashio (Beak King) madogu from her side and throwing it at Mantis'.

"What the…?" Mantis was almost caught by this attack as Tot then proceeded to cut at him with her Muramasa. While the beak-like head had barely missed Mantis, the move that the psychic made to dodge it put him in range of Tot's next attack.

"Rabbit's Tail!" She shouted, pulling out her sword and then slashed at Mantis in a vertical, then in an upward slash. However, all that her blade struck was air as he teleported out of the way once more and was already inches from her body as he sent a devastating punch into her stomach.

"Guuuhh…" Tot cried out, as she spat out some blood from her mouth, before Mantis knocked her over using the psychic power accompanied by his fist.

"Nanami!" Nagi cried out as he saw Tot staggered to stand up. "Hang on a little longer!"

"Hey, is she going to be alright?" Greg asked Nagi, worried for her.

"Don't worry, she's a strong girl. I know…" Nagi replied to him, though the look on his face showed that he was still concerned about her. "Just do what you're able to do so we can make it out of this."

"Alright, but I'll still need some more time…" Greg muttered as he kept concentrating his nanos into his right gauntlet, getting some of them ready for the transfer.

Meanwhile, Riku and Rio were using the slight chance Tot gave them to attack Mantis as well as the shield was down for only a moment.

"Scorching Touch!" Riku grabbed Mantis by the right arm and with the fireball in his hand, proceeded to set his enemy's arm on fire before he could notice it. Riku then spun around himself, igniting fire on Mantis chest area.

"Now, Rio, it's your turn!" Riku said, before Mantis discharged a close range energy shot at his chest area, sending him flying some feet away from him. "Arrrgh!"

"Damn it! Riku!" Rio shouted as she then quickly took out her gun and fired several shots at Mantis while he was stunned by Riku's flame. She then threw another stun grenade in front of him, as she then charged at him with a ready melee.

"I can see you!" Mantis cried out as Rio suddenly dashed away from Mantis's counter attack. Rio used her Anti-Strike move to deflect the blow with her tonfar and even managed to regain her stance as she pressed on at Mantis.

"Spin Strike!" Rio attacked, using a left thrust of her spinning tonfar, switching it to her right fist while still attacking the dazed Mantis, then ending it with a turning thrust below the belt. She then ran towards a wall and ran up a couple of feet up. She was setting herself to perform a next move.

"Fatal Drop!" Rio first kicked Mantis to the side with an aerial kick, then while on the wall, she suddenly leaped off it and tackled him down to the floor with an elbow rush attack.

Rio was about to make another attack when suddenly a wave of psycho kinesis struck her in the face, followed by another wave that struck her once more and sent her flying back when she suddenly stopped in mid air and was held in place by Mantis' power.

"You actually managed to land a hit, well done." Mantis said in congratulatory tone. "And now here is your reward!"

With a harsh cry Mantis built up a large amount of flames around his scythe and then swung it towards Rio, sending a river of fire streaming at her.

"Sensei!" Greg almost broke away, but Nagi grasped his arm tightly.

"Don't worry, she'll be fine." He said.

Just then, Rio suddenly had vanished from where she had been held just before there was an explosion of fire as the attack seemed to hit something.

As the smoke began to clear, Mantis searched to find his enemies as he could tell what had happened.

(That ninja stepped in at the last minute and saved that Kinezono woman.) He thought to himself. (Still, that was a foolish decision. I can tell that boy was hit by my attack and should therefore be wounded.)

Mantis' thoughts were interrupted as he felt something approaching, and then with a simple swing of his scythe, deflected a Fuuma shuriken that was spinning right at him. Then half a dozen smaller throwing star shuriken followed, spinning out through the smoke, they were coming from the same direction as the first.

"Fool, giving your position away so easily!" Mantis shouted as he swatted the blades aside with his scythes and then came towards Riku, who he could now see in the clearing smoke.

Riku quickly drew a kunai out and then ran towards the incoming Mantis.

"To face me head on, you're either brave or stupid." Mantis said as he prepared to attack but stopped as he heard the sound of something being struck behind him. Sensing something coming at him from behind, and too quick for him to dodge it, Mantis quickly whirled around to deflect it with his scythe, at the same time putting a barrier around himself.

Just as his scythe hit the incoming object, there was a loud 'BOOM' and though Mantis' barrier protected him from the explosion, it did not protect his sight from the intense burst of multicolored light that blinded him.

That temporary blindness brought down Mantis' barrier once again, but he could immediately sense the incoming attackers and using his powers of remote viewing to see his enemies, brought his scythe up in a defensive position, stopping the descending blade of Tot's Muramasa, and quickly put up a smaller barrier to stop Riku's incoming attack.

"Nice try, but even if you get rid of my sight, my powers as a psychic can make a more than efficient substitute." Mantis said triumphantly as he felt his sight starting to return to him.

"Too bad it can't see everything." Riku smirked. "What you just hit with your scythe was a firework made by yours truly, a Hanabishi Family Special Number 6. Except this particular one was infused with my chakra, the chakra of a flame wielder."

Though his vision was still a little blurry, Mantis noticed something about Riku that surprised him. Riku showed absolutely no signs of injury from the previous attack.

"You, you're not-!" Mantis began but stopped as he realized what was behind Riku's words, but it was too late.

Mantis then felt something strange coming from his scythe and he turned to see flames reemerge around it, but these flames were not acting on his command. Tot, did not seem to be affected by the flames, in fact steam seemed to be emanating from her katana's blade.

Before Mantis could get away from the two of them, Riku and Tot completed a special double technique they had invented a while ago with their teammates from the team Riku, Nagi and Tot had formed during their time away from FOXHOUND over a year ago, Uruha Ryu.

"Futatsutomoe: Level 2: Mist Serpent!" The two of them shouted at the same time.

Suddenly, a large snake-like shaped apparition composed entirely of what looked like mist seemed to erupt from out of Tot's Muramasa. As it coiled down from the scythe and to Mantis' arm, Riku and Tot quickly broke away from their opponent.

Almost as soon as the apparition touched him, Mantis let out a cry of pain as it coiled around his arm. The reason for this being that the serpent was not made of mist like it appeared to be, but scalding hot steam instead. Mantis then focused and then used a powerful burst of psychic energy to blast the serpent apart as it raised its head to try to bite him.

"It worked!" Tot said as she and Riku retreated so that they would be out of range of a counterattack, Rio had done the same while they had attacked Mantis.

"Yeah, though it took a little longer to produce without Alice around to make sure our movements were better timed." Riku replied with a light grin.

"Well, we at least bought Nagi-kun and Greg-san enough time." Tot said.

Mantis' arm was still smarting from the pain, but he bore it so as not to risk losing his grip on his weapon.

(It seems I underestimated them a little...using those shuriken as a diversion that ninja threw a firework past me and had his friend knock it back at me, probably with the flat of her sword. They must have been counting on my sensing its approach and deflecting it with my scythe, which that ninja must have guessed had enough heat from the flame to set it off. Clever in a childish way, but not good enough.) He thought to himself. (I won't make that mistake again, especially now that I know fire doesn't seem to affect the ninja, and this wound is nothing.)

Meanwhile, Nagi looked over at Greg, feeling he had to advise him.

"Greg, listen, though I won't be using that forbidden technique, there's still a chance my power might do something…unexpected." Nagi said. "If that happens, take cover…"

"Right, I'll be sure to keep that in mind, Nagi. Thanks for the warning." Greg said as he raised his hand over Nagi's chest area. "Okay, I'm just about ready to transfer some of the nanos onto your suit…you have a good half a minute's time, so we're counting on you to get it done within that time."

"And leave it to the two of us to cover you." Riku spoke, indicating himself and Tot.

"While Greggie and I will be ready to make our move once your attack is complete." Rio said.

"Alright, let's begin, are you ready, Greg?" Riku asked as he raised his right hand slightly in preparation for Greg's answer as he and Tot were going to use that as a signal.

"Yes." Greg nodded.

"Then, start the transfer." Riku said and then quickly drew a symbol in the air with his right hand. "Saiha!"

The curved fire blade appeared at Riku's right forearm just before he and Tot suddenly vanished.

"So it's begun." Mantis said as he prepared for the incoming attack. "I don't know what that one is planning, but it will not work."

Suddenly both Riku and Tot seemed to appear right in below where he was levitated and then both launched themselves at him with their blades ready.

Mantis quickly parried Riku's strike and with his scythe's blade and barely had time to block Tot's downward slash at him. Before he could make a counter attack, Mantis had to defend again as Tot and Riku suddenly whirled around and executed a double slash at him in almost perfect unison.

(They really must be desperate to pull this off!) Mantis thought, surprised at the sudden burst of speed in how the two were attacking him and how well coordinated their attacks had become. They were attacking him at a rate too quick for him to make a solid counterattack, at least one that would not require too much energy. (Those two must realize if I use an attack too powerful, I risk making myself vulnerable to an attack from their allies.)

Meanwhile, Greg was just about to complete transferring the nanos over to Nagi.

"Alright, just a few more seconds, bear with me on this one, Nagi." Greg said.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Rio asked, looking at Nagi. "If that guy figures us out, we're all in trouble."

Nagi gave a confident smile.

"Don't worry, I trust the both of them." He said simply.

"It's done." Greg said. "Now, let's see what you've got, Nagi."

The young psychic immediately felt the effects of the transfer as he could feel the sudden rush of energy that the nanomachines were giving him as they raced through his suit. Nagi could even feel the psychic energy within him rising.

"Alright, get ready!" Nagi shouted and held out his right hand, causing a blue ball of psychic energy about the size of a marble appear in the palm of his hand and it quickly grew to the size of a basketball. It was then that the sphere began to pulsate, causing Nagi flinch slightly.

(Got to keep the energy confined to this size.) Nagi thought to himself. (If the sphere gets too big, I won't be able to perform this attack right.)

Mantis, however, had seen what they were doing.

(So that was their plan, humph, how utterly predictable.) He thought. (Now I don't have to worry…)

"I've had enough of you!" Mantis shouted as he used his psycho kinesis to grab Riku and Tot in mid air and then executed a powerful 360-degree slash that cut into the both of them and sent them flying back and crashing into the wall. It was just then that he heard Nagi's voice and had to act quickly.

"Psyche-!" Nagi began, preparing to launch the ball of pulsating psychic energy, now carrying a great deal more power in it than a normal version of it thanks to the nanos that were flowing through his suit.

"You're too slow, boy!" Mantis shouted as he fired a large beam of his own psychic energy at Nagi, Greg, and Rio.

However, before the beam reached them, Rio and Greg suddenly jumped away from Nagi, who suddenly vanished.

"What?!?" Mantis exclaimed in surprise as the beam hit nothing but air and the floor below.

Suddenly, Nagi seemed to appear right in front of him, supported by Riku, the ball of energy still in his right hand.

"Good luck, partner!" Riku shouted as he let go of Nagi and dropped down to the floor below, landing smoothly on his feet.

Nagi remained where he was since he was now levitating due to his telekinesis, which had been strengthened by the nanomachines Greg had given him.

Mantis quickly tried to put up a barrier between him and Nagi despite their close proximity, but the young psychic simply shattered it as it was forming thanks to the enhancement on his powers. Knowing he only had a few more seconds left, Nagi completed the attack.

"Shot!" Nagi finished, thrusting out his right arm as the ball struck its target in the chest area.

"AAARRRGGHH!!!" Mantis cried out as he was struck by the attack and then the ball exploded.

Riku, who had retreated so he wouldn't be caught in the blast, saw Nagi being sent flying back by the explosion, unhurt because he had put a barrier around himself up in time.

"He's all yours, Nanami!" Riku called out to Tot, who quickly jumped out from where she had concealed herself and caught Nagi before he hit the ground.

"Alright, Greggie, it's your turn!" Rio shouted.

"I got it!" Greg said in reply as he charged a now weakened Mantis, preparing to execute his attack. "Panther Cut!"

"What the…?" Mantis looked on in shock as Greg was close enough to deliver a knock back psychic shockwave from his nano fist at close range. The attack was registered on target as a bright flash was seen from the impact area from where Greg landed his attack.

"I'm not finished yet!" Greg shouted, leaping at a short distance towards Mantis as he executed a rising uppercut with his fist. "Spiked Crescent!"

Once more, the attack landed on Mantis's armour, as it started to crack due to the impact of the hit. Mantis staggered back to see Greg staring at him with his fists put up.

"I can't believe it. Did he just land a hit on Mantis?" Riku exclaimed as Rio's eyes widened in anticipation.

"It's more effective now, because of the damage my Nagi-kun did earlier." Tot said with a brief but proud smile as she gave her boyfriend, who she was still holding onto, a hug, causing the said psychic to blush furiously.

"N-nanami, now isn't exactly the time…" Nagi stammered nervously.

"Oh, okay…" Tot said as she reluctantly let go of Nagi. "I guess we'll get back to this later since we still need to fight Mantis, huh?"

"You've got that right; it looks like this fight isn't over yet." Riku said in agreement as he readied Saiha's blade.

Rio looked at them briefly as she was impressed that the strategy had worked.

(Riku and Tot created two clones of themselves and put them in their place without Mantis noticing them, by hiding their performance of the jutsus by making it look like they were taking a fighting position.) Rio noted. (Riku then concealed himself behind Greg, and Tot behind me while sending their copies to attack Mantis, and once everything was ready and Nagi made his attack, Riku grabbed Nagi while we were scattering and carried him over to Mantis so that he could hit him point blank while Tot positioned herself to rescue Nagi…to think they were able to do all that to give us an opening. Those three really are used to fighting as a team.)

After seeing what the group was able to do, Mantis started to laugh at them.

"Ha ha ha! To think that you managed to penetrate my armour, I must commend your ability to work as a team like this." Mantis said as he stood upright. "But, I must disappoint you…it will not stay like this forever, now that I will have to kill each of you before you become more of a hindrance!"

Sensing that Mantis was getting stronger due to the group's previous success of breaking his barrier, Greg kept a brave face and readied himself for a possible counter attack as Mantis rushed him and with a single swing of his scythe, created a telekinetic wave of energy at Greg, who dashed back in time, only to have the upper right shoulder area of his suit damaged, partially revealing his now exposed chest and back.

"Greg!" Rio called out as Greg called back to her.

"I'm okay!" Greg replied to her, seeing that he wasn't severely injured by the attack. (Got to be more careful, he's increasing his pace since he knows that once his armor's broken, he won't be able to put up a defense like before any longer. I've got to keep pressing my attacks until it's time to use the Ascension in its final form.)

"Everybody, just a little more and we will be able to get through to him!" Greg shouted to his comrades to encourage them a little after finally seeing a weakness through Mantis's barrier. "Believe me, we can do this!"

Rio looked on at her surrogate son in surprise to his reaction as she saw him

(Alright, just a little more, Greg…) Rio thought as she braced herself for the attack once more.

"Don't get your hopes up, woman! Just because you managed to penetrate my shield, you won't be so fortunate when I do this!" Mantis shouted, swinging his scythe in a 180 degree radius, creating a wave of searing heat at the group. However, the group was ready for this as Greg used his psychic power to leap over the wave by creating a barrier below his feet to propel himself over the wave and near Mantis' open area.

"Cloud Nine!" Greg said as he lifted his knees and was well over the wave Mantis created, while Nagi had already created a barrier to protect his partners and Rio from the wave.

"How did you…?" Mantis exclaimed as Greg executed a roundhouse kick at Mantis' chest area before spinning his body to gain some distance away as he took out his Ascension and using his psychic power, hurled it upwards in an arc causing it to stun Mantis using charged electrical energy.

"Rain Cutter!" Greg said as the Ascension managed to penetrate the emulate armor Mantis was wearing more of. Pieces of the armor began to crack open and fall off as a result of the attack.

"Yeah, go! Go!" Rio cheered him on. "Greggie, you can do it!"

Spurred by Rio's cheerleading, Greg pressed on as he then went for Mantis' abdomen with a series of focused punches followed by an uppercut that was delivered by a palm blow to Mantis' chin. The mask that was reinforced by the emulate power began to crack as well.

Mantis countered as he sent his scythe flying down at Greg's direction as he rolled to the side in time and made a mad dash for his Ascension which landed on the ground behind Mantis after he executed his previous attack.

"Your insolence is growing tiring!" Mantis shouted as Greg put up his Ascension in time to block it from another incoming scythe attack, catching Mantis in mid air. Pushing Mantis away, Greg plunged his lance into the ground he was standing on, causing the it to shoot a shockwave of a large fire ball while Mantis dashed back away from danger and used his psycho kinesis to create an electrical charge through it while Greg rushed at Mantis through the flames and Mantis did the same by charging his scythe and meeting the end of Greg's Ascension with electrical energy, causing a large spark on impact as they clashed.

"Why, Mantis?" Greg grunted as he fought against Mantis's strength. "Why did you allow yourself to be a puppet for Reese?"

"Why should I answer your questions, when you all are just as good as dead?" Mantis remarked. The two met face to face as their weapons grinded sparks of energy when they clashed. It was turning out to be a true battle between psychics.

"I'm not finishing this fight without getting some answers from you!" Greg let go of his Ascension on purpose and spun his leg to perform a spinning back kick at Mantis who recovered in time and regained his balance. "Stop this senseless fighting now!"

"My, my...you're still willing to fight me knowing what waits in your future?" Mantis smirked. "You can never beat me, Kinezono...I have powers that exceeded even MY greatest imagination!"

Rio, Riku, Nagi, and Tot were amazed to see the two of them were almost on the same level on psychic combat because they were able to counter each other like this. After a few seconds, the two psychics pushed each other off as Greg leaped back to meet his group while Mantis was pushed to his side.

"Damnit…this is getting us nowhere." Greg panted as he stood up. "He's resisting more than ever. We've got to break his will to fight somehow."

"I think Greg's right; we're not sure how much longer we can keep this up if he decides to pull out all the stops on us now." Riku said as Greg decided it was finally time for the trump card.

"Alright, I guess since there's no guarantee on how things will turn out…I'm about to use the Ascension as it was meant to be." Greg said solemnly as he held up his lance weapon and onto the middle of the hilt as he chanted the command for his nanomachines to activate their Charge Drive ability.

"Charge Drive Activation…Oh, Cursed Guardian Flame, grant this blade's might with the divine light of judgment and retribution and bless it with the power to deliver redemption unto thy wielder's souls." Greg said as the nanomachines from the gauntlets began to seep over the Ascension, covering it entirely before it started to vibrate violently.

Taking both of his hands, Greg started to hold onto the awakened spear as his nanomachines began to change it into its true form.

"What's with this resonation of energy?" Greg muttered as his eyes widened, seeing the Ascension come apart into two, separate pieces as he was forced to hold one of them with his left hand. His whole body began to vibrate as if he was fighting an overwhelming force within himself.

"Greg!" Rio called out as Greg shouted back to her.

"I'm okay! It's think…it's trying to…" Greg spoke, before a burst of bright light emerged from the point where his Ascension was and his hands joined. "Wait, this is…!"

"Fool, what parlor tricks are you up to now?" Mantis asked as the light between him and the group disappeared. Rio opened her eyes to see Greg kneeling on his right knee, panting heavily.

"Greg…" Rio muttered at the sight before her as Greg called out to her.

"What is it, sensei?" Greg asked as he glanced at her and the group. "Is everyone alright?"

"Yeah, we're okay, Greg. But the big question is, are YOU?" Rio asked, almost stunned as Greg had no idea what she was talking about.

"What are you talking about?" Greg asked her. "You guys are looking at me as if you've seen a ghost or something…"

"You…you baka! Take a good look at yourself and see why we're looking at you like that!" Rio pointed, as her arm was shaking. Greg slowly realized what she meant and almost gave himself a heart attack when he finally looked at himself.

"What…in…the…hell…just happened?" Greg asked as he saw that he was holding not just one, but a pair of the now complete Ascension, which were both transfigured by his powered nanomachines. The upper hilt areas of the two were decorated by wing like fragments and the blade areas of the lances were emitting a glowing and pulsating current through them.

"So this is the Ascension's complete and final form, but why is it in two pieces?" Greg asked himself heard Rio call out from behind.

"Oh, sweet fuzzy, hell yeah!" Rio shouted. "Greg, you actually did it! You really did make the Ascension complete!"

"Rio, if you're going to find time to compliment Greg being able to do something like that, we should be concentrating on finishing this battle with Mantis." Riku reminded her, as Rio nervously chuckled.

"Ah, gomen, sorry about that, Riku." Rio bowed to him. "But, still…I always told you that you were a badass, Greg, you shouldn't deny that!"

"And I told you before that I'm not! I only got lucky!" Greg shouted back at her as he felt something warm emerge from within his chest area. (Wait a second…why does my entire body feel hotter than before? Can this be related to my memories as well? Or is this what happens when both of myself and Violent Greg are finally put together?)

"Are you children done playing masquerading?" Mantis asked as the group rejoined Greg in his altered state. "I'd like to finish this fight and kill you all so I can keep up with my schedule."

"Well, as much as I want to say it will be helpful that Greg managed to get into this state, we're still no match for Mantis." Nagi said in a low tone.

"Maybe, but that doesn't mean that I'll just leave you guys out at an opportunity such as this. Now that the Ascension's complete, I can freely do this…." Greg said, raising one of the Ascension above him with his right arm.

"Greg, what is it that you have in mind?" Riku asked him as Greg replied by chanting one of his commands.

"Charge Drive Activation …oh, Guardian Flame, shower upon my closest comrades who have supported me throughout the trials for this day, the needed strength and blessings for the battle ahead." Greg said as he spun the Ascension before planting into it the ground below him. "Kai…Best Ally!"

To everyone surprise, a glowing energy can be seen around their feet's area, small particles of green and yellow nanomachines from Greg's transformed Ascension were seen flowing into Rio's, Riku, Nagi and Tot's Sneaking Suits.

"What…what is this feeling? It tickles all over." Rio asked as she looked at herself as Greg stood up firmly.

"I gave everyone one of you guys a sufficient amount of my nanomachines that will enhance most of your healing properties and augment some of your battle abilities from now on until this fight is over." Greg said to Rio and the others, causing them to smile at each other at the good news.

(This guy…just what kind of a psychic is he?) Nagi thought to himself.

(I wish I could say, but whatever he just did, it seemed to just help everybody out big time.) Riku thought. (I'm feeling a little better than before, more like re-energized.)

(Riku's right. Some of my wounds don't even hurt any more.) Tot replied in thought.

"Hmm, what an interesting ability you've shown." Mantis remarked with amusement. "But it's still not enough to save you."

"Are you ready to finish this, Mantis?" Greg asked him seriously as Mantis beckoned the group once more.

"Fine, Gregory Kinezono. Come here. I'll make it all stop." Psycho Mantis said with a taunting tone. He then pressed his hand to his scythe like weapon, causing it to stiffen up before twisting itself around until its form had changed into a Lance as well.

Battle theme:_** Kata Tsubasa no TenshiAdvent: One Winged Angel **_from_Final Fantasy 7: Advent Children._

Mantis charged at the group, even faster than before can saw him coming. By reaction, Greg lifted his left arm and defended himself from the attack in time.

"We can still do it! We can still beat you and we'll prove it!" Rio shouted, thrusting her tonfars at Mantis, as the emulate integrated psychic countered by deflecting her blow.

"Is that so? Then...prove yourselves!" Mantis shouted, swinging his own Lance at the blonde. The blonde police woman evaded the attack by swaying to her side, but...

"Damnation!" One of Mantis' scythes came to life and performed a 180 degrees cut that caught Rio off guard and almost sliced her chest if she didn't swayed faster than before. Fortunately for her, she didn't even get scratched from the deadly range attack from Mantis's scythe.

"That was almost too close for comfort…" Rio said as she regained her composure, but before she could recognize what was going to happen next, Mantis had moved away from his previous position and was coming at Rio once more. Trying to defend the incoming attack, Rio saw Mantis destroying one of her tonfars as he used his psychokinetic power to break it in half.

"Useless!" Mantis taunted, as he seemed to have spilt into two copies of himself and charged at Rio. She easily attacked one of them, and it dissipated into thin air, while the real Mantis came close to ambushing her from the decoy.

"Shit! At this rate…" Rio exclaimed as he closed in on her, until Riku dived in from above their position and threw a flaming kunai at Mantis to distract him as it flew between him and Rio, buying her time to evade any attacks from Mantis who was above her now.

"Such tricks won't work on me this time around." Mantis said but stopped as he suddenly realized something. Looking below for an instant, he could see both Greg and Nagi with open palms targeted at Mantis while the complete Ascension, which was a pair now, near Greg's feet.

"Okay, just like we planned, Nagi!" Greg shouted as Nagi replied with a nod. "Mom, shield your eyes!"

"I've got it!" Nagi shouted as he focused his psychic power to cast a barrier around Rio's body while Greg focused his own power to cause the kunai to burst into a bright explosion that temporarily blinded Mantis.

"I warned you about doing the same thing twice. You are making this battle rather tedious, Kinezono!" Mantis said, but something was different this time.

FWWOOSH!

A spiral of red flame accompanied by the wind surrounding Mantis was seen heading towards him as Greg had already used the Ascension to execute his Crimson Gale attack and sent it towards Mantis.

"Did we get him?" Rio asked as only to further her disappointment, Mantis waved off the flames that Greg created easily, but not without showing a portion of his armor damaged from the attack.

"Dammit! Just what is this guy made out of?" Rio grunted. "But we just can't give up now, can we?"

"Of course not, Rio." Riku replied as Mantis came at Greg once more, who deflected the incoming scythe attack with the left half of his Lance while he used his right Ascension to thrust at Mantis who moved his body to the side from the attack.

"Have at you!" Mantis shouted, firing a close ranged shot of psycho kinetic energy at Greg's abdomen, which sent him flying back a few feet. Using the twin Ascension, Greg thrust them into the ground to stop him from flying back any further.

Feeling stunned from the attack, Greg felt as if his body were on fire now from the inside. He then began to wonder if it was from the previous attack that Mantis had just used on him or if it was the reaction that he was getting from the use of his powers.

(I'll worry about that later; right now, I've got to take care of this wound.) Greg thought as he remembered the herbal medicine that Riku had made and given to him from before that and took out a vial from his inventory since it was the only one of its kind that he had left.

"Riku, cover me while I deal with this wound, will you?" Greg called out as he began to apply some of it around the area Mantis just hit him with.

"All right, I'm on it." Riku replied as he prepared one of the remaining kunai shuriken he had left. "Dragon Fang!"

Riku then disappeared in a flurry of cherry blossoms, which then headed towards Mantis in an attempt to confuse him.

"I can see through your tricks!" Mantis shouted, but before he could register Riku's position, Rio intercepted by throwing a special electromagnetic pulse bomb near Mantis' body that Nanvel had created a while back, which she had been keeping in reserve. "What the…?"

"Didn't see that one coming, huh?" Rio asked with a confident grin. "It was after what my Greggie did before when he rescued Yuina and Seraph and what I remembered of what biodroids were about that I figured it out…they were simply just like normal computers. I'd hoped that this bomb should slow down your emulate capabilities a little and I was glad that I was prepared to have at least one of these with me."

"Why you…!" Mantis shouted and noticed Rio was right on about the bomb's effects as he felt the emulate power drop slightly by the second, disabling some of his newfound power. "No! It's not possible!"

"I see what Rio-san's talking about now." Tot caught on as Nagi nodded to her. "As long as Mantis won't be able to access the biodroid powers, he's only got his psychic powers to depend on from now on."

"Yeah, we should be grateful that she was able to help us in taking out a power boost for Mantis like this." Nagi said. "Now this fight's gotten a bit easier on our part. We might just have a chance now."

"Don't be so sure of yourselves just yet!" Mantis growled but then realized that he had now forgotten about Riku from before. (No, that blonde managed to distract my focus on the ninja from before!)

Suddenly reappearing near Mantis, Riku had already charged something in the palm of his right had with chakra energy, flames and wind to form a whirling sphere combining the three together. Riku then placed the swirling red orb near Mantis' chest area and executed one of his Overdrive attacks.

"Sky Dragon Demon!" Riku called out as the ball tore and then exploded into the armor on Mantis' chest. That attack managed to obliterate the armor completely, exposing Mantis' chest.

"Gaaaahhh!" Mantis was sent hurling back away as Riku panted for breath from executing the attack.

"Riku, are you okay?" Rio called out to him as he nodded.

"I'll be fine, that was one of my least life threatening ninjutsu techniques anyway." Riku replied to her. "Mantis should be fine as well from that since I used the non lethal version of this technique, but it was mostly thanks to you that I was able to get the chance to land the attack the moment he was open thanks to that bomb you threw at him."

"Ah, it was nothing. Glad I could be of some help, especially after I saw you guys were doing rather well yourselves." Rio rubbed her nose, feeling proud as she looked across to where Mantis was, only to look on in shock as she saw him stagger up on his feet.

"This isn't good…everyone be careful. It doesn't look like he's finished yet!" Nagi called out in warning as Mantis stood up, looking tired, but also very angry as well.

"Damn, now he looks really pissed." Rio muttered as she saw Greg taking up the Ascension once more as he was finishing patching the wounds he had recently received up. "What now, Greggie?"

"He's getting close to his limit. Still, we can't allow him to use any of his more powerful attacks as he is now or we're all done for." Greg said as suddenly, he felt the ground shake under him. "What the…?"

"Is it an earthquake?" Tot asked, holding onto Nagi for support as he answered.

"No way…this is Mantis' doing. Just look at him…" Nagi said seriously as Mantis started to hold unto his head and cry out in pain as everything around them began to shake violently.

"ARRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!" Mantis cried out in agony as swayed his body to the sides. "Stay…stay away from me! I don't want this…I won't let you interfere with my mind, Reese! Leave my memories alone!"

Greg and the group looked on in shock as they saw Mantis like this as Greg realized what was happening and started to call out to Mantis much to everyone's surprise.

"That's it, Mantis! You can fight it!" Greg shouted. "You can't allow him to take away that nostalgic feeling that you had before you left this world at Shadow Moses! Take it back! Take back your memories, your true self!"

Confused by Greg's actions, Rio looked on as she thought to herself about her surrogate son and what had become of him.

(Even though I've spent years raising him…that guy…I really don't understand him sometimes.) Rio thought to herself as she saw Greg beginning to walk towards Mantis. (In this situation, just what could he be thinking? The way things are now, we're all as good as dead…we could all die today at Mantis's hands. So…isn't he afraid of dying himself?)

"Mantis, I know it must have been painful…what you had to endure because of what Reese did to you." Greg said as he approached Mantis closer while holding his twin Ascension. "I'm not even sure of how capable I am of freeing you from the curse that was placed on you…but…"

(I see it now…Greggie is the only one…who can see things a bit differently than the rest of us.) Rio said as she smiled a bit. (He's the one who can give his friends and allies the urge to survive, no matter how tough things seem.)

"If you want to truly fight as a psychic in order to be free, then…" Greg raised the Ascension in a ready pose. "Don't fight us as an emulate or a tool for the Patriots, but as the man who truly was known as the only psychic to battle Solid Snake at Shadow Moses, the man who made that name legendary for psychics like myself and Nagi to look upon…fight as the real Psycho Mantis!"

As if Greg's words had an effect on him, the shaking stopped and quieted down as Mantis stopped clutching his head and looked at Greg through his mask. After a bit of silence between the group and himself, Mantis slowly stood upright as he pointed his lance at Greg.

"If that is your wish, Gregory Matthews Kinezono…then I will be able to satisfy your wish now." Mantis said as he opened his palm to open his mask, revealing his face, shocking the group at his appearance.

"Holy mother of…" Rio muttered, covering her mouth as Riku, Nagi, and Tot winced at the sight. Greg gritted his teeth as he gripped onto the twin hilts of his Ascension harder than before.

"Are you ready now, Mantis?" Greg asked as Mantis grinned at him. "Ready to be set free from the curse Reese placed on you?"

"Yes, please do give it your best shot." Mantis replied as he dashed at Greg who deflected a series of attacks with both Ascensions in time. Then, a swirling dark energy formed around Mantis's hands, as he was preparing his energy attack once more.

"Dark Surge!" He released the attack and sent it at Greg's direction. Greg could only watch in the direction it was heading.

(What the hell…?) Greg could not even think of the right words to say as he saw the energy ball split into two and pinned him from both sides just as Mantis waved his arm at Greg. Getting hit from one of them before and at point blank range was bad enough, but to get it from both sides is even worse.

"Greg!" Rio cried out, holding out her handgun to fire at Mantis from a distance while laughter was heard from Mantis as he dashed forward and executed some more of his energy attacks.

"Shattered Soul!" Mantis shouted as he fired dark, surging energy at Greg, which only missed him by inches with each shot. But Mantis was not done yet as he pressed his attacks.

"Abyss Calling!" He shouted spinning at Greg's area, trashing the wall behind Greg with his winged scythe attacks. Still, with the using the complete form of his Ascension combined with the nanomachines on full power, he was able to completely evade most of the damage Mantis inflicted.

"What's the use of struggling, weaklings? You're already dead!" Mantis called out, attempting to stop Greg dead in his tracks, but the younger psychic was much quicker on his feet than before and had dashed out of harm's way.

"Stop running away and fight!" Mantis cried out as Greg stopped on his sprint, only to defend one more strike from his lance with his own.

"That's it! You've got to come at us with your full strength!" Greg shouted as he pushed Mantis away. "That emulate power couldn't have fully been able to be compatible with you if you pushed yourself any longer, but now..."

"Fool, this has always been my true strength!" Mantis said to him. "This is my real chance of living, boy! You can never undo the spell that the Patriots placed on me, so you have no other option but to kill me!"

"Is that what you really want, Mantis?" Greg asked, attacking with a rising thrust from the lance with his right arm. Nearly getting the hit from Greg's dual wielding weapon attack, Psycho Mantis waved Greg's words off.

"Ha, I'm not listening to a child like you...you don't understand anything." Mantis said.

"There's still time to change and make amends, all you have to do is just let us help you." Greg said as he opened his right hand. "You brought this on yourself and only you can undo the damage you've caused, Mantis."

"Silence! You shall all suffer under my Damnation!" Mantis called out his attack, but Greg had already shifted his attack posture and dashed away from Mantis and was already at his right side.

"I can start to sense the Mantis that Snake fought all those years ago…do you really want to keep going through this, huh, Mantis?" Greg asked him.

"How can you even know about that?" Mantis said, grabbing Greg's collar. "You have little idea about what I had to do just to even keep sane since the Patriots resurrected me! They...they ordered me to do their will, or else they would kill me...I didn't even want to lose that memory I had before they extracted it from me...before they brainwashed me..."

"Mantis..." Nagi said, feeling pity for the man in front of him.

"I understand that, we all do, Mantis. You were forced to do this to begin with." Greg said, wiping some blood that started to leak from his nostrils. "That's why I'll do whatever it will take to break this curse and set things straight…I was hoping to have settled this without resorting to rely on my nanomachines, but now, there's no other choice."

"You're full of weaknesses, dear Gregory…that is why you will lose!" Mantis cried out as Greg was able to kick and free himself from Mantis in time to deflect it with the paired Ascension. He swung it at Greg, but the young psychic swung his right fist and broke through the lance Mantis was holding using his released nanomachines around the gauntlet's areas.

"How did you…?" Mantis shouted as Greg continued to charge at him with clenched fist on the ready.

"Sorry to be the one to tell you this, but today is not the day for me to lose before I can accomplish anything!" Greg shouted as he knocked Mantis back firmly on the ground before taking his Ascension and activated the ability that was infused into his nanomachines.

"Charge Drive Activation, nanomachines at full power." Greg said as the ground area that he was standing on began to tremble under his feet as he planted both of the Ascensions into the ground and commanded his special attack. "Oh, Guardian Flame…Arise and hear the cry of my burning soul! Come forth, hopes of the people, wishes of the dreamers, and guide thy blades to purify the evil before me!"

A stunned Mantis looked up as a rush of surging light surrounding Greg's body coursed through his own as he raised his left arm, as the energy then entered his gauntlets while he took up the Ascension and started to perform a series of slashes at Mantis' body, before raising the two of them over his head and pointing it at Mantis as he finished calling out his technique's name:

"Kinezono Special Technique, born from the awakened memories…Reverse Rebirth!" Greg shouted as he fired a cannon-like wave of light infused psycho kinesis at Mantis' body, pushing him back several feet into the ground and creating a crater where they were standing on.

"Gaaaahhhh!" Mantis cried out, as he fell back from the attack, while Greg staggered himself as he suddenly collapsed in front of the group.

"Did I…overdo it?" Greg muttered as Rio caught him as he fell.

"Greg! Are you okay?" Rio as she was holding unto her shoulder.

"Yeah...just barely..." He muttered. "I think I went a little overboard when I just did that attack…"

"What was it? I don't remember seeing you do anything like that before." Rio said as she noticed that the Ascension had now gotten back to its normal form now. "I see…you can only do that when your nanos are giving the high reading and your weapon's in its complete form, is that it?"

"Yeah, it was how I was able to heal everyone before by using the two in conjunction as well." Greg replied. "Though, I think only once is the limit for now…"

"So, is it finally over?" Riku asked, feeling extremely tired and almost weak from the long fight, but grateful to still be alive, thanks to the teamwork that his partners, Greg and Rio had put in today.

"Yeah...it seems so, hopefully. I can sense no more malice within him, his will to resist any longer is broken." Greg stepped up and kneeled near Mantis's body. "He wanted to be saved from himself, but he couldn't have escaped from this nightmare by himself, a nightmare created by Reese and the Patriots. They were just too powerful, even for him and it had to come to this, just to restore the memories that they took from him."

Slamming his nearly destroyed nano wrist into the ground, tears began to stream out of Greg's eyes as he cried out in agony. "Why, father? Just tell me, why all of this had to happen? Why must the people of this world pay with their lives for the crimes of the corrupt?"

Nagi Naoe was listening to Greg the entire time, as did Tot and Riku. He stepped up closer to the older, defeated psychic.

Nagi sighed and shook his head. "I can't help but feel sorry for Mantis, especially since I sort of have an idea of what he's gone through." Nagi's eyes then hardened in anger. "Reese has got a lot to answer for, doesn't he?"

"Indeed he does." Riku replied grimly with a nod. "And I'm personally going to see to it that it takes him at least a week to do all his answering."

"Let's not forget what happened to Yuina too." Tot added sadly. "That poor girl; I know exactly what she's going through with the loss of her aunt, not to mention having do those things she didn't want to..."

"On second thought, make that two weeks!" Riku said angrily. "I'm sure that I can come up with a way to keep Reese alive for at least that long."

Greg only looked at the three youngsters with a look of seriousness on his face. He wanted to say something to them, but he knew in a way, they were right about one thing...Reese was definitely going to have to pay for the atrocities that had been done to Yuina and Mantis, one way or the other.

"So, is he really dead?" Tot interrupted Greg's train of thought.

"I hope not. Even though I made sure to increase the nanomachines' potency during the fight, I made sure not to overdo it so they wouldn't inflict too much damage on him, and that drop was not too far down, so he should be able to survive." Greg's words stopped, as Mantis' body flinched a little. Everyone close to him stepped back a distance.

A staggering Mantis got up slowly, blood was pouring from his temple. He stared at Greg for a moment before he spoke.

"Well done, Greg..." Mantis smiled at Greg and his group who were in surprise to his change of personality. "You and your friends managed to conquer me even though I had the power of a biodroid. You all…fought with your earnest and strength…it's been so long since I had a good battle like that."

Greg simply shook his head. "Don't say it like that…I myself wasn't too sure about how we could have survived against you….you weren't half bad yourself, Mantis."

"Are you still able to move?" Riku asked as Mantis staggered to stand up as Greg hurried to help him up.

"Yes, I can still move with whatever strength that remains within this body." Mantis said. "Thanks to you and your fellow comrades, Greg, I can feel it now...how nice it felt when I look back to that day when I first helped someone with my powers...you were right, Greg. It truly is an enjoyable feeling that I missed so much, and Reese took it away from me."

"I'm glad you feel like that, but now you need to share something with us..." Greg stood up, fixing himself, even though most of the remaining portions of his Sneaking Suit were now almost covered in nanos that were suddenly dissolving after the transformation he summoned ended after the fight.

"We want to know the truth about what Reese is plotting, as well what the Patriots are also planning." Greg said seriously as he made sure Mantis was comfortable as he rested him on a platform to sit on.

"Greg? Can you trust him? " Rio asked him out of curiosity, but Greg simply looked at her.

"Rio, it's okay. I trust him, since this is what he probably wanted all along." Greg said.

"I trust him too, Rio. Especially since there's a good chance that what he will tell us will be helpful to everyone in FOXHOUND." Riku said to her as Rio stayed silent as Greg started questioning Mantis.

"Okay, Mantis…take your time and start with what you know already." Greg said to him. "First to begin with, what is Reese's game?"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Back in the States, Lt. Matthew Reese had just stepped out of an exit of a local news building, when he suddenly stumbled on the sidewalk. A trail of blood then seeped out of his temple when he felt a strong throbbing in his head. He looked up and growled to himself.

(Kinezono...this must be your doing. Damn you!) Reese thought to himself, and then stood up. (No matter though...soon, the world will learn of your secrets and then everyone will be against you at once. And my use for Mantis is already complete. He's no longer useful alive, so I'll send the okay to have him eliminated along with you. I don't care what Dixon says!)

He took up a cell phone and dialed a number. He spoke to the other end, while getting the blood cleaned up.

"This is me. Kinezono's still active." Reese spoke. "Have Mantis killed, and then send the rest of the forces to eliminate Kinezono and his group. Destroy all the evidence, and bury them alive. They won't be able to find Ultimatum and the Guns of the Patriots so easily now."

"They have already seized most of the data, how can you be sure they won't be able to get it to Solid Snake to warn them?" A voice replied on the other end.

"That won't happen. It's about time to start the next phase of the plan anyway." Reese smiled. "Throw them at Greg's direction to divert his allies from getting too much focus on the matter at hand."

"We have already sent a fleet to Kinezono's position. It won't be long before his end will come..." The other end spoke. "He has rebelled enough, but now he has passed this stage of tolerance."

"I agree with you." Reese said. "Time for you to be silenced once and for all, Gregory Kinezono."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"The time for the Patriots to initiate their greatest plan is approaching and as you already know of Reese's involvement with them, it is likely that he has done all of this just to draw you and your comrades away from what is currently happening in Japan." Mantis said.

"I don't get it, what is it that would make them so interested about this country now of all times?" Rio asked.

"It's probably what's going on in Tokyo-3 right now that has something to do with it all, Rio." Riku said.

"The ninja is correct, they suspect that the organization known as SEELE is catching onto their plans for world domination." Mantis said.

"That was the organization that recently fell into the reborn Dead Cell's hands, wasn't it, Greg?" Nagi asked as he nodded silently to him. "Now that I think about it, they probably wanted Dead Cell to slow SEELE down a bit by allowing them to seize control of them for the time being."

"Thus, it gives the Patriots a chance to move ahead with their plans." Greg added. "Tell us how they and Reese found about Seraph and Yuina as well."

"Didn't Seraph tell you all the truth of her origin?" Mantis asked them, as they looked at each other confused.

"She kind of detailed where she came from, but even we don't fully understand everything about her just yet." Rio said as Mantis sighed.

"I see that you all have more to know about the truth of biodroids and how greatly this involves Yuina." Mantis said as he spoke. "Her father was the one who started the project for the development of biodroids called project Eden."

"Yuina's father?!?" Everyone in the group exclaimed in unison as Greg was the first to ask something else.

"Does Yuina herself know about this? Was that why she got involved?" Greg asked Mantis as he replied.

"It appears that she did not know of it this entire time, even though rumors of the project came to Reese and the Patriots' ears only months before this day came." Mantis said as Rio got into serious thinking.

(I think after we get out of this place, we're going to start having to ask Seraph and Yuina what's really going on to save ourselves further headaches.) Rio thought as Greg continued to ask Mantis questions.

"So, the Patriots wanted the biodroid technology for themselves and my guess is that they would have Yuina as a captive to blackmail her father into doing work for them, is that it?" Greg asked.

"Yes, it was one of their intentions from the beginning." Mantis said. "However, now after seeing that Reese has failed on capturing Seraph and Yuina, he would probably be ordered to go after the remaining biodroids that were also spotted under the Patriots surveillance."

"Hold on just a minute here…you just said that there's more of Seraph's kind out there as we speak?" Rio asked, stunned to hear this. "Just how many of them are there?"

"From last I was aware of, a number of eleven." Mantis said, causing the group to stare at each other wide eyed. "One of them fell to this Earth the same time after Seraph's arrival while seven others are yet to be found."

"But that's only seven so far." Riku said. "What about the other three biodroids?"

"They've been on this planet only recently as well, but not as long as Seraph had when she made contact with Yuina." Mantis said as Greg stared at the group.

"What do you think, guys?" Greg asked his comrades.

"I think there's a good chance that Reese won't just stop with Yuina, that's for sure." Riku replied. "If there will be more people who will later be masters for all of the biodroids running around, we'll be having quite a handful of trouble heading our way if we don't find a way to protect or deal with them. We also need to locate them too, and that's definitely going to take time."

"We'll just have to ask Seraph for more details when this is over, I guess." Greg said as he got back to Mantis. "In any case, Yuina's father is in trouble now because Reese endangered his daughter's life and probably will still be in the time to come."

"Most assuredly, but the Patriots will already be moving on with their plans soon…now that Ocelot is close to losing control of his mind and will fall victim to Liquid Snake's spirit." Mantis said. "Listen to me, all of you and listen well, for this is what I see of the future…the Patriots may already have new Metal Gear models being prepared as we speak, enough for a small army. They want to attain enough manpower to create a force to deal with Liquid Ocelot soon to be betrayal."

The group stayed silent as Mantis continued.

"And I must tell you about Solid Snake's fate…he will meet his final days on the battlefield, old, tired, and ragged of his legacy." Mantis said. "Everything you thought will take place to stop the Patriots will not go as foreseen…the Guns of the Patriots are powerful as they stand now and will thrive on in time to come very soon."

"Guns of the Patriots…" Greg muttered silently as he looked at the group and at Mantis in silence.

"Greg, this is so creeping me out." Rio told him. "Does any of it make sense?"

"We've got to believe him, since he knows what could happen in the future, but I'm guessing from what he's told us that we've got quite a fight on our hands later on." Greg said to her as she looked at him silently.

"Miss Kinezono..." Psycho Mantis called out to her. Rio stopped to glare at him.

"First, I must say that I'm sorry that I nearly killed you. Reese was the one who ordered me to partake the order..." Mantis confessed, shocking her. "If by the time your son manages to get out of this alive, I'm sure he'll find a way to make Reese pay for having me go through such indescribable nature. And I must also say how strong you've trained him to be...he's worthy to be your son indeed."

Rio couldn't help but grin at him. "Heh, well...comment appreciated, Mantis."

"I have a suggestion, everyone, if it's alright." Riku spoke, his tone a serious one.

"Go on." Greg said.

"I think we should be heading to an exit right about now." Riku explained. "If Reese has been monitoring all this until Greg just cut off those means when he was fighting Mantis, then I'm sure by now the Patriots know about Mantis' defeat. I seriously doubt they're just going to let us leave here quietly. While we still have time, we should make for an exit before any enemy reinforcements arrive."

"You've got a point there…" Rio agreed.

"The ninja is correct in his assumption." Mantis spoke haltingly. "The Patriots have several more Death Squad soldiers in this base and several squads on standby in the area. It will not be easy to get through all of that."

"It's not like we have much choice though, do we?" Greg said. "Anyway, let's get to the lift and then head to the transport."

Upon reaching the lift and riding it up, the group then began to discuss how they were going to get to the exit.

"Alright then, we'll contact Lilica and see how she and the others have done in getting us a way out of here." Rio said. "After that we'll follow her signal to the outside and wait for Yuji to pick us up."

"True but you've forgotten something, Rio-san." Nagi said. "There's going to be a good amount of space between us and the exit, and as Mantis said, there are still a large number of Death Squad troops in this base."

"Well, we fought through them once, so we can do it again." Rio said confidently.

"Yeah, but there's only six of us counting Mantis, and he's wounded." Riku reminded her. "We'll be carrying him while moving through enemy territory, so we'll be more vulnerable to an attack if we're not careful." Riku then realized something and then turned to Mantis. "Uh…sorry if I'm making this sound like…"

"Do not worry about speaking the truth, young one, I am well aware of my current condition and take no offense." Mantis replied.

"Well, thanks and…once again sorry…" Riku said.

(He sure is surprisingly polite…) Riku thought to himself.

"Anyway, we'll have to move in the right formation so that we can get through this safely, and I believe we should do it this way," He continued. "Rio, you and Greg are to act as Mantis' support during this. One of you will carry Mantis while the other guards the pair. Meanwhile Nagi, Tot, and I will lead the way and guard you all from the front." Riku then paused for a moment before speaking. "Does that sound like a good arrangement?"

"It sounds like it to me." Nagi answered.

"Me too." Tot nodded.

"Well it sounds like a good idea, but…" Rio paused for a moment before continuing. "Isn't that a bit risky for the three of you?"

"She has a point, Riku." Greg agreed. "Are you sure about this?"

"I know that you both mean well, but currently it's the three of us who are in the best of conditions right now." Riku replied.

"Yeah, you both wore yourselves out the most while we were fighting Mantis." Tot pointed out.

"I think we can discuss our conditions later, you guys." Nagi said. "Let's contact Lilica first so we'll have an idea of where we'll be heading."

"Good idea. Hopefully, they should already be out of here before us by now." Riku said as he got contact to Lilica's frequency. "Lilica, are you and the others with you alright?"

"Riku! It's so good to hear your voice after you and the others were gone for a long while, I was worried the whole time." Lilica's face appeared onscreen. "I take it that Greg and you guys got things done with Mantis?"

"Yeah, he did an exceptional job helping him if I do say so myself." Riku said to her. "So, how are things going up there?"

"Maya and the Shinsengumi just cleaned house of the base's security and we're now heading out of one of the emergency exits, I can see the light leading out of here." Lilica said at her end. "You guys can meet us where we'll be waiting for Yuji and the back up, so I'm sending you a map to your Soliton where you'll be able to find us."

"Alright, thanks. We're almost out of here ourselves, so we'll catch up to you shortly." Riku said as he logged off and faced the group. "Okay, I just confirmed that Lilica and the others have already escaped from the base and any further danger, so we should be doing the same ourselves."

"I'm with you on that one, the faster we're out of here, the better." Rio said as she turned to watch Greg. "How about it, Greg, shall we get moving?"

Glancing to Mantis behind him with a serious look, Mantis sensed that he still had some questions to ask him. Lowering his head for a moment, Greg looked up at everyone as he spoke to the group.

"Listen, everyone…I just wanted to thank everyone again for helping me this far, but…I have some more questions I need to ask Mantis and they are rather…confidential ones." Greg said, rubbing his cheek. "Riku, why don't you and your partners take Sensei out of here and go on ahead without me?"

"What are you saying, Greg?" Rio asked as she stepped closer to him. "What's this all of a sudden? Can't it wait until after we're out of here?"

"Sensei…no, Mom, I wish I could do that, but…" Greg stopped as Mantis spoke for him.

"Miss Kinezono, it was I who wanted to speak with him privately one last time." Mantis said to her. "The enemy will not be able to gain if all of us are captured if we do move altogether anyway."

"But…" Rio said as Greg patted her shoulder.

"It will be okay…mom." Greg said to her as he smiled at her. "I will wrap things up here with Mantis before we'll join you guys. Just give us ten minutes to ourselves; I want to clear some things up with him about my past before we move on."

Understanding her son's request, Rio began to shake as she grabbed her surrogate son in an embrace.

"Greg…if anything happens…you have to promise us…come back to us, no matter what!" Rio said as Greg stroked her long, blonde hair.

"I will, you have my word on that, mom." Greg said to her as he looked at Riku. "Riku, Nagi, and Tot…I leave my mother's safety in your hands until Mantis and I will meet you all soon."

"Leave it to us, we won't fail you." Riku told him sternly as he understood that Greg wanted to discuss something private and important with Mantis. "But, Greg…be a good son and obey your mother. You have to come back to everyone; we'll be waiting for you and Mantis."

"Thanks." Greg said as he started to see them get on the transport lift, despite Rio's hesitant movements at first until she joined Riku and his partners. Giving her a silent nod, Rio looked on as the platform moved upwards from the floor they were on, leaving Greg and Mantis by themselves.

"Thanks for saying that when I wasn't able to before, Mantis." Greg said to him as he turned to face him. "Although…you already know that I have my own questions to ask you as I didn't want everyone else who helped me today find out what was really going on, didn't you?"

"Yes, that is the truth, Greg. I want to do it because I know you're the best choice of one to be entrusted with the truth of what is really going to happen soon. Go ahead and ask me what is on your mind..." Mantis asked Greg.

"How much do you know about...Third Impact?" Greg asked reluctantly. He didn't even wanted to remember the memory of seeing it, but he had to find out more about it.

"I am truly sorry for showing you such a horrifying nightmare..." Mantis said apologetically as Greg shook his head.

"So, you have seen it too?" Greg asked him.

"Yes, in one of my future memories." Mantis said. "While the Commander of NERV was still alive..."

"You're referring to Gendou Ikari?" Greg asked.

"From what I learned based on the intelligence gathered from the Patriots network while he was captured by Dead Cell, he had been plotting his own schemes that were contrary to both NERV and the Committee." Mantis spoke. "Are you aware about how he mistreated his son in the past and currently?"

"Based on some of the stories I heard during my brief time in NERV, I can guess their relationship was far from a good one." Greg spoke.

"The Committee had predicted sooner of later, that he would gain the pieces that would become mankind's 'Doomsday Weapon.'" Mantis spoke.

"Did you just say, 'Doomsday Weapon'?" Greg asked in shock.

"He has with him, one of the first Angels, Adam, and the Lance of Longinus...a weapon that will also prove fatal in the hands of the ones using it to initiate the Impact." Mantis said. "The Patriots also know that Evangelion Unit 01 is special in its own way...it's a true offspring of Adam, with a mind of its own."

(That explains the outcome of the last Angel fight…) Greg thought to himself.

"From what I can tell, Third Impact will mean the end, not the evolution of humanity." Mantis said. "Gendou was plotting to use this means in order to control the fate of humanity for his own personal needs."

"Why in the hell would he do that? Is he willing to betray his own organization and the human race as well?" Greg asked. "Is it for some personal gain that he would have wanted to cause the Third Impact?"

"The Patriots wouldn't want this and allowed FOXHOUND and Dead Cell to interfere with Gendou's plan." Mantis spoke. "Since he has served little purpose while he was part of the Committee, they thought it was best that he was taken out of the picture, whichever way that suited them the best."

"But, FOXHOUND had no idea that even Gendou was capable of plotting something like Third Impact to begin with and our enemy was Dead Cell..." Greg stopped to think about it.

"No one else in that group or Philanthropy knew, but Snake himself." Mantis replied.

"Snake knew about this the entire time?" Greg asked, surprised to hear this.

"Yes. An agent of SEELE, Ryoji Kaji handed Snake the data he knew that could help him stop the Impact from happening." Mantis said to him as Greg lowered his stare.

"Kaji? Then that means that he's a spy for the organization that was captured by the enemy!" Greg exclaimed, shaking his head.

"The Patriots thought it was best to distract FOXHOUND and Philanthropy, with the giving away of Arsenal Gear to NERV's possession, Emma Emmerich's return to life, and the capture of SEELE." Mantis said. "During this commotion, they allowed Solidus and his group to seize the Commander, while the officials at NERV were busy thinking what to do about the invasion of the new Omega RAY army and soon SEELE's capture."

"I guess that would explain how Snake didn't want to take any action against Gendou right away...he didn't want to blow his cover..." Greg said solemnly.

"Yes. Gendou was snatched right away before that could happen, and just as how the Patriots predicted, he returned to NERV as a corpse...a payment for his lack of judgment and a perverse sense of command." Mantis spoke. "This was by far the most suitable punishment ever received upon a traitor for the Patriots. Gendou deserved no other chances for retribution, and his death deemed fit enough for one such as him."

(In a way, he had it coming, making those stupid calls, especially on the first day in a while I returned to Japan on that day when the 13th Angel possessed one of their newest Eva units.) Greg thought to himself. "But there's more to this than having Gendou removed, isn't there?"

"Yes, what happened to Gendou is only a prelude to what it is you are to be expecting from the enemy forces in the time to come." Mantis said. "There will also be others who will want to control the Impact as well."

"So there will be others who will take his place?"

"In a way, yes. SEELE has had intentions of controlling the Impact as well. But Dead Cell had betrayed the group and seized control of the facility, thus delaying their plans." Mantis said.

"Wait a minute...Dead Cell was employed under SEELE? For what reason?'

"Yes...until they have managed to seize Arsenal for themselves." Mantis spoke. "SEELE plotted to use Arsenal against NERV, but Solidus found something even better..."

"Are you referring to this Ultimatum Gear that was spoken of?"

"That's right. He felt the sheer power of that weapon, just by mentioning the word. It's a true and perfect hybrid of an Evangelion and Metal Gear, unlike the Omega RAYs...a perfect weapon and also an Ark."

"An Ark...?" Greg asked, having been caught off guard hearing the term.

"It is to house the Patriots and their valuable data from the S3 project." Mantis said.

"Did my father's project part have some connection to all of that as well?"

"Your father's project was to be the next step for super soldier programming, but there was a flaw in the genetic designs. He tried his hardest to find and eliminate the flaw before it was completed, but it was halted despite his protests since he knew the effects. It was part of the Patriots orders as well as those of a former colleague of your father's." Mantis revealed. "Your father's project was for the benefit of the human race, and the Patriots did not want to have any of that brought out in the open like that."

"So he really was betrayed?" Greg asked, now realizing what Mantis told him.

"Yes. But there's much more than to it." Mantis turned his back at Greg before giving him a DVD disk. "You'll understand when you see this…your late father's archives of his work."

"How did you…?" Greg asked as he was stopped by Mantis.

"Neither Reese or the Patriots know that I had this data copied from this facility. I wanted you to only know the truth of your father's work and why he and your family had to die." Mantis said. "Someone is trying to revive the Human Modification Project and it is the very same man your father trusted and respected who in turn betrayed him by being involved in the organizing of the so called terrorist bombing that took your family's lives."

Greg looked on silently in shock as Mantis spoke on.

"The Patriots are currently working on other projects that will involve their control of the world, but not by means of the Impact." Mantis then broke his train of thought as Greg focused on the matter at hand.

"Then, how will they then?" Greg asked as he willingly took the disk and stored it safely. "I thought Ultimatum was the key they needed to fully take over the world once they have access to it…"

"No, there's more to it than just that...there are other potential victims that the Patriots are planning on targeting...that's why..." Mantis began to hold his head with a free hand. "That's why they must be stopped...before they ruin the lives of others before it's too late…"

(The Patriots know eventually that I would share this information with you and have prepared a punishment on my behalf.) He said mentally to Greg.

(Punishment? What does that mean?) Greg asked.

(Yes...my second death.) He simply revealed.

Greg tried not to let the expression of shock show on his face. (And you're just going to accept that, Mantis?)

(They have been keeping watch on my life signs for a period of time now. And they are good in telling which of their operatives will turn on them...just as how they punished Gendou Ikari for his folly, my fate shall be the same.)

(I can't let that happen!) Greg gritted his teeth. (Tell me...what should I do?)

(There's nothing you can do...the implant is close to detonating anytime soon. I'm not sure when my end will come.) Mantis said.

(Damn...what should I do then?) Greg felt deep regret now that after everything that he and his comrades had just been through, Mantis was fated to die at the hands of the enemy and felt his efforts were for nothing. (Can I really not do anything?)

(All I wanted was to finally have my memory back...the one that meant so much before I could have died in peace years ago...) Mantis said. (It was sealed within my mind somewhere, no thanks to the Wiseman's doing...thanks to you and your comrade's assistance in helping me recover it, I can finally be at peace)

(And are you going to just accept that?) Greg asked him in thought as Mantis replied to him.

(My time in this world has already been long past, there's no need for a man like myself to stay here any longer.) Mantis said as Greg gritted his teeth.

(That's so not true! Stop talking nonsense!) Greg replied in thought, surprising Mantis. (You…you have no idea…how badly this world needs people like us more than ever. How can you simply assume that you no longer have any use and just give up your life like that?)

(Gregory…) Mantis said as he noticed Greg trying to fight his own tears.

(There are things as a psychic I don't not fully understand just yet, I may need you to guide me in the future, Mantis.) Greg said to him. (Besides, I'm sure some part of you wants to start making up for the things you did in the past by start helping people, am I right?)

(As true to your words, I do wish to start making up for what pain I've caused to the victims in my past, but I'm afraid I'm not to be allowed that opportunity.) Mantis replied in thought as he grunted in pain while Greg noticed this.

"Mantis? What's wrong?" Greg asked, stepping closer to him.

"They...they have started, Greg..." Mantis started to throw himself around. "They're...going to kill me now..."

"Get a grip, Mantis!" Greg shouted, holding unto him. "It's not too late, just stay calm!"

"No! You must...you must save yourself!" Mantis shouted at Greg. "They...will be coming for you soon...you must escape!"

"What are you talking about?" Greg growled. "I'm not leaving you behind for them to start doing things to your corpse once more!"

"Don't be stubborn!" Mantis said, while holding unto his head. The pain was getting even worse for him as he heard a loud ringing in his head that started to resonate in his skull.

"Dammit, isn't there anything I can do?" Greg cried. "I'm still getting you out of this place no matter what happens..."

Just then, an explosion rocked the ceiling above them. Greg looked and saw slabs of rubble beginning to fall. He quickly used his powers to protect him and Mantis from them.

"Why...are you helping me?" Mantis asked. "Even after all I did to you to make your life miserable?"

"If I need a reason, I'll come up with one later." Greg answered quickly. "For now just rest easy, you're coming with us no matter what."

"Heh...you are a strange, yet good hearted psychic." Mantis smirked to this comment Greg made as the rubble finished falling and Greg proceeded to bring down the barrier and carry Mantis onward.

"Hang on...I'll get you out of here..." Greg said as he can see an exit nearby. "We're almost out of here..."

"Greg...listen to me..." Mantis said, his tone of voice getting deeper and lower. "Yuina...she's all...alone now...you must...she has to..."

"Yeah, I get the picture, Mantis." Greg assured him. "I'll do my best to help the kid out. You've got my word on that."

"That's good to hear, I know you're capable of it." Mantis replied. "And Greg...I have one final request?"

"What is it?" Greg asked, already fearing the worst to come.

"Tell Yuina...that...I'm sorry." He spoke, before his head keeled over while Greg was holding him.

"You can tell her that yourself when we're out of here, Mantis!" Greg panicked, holding Mantis as he fell. "Hey, old man! Don't die on me just yet! We're almost…"

"Ahhh...AHHHHHHHHHH!" Mantis' screams were one of the most horrifying things Greg had ever heard, as he braced for the worst. Suddenly the screams were cut off as Greg heard a loud bang from Mantis's skull, and then his sight was completely obscured by something red. Greg immediately dropped the bleeding body on the ground, as he found himself covered in Mantis' blood and pieces of his skull strewn about over Greg.

"MANTIS!" Greg shouted in horror when the next thing he saw was Mantis dying in front of him. He suddenly caught the body before it hit the floor. "Nooo!"

(G...Greg...) Mantis' voice sounded in his mind as he held up an arm for Greg to hold onto.

"Hang on, Mantis! Please…" Greg fervently asked. (Dammit! Not now! Not to him! How could this happen of all times just as we're so close?)

As Greg tried desperately to think of something, some way to avert the dying psychic's fate, he suddenly felt Mantis' hand grip his own tightly.

(Thank you…) Mantis' voice said in Greg's mind before Greg suddenly felt Mantis' hand go limp and then slip free of his as the psychic looked on in shock and sadness.

"Ah…ahhh….AHHHHHHHH!" Greg cried out as tears flowed from his eyes. "Why?!? Why did this have to happen?!?"

"And so passes Psycho Mantis, the first psychic soldier of FOXHOUND." A voice overhead, above Greg, called out. He laid the body down and looked up with watery eyes. A bright shining light could be seen from the point where the rubble had fallen from.

"He completed his mission and now no longer has any use, and now the same goes for you, Gregory Matthews." A different voice spoke.

Greg clenched his fists and glared up in the direction the voices had come from. Standing in the light were twelve shadowy figures, obviously gazing down at him. There was something strange about these figures in their appearance, as no matter how hard Greg tried to look at them they just appeared to be shadowy human shaped outlines with no distinguishing physical features except that they were different in height and body outline.

"Are you…the Patriots?" Greg asked.

"That is the current name that we are referred to as, yes." One of the voices spoke in affirmation.

"If that's so…" Greg then stared up at the speakers with an expression of outright hatred. "Then you should know that I will not let you get away with Mantis' death!"

Suddenly some of the rubble around Greg floated up before suddenly launching themselves at the figures that had named themselves as the Patriots. The pieces of rubble, however, simply passed through the figures they had been aimed at and crashed into the wall behind them.

"Sorry, but as you can see, these are simply projections…" One of the figures spoke.

"Still that's so like you, Gregory, so quick to lash out at that which causes you pain." The voice replied. "However, unlike Psycho Mantis, it seems you're not as much of a pushover."

"What exactly did you come here for? I doubt you came just to talk to me." Greg shouted back, even though he was actually feeling some fear because he was getting a strange feeling from these twelve figures even if they were projections as they claimed. "If you've come so you can use Mantis again, I'll…"

"You have no need of worrying about defending a corpse, like we have stated, we no longer need Mantis." The first speaker said

"Nor was coming into contact with you our original intention." Another added. "We have our own interests and objectives in this area. The only reason we took this little detour was out of curiosity."

"Curiosity? What do you mean?" Greg asked.

"Mainly in seeing that everything went according to plan, and you, your companions, and all of those you fought from Shade, to the Death Squad, to Yuina Hattori, and finally Mantis…all of you performed your assigned parts beautifully." One of the figures said in tone of voice that almost seemed congratulatory.

"So you mean all of this…Lilica's kidnapping, the death of Yuina's aunt prior to her capture, Seraph's meeting us, our help from Riku and the Shinsengumi, this whole series of battles, and Mantis' death…! Are you saying you people arranged all of it from the start?!?!" Greg shouted half in anger, half in shock as he could not believe all that he and so many had just experienced had been preset.

"In a way, yes." This time the one who had spoken second answered him. "The moment each player arrived, they automatically became inducted into their own specific roles whether they were aware of it or not…"

"Stop talking as if this were some kind of play!!" Greg shouted. "All throughout the course of this, people have died! Some of them weren't even involved in any of this! How could you justify something like that?!?"

"Hmph, a player should stick to his role." One of the figures spoke. "There is no need for you to ask a question with answers that you could not begin to comprehend."

"In any case, we have wasted enough time with you; we have more pressing business to attend to." The first spoke. "Soon the curtain will close on this minor stage…"

"Minor stage?" Greg asked. "What the hell do you mean by that?"

"These events are only small part of it all." The second said, whether if this was in answer to Greg's question or not was unknown. "The necessary steps that will lead to the rising of the curtain of the main stage…which will be Tokyo-3."

"If you manage to survive, that is, perhaps you will be there to witness the final performance." The first one said before all twelve figures shimmered and vanished, leaving Greg standing alone next to the dead body of Psycho Mantis.

Suddenly the area around him began to rock with the sounds of explosions going on close by. Greg immediately knew what was happening.

(They must be starting to destroy this place so there won't be any evidence left of it.) Greg thought and then quickly turned to where Mantis' body lay. Trying not to look at the gruesome way in which the psychic had died, Greg lifted the body and began to carry it towards the way to the exit by resting it on his back.(Mantis, even if I couldn't save you, I'll at least find a place where you can rest in peace…that, I can promise you!)

As Greg walked into the passage way, he heard the sound of smaller explosions nearby along with the sounds of shouts and running feet.

It was the sounds of the troops who had been stationed inside the base, all of them desperately trying to escape as the base was collapsing around them.

(It looks like they don't intend on letting even their own out alive and have me buried along with them as well.) Greg thought as he saw he saw the place crashing down around him. (I hope Rio, Riku, Nagi, Tot, and everyone else who helped me today and were rescued managed to get themselves as far from this deathtrap as soon as possible before this happened. That means that it will be alright for me to try my only option for a quick exit out of this place…)

Activating his Codec, Greg accessed his Sneaking Suits power module as the computer voice read the current information of nanomachines that he had stored now.

"You currently have…30 percent of power remaining in your suit." The module's voice replied. "Your body nanomachines current reading is over 40 percent remaining."

"Transfer all of the suit and body's nanomachines energy into my right arm. I will need sufficient energy to make a make shift tunnel out of here." Greg said to the module as a red warning signal flashed on the screen.

"Warning…confirmation of this command will greatly endanger the wearer's life readings." The module said. "Is this your final acceptance code?"

"Yes, I accept! Get it over and done with quickly!" Greg shouted, bracing himself for the excruciating pain to come as the nanos started to leak over various parts of his suit and lose power.

"Gaaaahhhhh!" Greg cried out, yet struggled to hold onto Mantis's body. Suddenly feeling all of his strength leave his body and through his right arm in pain, he then felt an uncontrollable surge of energy being formed in his right arm.

"I will…make it out of this place! I will make it through this and stay alive for my friend's and family's sake, both my old and new ones!" Greg muttered as he took out his grenade launcher from his inventory which was loaded with four grenades left and aimed it at the wall in front of him. "Isn't that what you told me to do, mother? Now, watch me, your son, keep his word to you!"

Shutting his eyes, Greg clenched his grip on the launcher as he pulled the trigger while the crumbling walls around him caved in on him and Mantis's corpse…

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"GREG!" Rio shouted outside of the crumbling building, just several meters alongside with the rest of the group who had all gotten out safely about thirteen minutes ago, when the first set of explosions started to go off and it was too dangerous for them to remain in the passageway where they had been waiting for Greg to finish speaking with Mantis. Fortunately, they had all managed to escape, with the exception of Greg, who had stayed behind.

For a moment most of the members were considering rushing back in to try to rescue Greg and Mantis but an explosion that blew through the passageway they had just come out of and causing it to collapse, brought an end to that idea.

"Greg…was he…?" Riku could only shake his head as he tried to deny the possibility that his friend had been caught inside the tunnel as it collapsed.

"No...This can't be happening..." Lilica fell on her knees and started to sob. "He promised he that would come back to us!"

"I'm not leaving this place until I see my Greg come out of there!" Rio stomped her feet in anger, and then made as if to run back towards the collapsed tunnel, but was stopped as Maya put her hand on her shoulder.

"Rio...just...just calm down, okay?" Maya sadly spoke; having to fight back her tears but no longer couldn't anymore. "I know that you don't want to hear this and neither do I, but it doesn't look like Greg was able to make it out in time."

Rio only stood where she was as Maya's words sunk in and then collapsed onto her knees and started to punch the ground in frustration as tears fell from her eyes. "Noooo...not my Greggie...not my son! He just can't! After all we went through together and today...?"

As Rio's head met the ground and she began to sob, Lilica walked over to Rio and then knelt down and hugged her friend in an attempt to console her.

"Riku, you don't think that…?" Tot began, and Riku shook his head.

"I don't know…" Riku answered his head lowering for a moment but then it went back up as his expression became a determined one. "I don't know, but I'm not going to let it end like this." Riku then turned to Nagi. "We should return to the mansion as soon as we can and then get Alice and come back here. She should be able to locate Greg and we can dig him out if we have to."

"Yeah, that's probably our only option at the moment." Nagi said in agreement, and then turned to Tot. "Nanami…"

"Okay, I'll tell Rio-san, Maya-san, and Lilica-san so we can get going so we can get some help." Tot nodded and went over to where Rio, Lilica, and Maya were.

"I'll go and tell Pei-san and the others, then." Riku said and turned to where Pei, Dee, and Kanashii were. They were standing near Seraph, who was supporting a still unconscious Yuina Hattori.

(Man, this mission has…) Riku sighed to himself, but Tot's voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Nagi-kun! Riku! Everyone! Look!" Tot shouted, causing the group's attention to turn in the direction Tot was pointing in.

"Is that…?" Nagi began as he and the others saw the rubble that had blocked the passage during the cave in give away before suddenly being pushed out from the tunnel by a bright blast of light. After a few moments, a figure then came out of it.

Rio looked up and through watery eyes, she gasped in shock. A small smile crept up on her face.

She and everyone else could see a person, who looked like he was using a long pole to keep himself standing, but even then he seemed to be dragging his footsteps, the reason being that he was carrying something with him over his shoulder. The person who had emerged from the collapsed tunnel was heavily covered in blood, a great deal of it on his left arm, and his face covered in dirt that had been caked up in blood from his wounds. The clothing that he was wearing was tattered, and he revealed a multitude of wounds on his body, many of which he had received in battle.

"GREG!" Rio leaped up and ran over Greg, who obviously had enough battles for one day. As if in a daze, he groggily looked up at the group of people running towards him and he smiled a bit to himself, but the fatigue caught up. He couldn't carry Mantis's corpse anymore, nor could he walk any further. He carefully laid the body on the ground before he made a couple more steps towards his friends.

As he did so, Greg tripped and began to fall forward. As this was happening, the nano arm now rendered useless as a result of the intense battle and getting through the collapsed tunnel, simply crumbled off the joint where it was attached to the natural joint of Greg's real arm and it fell to the ground. Greg felt the fingers of his other arm let go of the lance as he was falling, but before he could hit the ground he felt himself land into the arms of a crying Rio.

"Greg!" Rio exclaimed, her tears falling on his face as she laid him down on her lap. "Greggie...are you okay?"

The injured psychic opened his left eye to look at Rio's face. Despite the pain and weariness that he felt, Greg managed to say something to her, but his tone of voice was weak.

"Hi, Mom." Greg said. "I did it...didn't I? I beat Mantis...I tried to...save him...but the Patriots...they..." Greg paused as he didn't want to remember Mantis' death right then before continuing. "After that…there were explosions and the place started to collapse around me…I tried to follow, but the tunnel caved in and…"

"It's alright, man, you made it out and that's all that matters." Riku said to Greg in a reassuring manner, glad to see his friend still alive. "But your arm…what happened to it?"

"The nanomachines..." Greg stuttered as he chuckled deliriously. "I must have used them all up to protect...Mantis, and get ourselves...out of there..."

"Oh, Greg..." Rio cried, while holding onto her son. "Hang on! We're going to a place where we'll take good care of you! You just have to hang in there!"

"M...mom...it hurts. It hurts so much…" Greg muttered, as Rio held his face. "Please…do this one favor for me…before…"

"Don't you even dare say what I think you're about to say! You're going to get through this! I won't forgive you if you die before I do!" Rio shouted at him, and then paused to calm down before hesitantly continuing. "What is it that you want?"

"Mantis..." Greg turned his head and looked at Mantis' corpse. "I...want...to you to get him...a good...resting place...so no one can ever disturb him again. Never..."

"I promise you, Greg. He'll get a good burial, you can be sure of that." Rio stated. "Now, stay with me…you're going to be fixed up real good."

"That's good to hear...I'd liked that…to stay with you and everyone else from Warrior as a real family from now on." Greg flinched a bit. "Dammit...all the strength's gone out of me...I've never been this tired before…why does my body feel like this?"

"Don't speak, Greg. Try to save your strength." Riku said to him as Greg grimaced. The ninja then took out a case if what appeared to be a kind of lotion. "Okay, I'm going to apply some of this to his injuries so he doesn't lose anymore blood as this lotion will help it clot, after that…"

Riku's voice came too late as suddenly, the few remaining pieces of the nano arm still stuck to Greg's arm crumbled off and blood immediately began to rush out from the joint.

"Oh no…" Riku gritted his teeth at the sight while Tot looked away from it.

"No, don't give up yet." Rio shook her head as she took off his cloak and started to wrap it around the bleeding area where his artificial arm used to be. "If we can stop his arm from bleeding, he just might survive!"

"Wait Rio, before you do that." Riku then took out a vial and poured all of its contents out all over the cloak. "Now wrap it around the wound; this stuff will help slow the bleeding down." He then turned to Maya. "Maya, you, Lilica, and Pei-san hold Greg down as that stuff is going to sting him for a bit." He then handed the jar to Dee. "Dee-san, when he calms down a bit, start applying this to Greg's wounds, but start with the major ones first since I don't think I have enough of it in that jar."

Riku then took out some bandages.

"I'll put these around that cloak just in case, now let's do this." He said firmly.

Almost as soon as the cloak was applied, Greg started screaming in pain and began to thrash around, but Maya, Lilica, and Pei were able to hold him down as the cloak was firmly wrapped around the wound to his arm. Riku then proceeded to tie the bandages around the cloak, while Dee began applying the lotion to Greg's other wounds.

Gradually, Greg's struggling ceased as he calmed down. Then his head tilted over towards Rio as he collapsed into unconsciousness. Rio panicked as she began to shake him. "Hey! Greg! GREG!"

"CALM DOWN!" Dee shouted, causing Rio to stop. "If you do that, his wounds could get worse."

"Oh…" Rio's eyes widened as she realized this. "I…I'm sorry, I…"

"Rio, no one's blaming you, anyone would get hysterical like that in this situation." Maya said.

"So, is he going to be alright?" Nagi asked.

"As long as we get him some serious medical attention, he should be." Riku answered. He then turned to Rio who nodded and she proceeded to get on the Codec, connecting with Yuji.

"Rio, what is it?" Yuji Naruo asked. "Did you guys managed to escape in time?"

"Yeah, everyone was able to get out in time and we're out of danger for now, but we need you to come and get us out of here and take us to the Uruha mansion ASAP!" Rio demanded. "Greg's in need of medical attention, so please hurry!"

"Okay, Rio, just activate your Warrior locator and I'll be able to find you guys." He replied seriously. "Want me to get Maki and Nanvel?"

"No, just tell them to meet us there as well and have them bring Nastasha as well." Rio replied.

"Roger, I'll have one of the people from the Uruha mansion contact Kurei to go pick them up and bring them over. You guys just hang in there, I'll be there shortly." Yuji replied before he logged out

Rio picked up Greg with Lilica's help and had some of the Shinsengumi pick up Mantis's corpse.

(Hang on, Greg!) Rio thought to herself. (Don't you dare die on me now! You still have so many things to do and live for! Don't give up so easily!)

"We need to get these stupid things off of him so it will be easier to move him around." Rio said as she began to press on the buttons for the locks on the Nan-Bracers that Greg was still wearing on his left arm and his feet. Since the nano machines that had made up his nanoarm had already dissolved into the ground they were on, the remains of his right arm was free of the restraints, but after Rio was able to get the bracers off his hand, a ghastly sight greeted her and those standing next to her observing this.

"What in the hell…?" Maya muttered in shock as Lilica gasped, almost on the verge of tears. The inside of the gauntlets were smeared in blood that was caused by the multiple lacerations, rashes, and calluses that were almost covering the entirety of his left hand and legs.

"No way…did Greg fight using those things from the beginning, knowing all along that he was in pain?" Nagi said as Tot covered her mouth.

Riku took a look at the wounds and cursed himself for not being better prepared as he no longer had any medicines that could deal with these wounds.

Turning to the side, Rio gritted her teeth as she was getting impatient after seeing the wounds on Greg's limbs now.

"Dammit! How much longer do we have to stay around till Yuji gets here?" Rio exclaimed, still holding unto an unconscious Greg. Lilica was beside him as well, helping Rio keeping him in place.

"Just hang on, Greg!" Lilica exclaimed to Greg, who was still unconscious from his loss of strength. His eyes were closed, as if he had gone into a deep sleep.

"Come on, Greg...don't die on us..." Maya held the only hand he had remaining, which was his natural left hand and held onto it despite the wounds on it. "He's been through too much...haven't the Patriots done enough damage already?"

Just from above several meters away, Nagi Naoe suddenly saw an approaching emergency helicopter, large enough to carry supplies and a large number of people along with it.

"That must be Yuji..." Nagi spoke to himself. "I guess we don't really need a signal to let him know that we're waiting here."

"It looks like this is where you were." A man's voice spoke, causing everyone to turn to see four men, who Riku, Nagi, and Tot recognized instantly.

"Sensei, Aniki, Raiha, Joker!" Riku called out to them as he, Nagi, and Tot walked over to them. All three were glad to see them.

"I had a feeling back up would be sent, but I wasn't expecting you guys." Riku was smiling in relief.

"Well, both Dad, Uncle Recca, and the others had a feeling that things were going to be hectic here so we made sure to send the best we could." Kenshin replied to his cousin. "We were riding with Yuji-san and got off a little earlier in order to find you all just in case you wouldn't be able to signal him."

"And so here you guys are." Tot finished. "It's a real relief to see you guys, you know."

"So how are things at the mansion?" Riku asked.

"They're waiting for your arrival plus Oboro-dono, Yanagi-dono, and Serina-dono are prepared to deal with any injuries you all may have suffered during the course of this." Gennosuke then looked over and noticed Greg and the condition he was in. "And it looks like we were correct to do so."

"Man does he look bad…" Joker commented as he saw Greg's condition.

"Well, let's get Greg onto a stretcher and get going." Lilica said.

"We can't go just yet." Raiha spoke and turned to look in the direction of Yuji's chopper. "I don't know if your friend noticed but there were several enemy troops below us who were observing that chopper while we were headed here."

"Why did they just let you guys in?" Rio asked.

"Probably because they knew that this was to rescue all of you and so they figured it would be easier just to wait until we tried to leave and then shoot us down." Kenshin answered. "That way, if you did survive your ordeal, they'd have an easier time finishing you off."

"So what do we do?" Maya asked. "We can't fight our way through with Greg like this."

"That is where we come in." Gennosuke said. "The four of us will go ahead of you and eliminate every squad that is waiting for you. As soon as we have given you the go ahead, take off and head for the mansion."

"But…" Maya said.

"You needn't worry about these four; I can tell they're exceptionally strong." Pei spoke and looked at Riku and co. "Isn't that right?"

"That's true, especially since…" Nagi began.

"Look out, Nagi-kun!" Tot exclaimed, as she pushed him aside and took out her Muramasa to deflect a bullet that came at them from behind. Nagi stood up and to everyone's shock, another group of the Death Squad troops was escaping from the rubble of the falling underground base and heading towards the group.

"Riku, it looks like there are more of them!" Nagi shouted to his partner.

Riku looked over his shoulder and the group of Death Squad members coming at them from behind.

"Shit, not these guys again at a time like this!" Rio exclaimed, holding onto Greg's body still. "Don't they ever give up?"

"I don't believe this…Just how many of these guys did Reese send?" He suddenly got an idea and turned to Rio. "Rio, I'm going to try something to get these guys off our backs so we can get everyone of you guys to safety."

"What exactly are you planning?" Rio asked suspiciously Gennosuke spoke to him.

"You're going to use 'that' dragon aren't you, Riku?" He asked seriously as Riku nodded. "Are you sure that you can?"

"Don't worry, what I'm about to do won't be too dangerous for me, Gennosuke-sensei." Riku assured him. "You guys just concentrate on clearing the way for us."

"Alright, if you are certain that you will be fine." Gennosuke nodded as he trusted his student's judgment and then turned to Kenshin, Raiha, and Joker. "Alright, let's get going."

"See you all at the mansion." Joker grinned confidently as he and his three companions suddenly seemed to vanish into thin air.

Riku then turned to face the group as only Nagi and Tot knew what he was about to do.

"Everyone I'm going to use an ability of mine to cover you while you get to Yuji's chopper." Riku explained and then his expression grew very serious. "Now no matter what happens do not, I repeat DO NOT to look back in this direction once I get him to attack. I can control him to an extent, but with the amount of people I'm giving him to take out; he might go into a bit of a frenzy."

Riku then turned and headed in the direction of the incoming Death Squad troops.

"Hey, wait a minute, what exactly are you...?" Rio called after him but was interrupted as Riku lit a flame on the tip of his index finger and drew a kanji symbol in the air, this one different from the previous one.

"Setsuna!" He shouted, calling out the dragon's name. As soon as he called, a long and serpent like creature made entirely of fire immediately emerged from Riku's body and charged towards the enemy. Its head ended in a reptilian looking head, except there were no signs of eyes on it.

The dragon, instead of charging into the soldiers, reared up and looked down at them. As it did, a single large eye in a vertical position began to open in the middle of its head. When it had opened, that eye stared straight into the eyes of the troops below it.

"SHUUNEN!" A loud and ominous voice spoke, coming from the dragon.

The soldiers unfortunate enough to look into that eye suddenly all burst into flame.

Rio, having taken heed of Riku's warning had not seen what had transpired and neither had the others, though they could hear the dying screams of the soldiers as they burst into flames, and started to shout to the others. "Everyone! Follow in my direction and just don't look back! We've got to get Greg, Yuina, and Seraph to safety until Yuji gets here!"

Without hesitation, the group wasted no time in escaping from the emerging group of troops, many of which, upon emerging from the tunnel looked up to see the dragon and its eye and were instantly incinerated. Those that did not look and as a result weren't burned were met with sharp kunai thrown by Riku that pierced through their helmets. After Riku saw that no more soldiers were coming out of the tunnel, he then proceeded to make a gesture causing the dragon to snarl at him, but it then proceeded to vanish, returning to the area Riku had called it out from. Satisfied, he then made to join the others under a tree where Rio was tending to some of Greg's wounds.

(It looks I was able to control Setsuna this time, so it looks like my training has been paying off.) Riku thought to himself and then suddenly sensed movement in the distance behind him and then proceeded to whirl around, sending a throwing star shuriken in the direction of the movement he had sensed.

Riku looked just in time to see a cypher explode as the shuriken hit it.

(A cypher, huh?) He thought. (Well there's no time to have a look and see who may have sent it, I'm just glad it isn't watching anymore…)

"What was that?" Dee Starling asked Riku as he rejoined the group as she could not believe what she and her partners from the female Shinsengumi group had just seen.

"One of my trump cards, or perhaps I should call it one of my 'last resorts'..." Riku answered, panting to catch his breath as he had used up quite a bit of chakra for that. "I figured that that would be the best way to buy you guys some time...And to better answer your question that was Setsuna, one of the eight dragons that reside within me and my father. This one has no sense of sight whatsoever with the exception of that one eye and anyone who looks into it, enemy or ally…well, it's kind of obvious. That's why I warned you all to look the other way, it was to make sure that eye didn't look in your direction or else Setsuna would have gladly burnt you guys up along with those soldiers. Unlike the other dragons, that one enjoys killing more than anything."

"And you said that what you had planned wasn't too dangerous..." Rio shook her head, as she watched Yuji's helicopter get closer to the ground. "...but thanks anyway for it since none of us can really keep our asses covered after spending out our strength like today. Let's just hope that's the last we ever see of those persistent troops."

Just then, they overheard a noise of an approaching chopper as Lilica looked up to see Yuji's copter coming closer to where they are.

Yuji's helicopter proceeded to land several kilometers from the outskirts of the city of old Tokyo. He was shocked to see where the group was waiting for him; it was near the offshore areas around the sunken bays just off the city. He could see a long rising, trail of smoke and ash, which clearly indicated where Rio and company should be.

After he made his landing, he stepped out and saw everyone with tired and sad looks on their faces. But he seemed to lighten up when he saw Lilica Ebett with them.

"Lilica!" Yuji shouted, running to her and the group. He hugged the young girl in a way that a desperate and worried relative would in this situation. "It's good to see that you're alright!"

"Glad to be, Yuji." Lilica smiled at Yuji. "But we can't hang around here too much...Greg's seriously hurt!

He then looked around and met Rio Kinezono and Maya Jingu. Rio was holding onto an unconscious Greg, his body wearing many scars and wounds from the battles that he had endured while he and the group had been trying to rescue Lilica and Yuina.

"Jesus Christ! What happened to him, Rio?" Yuji exclaimed in shock when he saw Greg. "Rio, is he going to be okay?"

"Just barely..." She muttered sadly. "His breathing is weak, and he's losing a lot of blood... he really gave it his all today. He even said that he used up all of his nanomachines to help us as well as to protect Mantis and escape with him..."

"But, how has he managed to survive till now without them?" Maya asked frantically.

"How should I know...I've never seen Greg push his body before like he did today..." Rio spoke. "In any case, only Nanvel and Riku's family can help him now."

"What about Naomi? She has to know what happened to Greg or she will sooner or later. " Maya asked.

"She's going to have a headache when she hears about this..." Rio said. "It's best she doesn't know about it until things cool down and Greg recovers."

"Alright, whatever you say, Rio." Maya said. "Anyway, we can't stick around much longer before more of those guys show up. We'd better get going to the Uruha mansion and get Greg patched up."

"We can't forget Mantis's corpse too." Lilica said. "Greg said we have to get it to a place where he can rest in peace and that no one can ever come to desecrate his grave."

"I can help you guys with that." Riku stepped forward. "I'll discuss it when we get to the mansion, but for now, we should all be out of here before more of the Patriots goons come after us as Maya said."

"I agree." Yuji said, opening the large door of the helicopter. "There should be enough room for everyone. Get in and prepare for takeoff."

"Wait, we still need to wait until Gennosuke-sensei and the others…" Riku was interrupted by a series of incoming codec transmissions.

"This is Kenshin; I've cleared things on my end." Kenshin reported.

"Raiha reporting, I've eliminated all enemies within my vicinity." Raiha said.

"Joker here, all clear." Joker called in.

"This is Gennosuke, I've taken care of the enemy over here and I've received a notice from Kenshin, Raiha, and Joker." Gennosuke reported. "Everything is clear for you and your team to depart, Riku."

"Should we pick you guys up on the way, Sensei?" Riku asked.

"Don't worry about us; we have our own way out on the way to pick us up as we speak." Gennosuke answered.

"Maybe you'll get lucky and pass each other by, Riku." Kenshin mentioned with a knowing smile.

"Who is it?" Riku asked.

"Now, now, we can't just spoil the surprise." Joker replied. "Anyway, just concentrate on getting to the mansion."

"Of course." Riku then ended the transmission and turned to Rio. "They said the coast is clear, so we can go."

"Well, you heard him, Yuji." Rio said. "Let's get going."

"You don't have to tell me twice." Yuji said as he started the chopper to lift up off the ground and within a minute it was airborne and heading in the direction of the Uruha Mansion.

After some time in the air, everyone began to relax as they now fully realized that they had managed to make it out of the base alive. Rio, Maya, and Lilica however were all at Greg's side with Rio still holding onto Greg's left hand.

"Just hang in there, Greg, soon we'll get you to someplace where you can recover and then everything will be alright." Rio said in an assuring tone to an unconscious Greg, but there was also a hint of desperation in her voice as she was still worried about her foster son's condition.

Riku, Nagi, and Tot looked over at the three of them. Riku looked like he wanted to say something, but he then stopped, having decided not to.

"Well, it looks like we managed to get out of this." Riku then turned to look at his two partners. "How are you two holding up?"

"To be honest, thanks to that one technique Greg used earlier with his nanomachines, we're not really that hurt anymore." Nagi said with a sigh of relief. "Just a bit weary, to tell you the truth."

"I know what you mean; I'm definitely going to rest up once I get the chance." Riku said in agreement.

"I see your point too." Tot agreed. "A nice shower and a rest in a soft and comfy bed will make things feel all better."

"And I bet Nagi will be joining you for both of those." Riku commented with a smile.

WHAM!

Riku was now rubbing his head from the joined impact of Tot's harisen and Nagi's fist to his head.

"I was just kidding…" Riku said.

"You may be right about the second thing, but no more ecchi comments about Nagi-kun and me!" Tot said firmly as she pointed her harisen at Riku.

"Nanami…" Nagi blushed furiously at Tot's innocent admittance.

"Did I say something wrong, Nagi-kun?" Tot blinked in confusion as she paused to ponder what she could have said that was wrong.

"Nanami, it's just that if you say something out of context like that…" Nagi wasn't entirely sure how to explain this.

Meanwhile, Pei, Dee, and Kanashii, who had been watching the three partners talk, couldn't help but laugh at their antics.

"You three certainly are an interesting team." Pei commented to Riku, Nagi, and Tot with an amused smile.

"Especially since you get along so well too." Kanashii added.

Their recent conversation now forgotten, the three then began talking with the Shinsengumi.

"Well, it looks like you three are doing fine." Riku commented.

"Yeah, though it's been one hell of a mission if you ask me." Dee commented and glanced over at where Greg was. "So, you think your friend will make it?"

"Of course he will, Oboro-san, Serina-san, and Riku's mom will have Greg-san feeling better in no time." Tot said confidently.

"Those are the best healers in our clan, just to let you know." Nagi explained. "Plus we have an accomplished medical sect, so whatever wounds you have will be attended to as well."

"That certainly is a relief to hear." Seraph spoke from behind the Shinsengumi; she was sitting next to Yuina, who was lying back in a stretcher. "Yuina will definitely need to be looked over just in case." Then Seraph's eyes seemed to lower in what seemed to be a sorrowed expression. "Though I fear she will have more trouble recovering from the wounds from within, than those that are from without."

For a moment the Shinsengumi and Riku and co. said nothing as they realized how true Seraph's words were. Before anyone, could break it, however, it was broken by a sharp buzzing sound coming from the controls of the chopper, which Yuji was manning.

"Uh oh." Yuji said as he realized what was happening.

"What do you mean by 'uh oh'?" Rio asked. "What's wrong?"

"The sensors just picked up something, those two things over there." Yuji pointed through the window to show two army jeeps, each one with an antiaircraft gun mounted at the back, stopped and waiting for them up ahead. Apparently, these had escaped the attack by Gennosuke, Kenshin, Raiha, and Joker.

"Do you think you can evade them?" Rio asked.

"I'll try." Yuji answered as he prepared to take evasive maneuvers.

However, that proved to not be necessary as suddenly something came crashing down onto one of the jeeps from the front, cleaving it in two before it exploded. As the explosion occurred, an outline of something large seemed to move before suddenly vanishing.

"Ah, now I see…" Riku started chuckling to himself as he realized what Kenshin had meant during their conversation. He then turned to Nagi and Tot. "Hey you guys, take a look and see who it is."

As Nagi and Tot walked over to look get a look out through the side door, there was the sound of movement as the group's large and invisible new ally chased after the second jeep. The movement then stopped as the jeep began to pull out and try to get away. Just then came the roaring sound of what seemed to be a large machine gun going off as something began firing on the escaping jeep, which then proceeded to explode and burst into flames.

"Man, talk about firepower!" Maya exclaimed in admiration. "Who was that?"

"A friend, and apparently also Kenshin and the other's ride back." Nagi then pointed a little farther away to indicate a truck pulled over on the side of a road, which was leading to Old Tokyo. He then looked over at Riku and Tot with a smile. "It's kind of obvious as to who it is that's driving, isn't it?"

"It sure is." Riku couldn't help but smile. "It's good to know that at least two of our nakama were able to come and help us."

"Yeah it sure is." Tot's expression was a happy one as she then proceeded to open the side door of the chopper slightly and then called out. "Yu Lan-chan, thank you!! And tell Yu Fan-chan thanks for us too!"

Tot then proceeded to close the door while everyone aside from Nagi and Riku stared at her.

"Do you think she actually heard you?" Riku asked.

"Maybe." Tot answered cheerfully. "And if she didn't I'll tell her in person once we're at the Uruha Mansion, Yu Fan-chan too."

"In that case why did you even bother doing that?" Riku asked.

"Well, I just wanted to say thank you to Yu Lan-chan and Yu Fan-chan for helping us." Tot replied. "They are our nakama after all, that and we haven't seen them for a while too. Wouldn't you do the same, Riku?"

"You've got a point, but I wouldn't do it that way." Riku conceded and then smiled as he continued. "If anything, I'd have just tossed a few firecrackers out the side door over there to write 'Thank you, Yu Lan and Yu Fan' in the sky. That way they definitely won't miss it."

Everyone either fell over or almost fell over (Yuji being one of them since he was the pilot) at Riku's answer.

"I think I much prefer Tot's way of saying thank you." Nagi commented.

Many of the others nodded or voiced their agreement.

"Well, I guess that idea wouldn't have worked out anyway." Riku admitted.

"Well, of course it wouldn't Riku; you might end up blowing up the chopper if you did that." Lilica remarked.

"No, actually I'm pretty sure that I could avoid that." Riku replied, causing everyone to sweat drop and feel a little nervous at what he just said. "The real problem would be the propellers; they'd probably cause the fireworks to move off position just before they go off. I'd probably end up writing something entirely different in the sky." Riku then gave a light laugh. "It might end up becoming either something insulting or even quite embarrassing instead." Riku then stopped to consider something. "But then again, if I studied how the propellers would move the fireworks then maybe I could predict their position and then…"

"Would you just let it lie, Riku?" Nagi asked in exasperation.

As Riku, Nagi, and Tot began talking more on the bizarre subject in front of everyone, almost as if they weren't there, Rio smiled as she realized what they were trying to do.

(Those three…they're trying to cheer everyone up and at the same time hide how worried they are about Greg.) She thought to herself. (I just hope everything turns out alright when we get there…)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

At the Uruha mansion later that evening, Yuji landed the helicopter in front of the large building. Outside, Riku's mother, Yanagi Sakoshita Hanabishi stood next to her husband, Recca Hanabishi, who was also Riku's father. After the helicopter made its landing, the door was flung open and Rio frantically came out, carrying an unconscious and bloodied Greg in her arms. Following her, Riku leapt out afterwards to meet his parents.

"Good Lord!" Yanagi cried out after seeing the injuries on Greg. "What happened to your friend, Riku?"

"There's no time to explain!" Rio exclaimed, her voice having an urgent tone to it. "He's badly hurt, Yanagi...can you help him until Nanvel arrives?"

"I...I don't think I have ever healed anyone with this extent of injuries before..." Yanagi confessed, seeing the condition Greg was in. But after looking into Rio's crying eyes, she nodded her head as she understood what Rio was feeling, being a mother herself. "I'll see what I can do. And don't worry it won't be just me, two of our best healers Oboro-san and Serina-san are prepared to help."

"Thank you. You don't know how much this means to me..." Rio managed to smile, but got back into a serious look and continued to hold onto Greg as she carried him inside along with Yanagi.

Recca then came to embrace Riku and looked at the other people in the helicopter.

"Alright, Riku...we need to know exactly what happened today." Recca said in a stern and serious tone of voice. "I can tell already from the look of you, Nagi, and Tot that what you guys went through and saw is something very serious and not to mention important."

Riku paused to catch his breath, before Lilica, Maya, Nagi, and Tot appeared with Yuji in tow. The young ninja then started to speak.

"You're right about that Dad...and boy do we have a story to tell you and everyone else..." Riku said, wiping his brow. "But first, we need to see about the other 'important guests' we have to take special care of..."

Recca was then able to see a sobbing Yuina stepping out from the chopper, being supported by Seraph, while the corpse of Psycho Mantis had been carefully laid into an open body bag in stretcher that was on the floor of the helicopter. Pei and Kanashii of the Shinsengumi picked the stretcher carrying the body up and carried it over, Dee following in tow. Recca swore he could have gotten a heart attack right then and there at the sight of the body, especially given the obvious evidence as to how Mantis had died. However, knowing that it was more important to help the new arrivals and quickly composed himself and looked at the group.

"Alright everyone, let's get inside so you all can rest and in the meantime, we'll gather everyone who's here right now, while Yanagi tries her best to save Greg..." Recca said and then turned to look at the members of WARRIOR who were there, Maya, Lilica, and Yuji. "Don't worry, we'll get this man here ready for burial, and we'll have your chopper moved into a mini hangar we have where we usually have a small plane in. When that plane's pilot and her crew get here, I'll have her take care of your chopper."

"Oh, does that mean Albert-san is finished with that story he was investigating?" Riku asked.

"Yeah, he said he was on the verge of wrapping it up so he, Sheryl, and Sylvia can come back." Recca answered.

"That should make Tina-san happy, I'm sure." Riku grinned. "And I'm sure Sylvia won't mind having a look at that helicopter either." He then turned to face everyone else. "Well then, you heard the man, let's go in now."

As the group entered, two of the maids came and took Mantis' body from Pei and Kanashii. Meanwhile, Riku, Nagi, and Tot were talking a little with Recca while the rest of the group walked a little further into the lobby. Riku then nodded at Recca and called out to the rest of the group.

"I'm sorry; everyone, but Nagi, Tot, and I will have to leave you guys for a little bit." Riku said. "We need to go and meet with my uncle and everyone else here and tell them what's happened today. We'll see you after that."

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Lilica asked.

"Yeah, it'll be more than welcome, but don't worry; you don't have to do that right away." Recca answered. "I think right now you guys should get some rest and after that check on Greg's condition. We're not really in any hurry since we need to wait for Kenshin and the others to come back. When they do, we'll send someone to come and get you."

With that Riku, Nagi, and Tot followed Recca out of the lobby, leaving the rest of the group there. Rio kept cursing herself silently as Lilica, Yuji and Maya looked on with sad looks on their faces.

"Greggie…" Rio muttered sadly as she kept crying, holding onto his Ascension as Lilica held her close, assuring her that Greg will be alright thanks to the medical team that started to work on his injuries.

Meanwhile, Riku and his partners were having some thoughts over what had happened during the course of the day.

"Man, what a day this has been." Riku said as he rubbed his head.

"Yeah, a lot of things, both good and bad, had happened." Nagi said sullenly to Riku's comment. "Do you think…that this is what Reese was trying to gain all along?"

"Not one of us can be too sure, but he probably wanted Greg out of the way for some obvious reason and his wish came true, unfortunately." Riku said. "By taking out FOXHOUND's strongest psychic and causing this chaos for the group, he will be able to move more freely in his dealings from now on."

"I guess we will all soon be getting more problems ahead because of what happened." Tot said. "We should be able to deal with them eventually, right, leader?"

"I'm hoping you're right about that, Tot." Riku said seriously, worried about how the future will be affected from now on after what Reese and the Patriots had just done. For now, they would have to deal with each new problem as it came with the best of their abilities and make sure Greg recovers from the ordeals of the day.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Guuhhh…" Greg's voice moaned as if he was in agony, but suddenly realized that he was no longer where he originally was near his mother. Looking around, he can see that he was back in his mindscape once more, this time without a right hand as it was completely gone now.

"Of all the times to come here…I guess I passed my limit." Greg held his head as he suddenly remembered seeing Mantis dying in front of him. "And in the end…I still couldn't help Mantis…I let him die…"

"That's right! And it's indeed your fault that it happened!" Violent Greg's voice shouted from behind as Greg turned to see his counterpart, glaring at him. "You're the most pitiful excuse for a human if there ever was one. I don't understand why anyone of your friends would go through such lengths of keeping your sorry self around much longer! Your very existence infuriates me!"

Greg then remembered how he had heard Riku's voice speaking to Rio and the others while he was losing consciousness while Riku administered the medical attention he could until he was to be transported to the mansion.

"That's right…Riku tried what he could to keep things from getting worse and even said that his clan would help me get better…" Greg muttered as he stood up. "I don't know why you're so upset with me, what have I ever done to you?"

"You don't recall? You pulled that trick and managed to gain full control of your powers through me before. Did you ever wonder and consider at the possibility that it was from me that you were borrowing your strength from when you thought you could have saved Mantis?" Violent Greg asked. "I didn't even give you any permission to do anything like that and that made me very angry."

"That's because this is my mind and body and you have no right to do as you please with it!" Greg shouted back at him as he raised his left arm as he tried to attack his counter part with his powers, but nothing registered.

"Oh, no, you don't!" Violent Greg put up his arms in front of his face. "Since you used up every last one of your nanomachines, it was easier for me to shut your mind away from the outside world when you lost consciousness and as a side bonus, you won't be able to use your powers in here."

"What?" Greg exclaimed as Violent Greg smirked at him. "How could you do that…?"

"That's right; I've disabled your abilities ever since you collapsed after that fight, thus making you my bitch. I can't tolerate you pulling off all of that flashy stuff while you're in here." Violent Greg said to him. "We're going to be doing this the old-school way, the classic beat-down, fisticuffs style, or whatever you want to define it as."

"After all that talk from before, is THIS how you really want to settle things?" Greg asked him. "Or could the truth of the matter be that since my body is so messed up that I'm unable to move right now, you're probably in the same state that I'm in too?"

"Ha, don't compare me to you. There's no way in hell that I'd ever allow myself to be as weak as you are right now. Besides, this is how everything started and how it will end, Greg. You should have seen this coming." Violent Greg warned him.

Gritting his teeth, Greg firmly raised his left arm and clenched it as he assumed a fighting position and stared at his counterpart firmly.

"Fine then, if that's the way you want to do things, then let's get it over with. It's the only way I can get over and done with your existence so that I can go on and live my life without you tormenting me." Greg said, raising his left arm as Violent Greg grinned at his counterpart.

"Ha, this should be good. I'll make sure to enjoy this moment." Violent Greg spat at the ground near his feet and raised his fists as he faced off at Greg while the storm clouds of the barren field in his mindscape began to darken around them….

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Shardclaw: Okay, that was it, people. Finally the Mantis arc has come to an epic close with an unexpected cliffhanger and I'm sure I pleased a lot of you with all the extra additions that I've managed to throw into this chapter to conclude the Mantis arc. I hope that Arc recap was helpful and well done for the readers to enjoy as well.

Also, I'd like to send a very big thank you to DarkFusion for his contribution to the additions and editing of this monster chapter which has exceeded over 100 pages to make it possible, my first ever chapter in my fiction history to have so many things happening in one chapter alone. I hope everyone had the time to read and enjoy this one.

Anyway, now with the Mantis arc out of the way, the real story kicks off from the next set of SX revised chapters. And what better way to give the fans a preview of what they can be expecting than by having a Tales of skit version of the chapter omake starring me and the main character of the story, my very own, the revamped Gregory Kinezono!

Greg: Uh…I don't know what to really say to the people out there…I did hope everyone enjoyed my performance throughout this revised arc of this story. I must thank all of you for the support and kind words you've given my boss, Shardclaw-san, and me so far...

Shardclaw: What are you talking about, Greg? Everyone must have loved you more than ever since your revamp and the revision for this story kicked off. Sure, it took longer than planned just to get this famous arc over and done with, but at least you can take a break out of the spotlight for now.

Greg: Well, things would be running smoothly as they used to if you hadn't had so much stuff on the side. I mean, with your current job and all those anime plus manga you've yet to read as some of them are to be included into this story in the future, not to mention your un-kept gaming schedule…

Shardclaw: That's true, my otaku schedules a bit of a mess still, but I can handle it… eventually. Besides, you seem to be forgetting one more important thing, my humble tragic psychic guardian.

Greg: And what is that, boss?

Shardclaw: Even though the shipping of anime and game girls for the updates for both COE and SX have been put on hold until this revision job is over, I've still got to deal with the current harem that I've built up over the years, not to mention the recent holiday and birthday exclusive shipments of Bishoujo girls that the great Dark-san have sent, who helped me through all of this since it started.

Greg: And just how important is that anyway? You can never grow tired of that sort of thing, can't you?

Shardclaw: Hey, it's a privilege for one such as me who killed off the greatest wanker man of all time, Gendou Ikari in COE (and I so look forward to doing it again in the revision) and went through a lot putting chapters like this together.

Greg: Well, everyone including the girls definitely do seem to hate his guts, but will there be anyone like that for this story for myself or any of the other anime, game, and original characters to beat up on?

Shardclaw: Well, I wished you'd gotten to give your own punishment to the likes of Kagami Mikage and Kakuzawa, but it's not going to be possible because they will most likely be killed off in Dark-san's fic later on, which, time wise, happens long before this story takes place. In fact Kagami bit the dust a while ago in that particular fic so there's only one more to go. But I'm sure that once things get rolling again you and other characters will have your chance one day.

Greg: You got a point there, but I guess it never hurts to ask.

Just then, several female voices screamed out loud from off stage as three of the Hanaukyo Mai Team girls enter looking panicked.

Shardclaw: What just happened?

Maid 1: Shardclaw-sama, two really creepy looking men are heading this way to see you, claiming that they are…

Just on cue, Kagami and Kakuzawa enter onstage with big, stupid grins on their faces.

Greg: How dare both of you guys show your ugly mugs in the presence of the great Shardclaw and me? Do you two want to die that badly again?

Kagami: Hmph, you may be a revamped version of an original character, but that's all you'll ever be. There's nothing the likes of you can do to people like us, no matter how powerful or popular you'll become.

Shardclaw: Why are you two here, much less appearing this so early? I didn't plan to have you guys appear until much later in the story in a vision during a revised chapter.

Kakuzawa: We've come to take back our rights as men who will do as we please with the females, since we're in a different story that dastardly Dark can't get us, and you can't stop us either, no matter how many changes you make to this story. Once we get you out of the way, we will take your harem and maid army and use them in our experiments…

Greg: Like what you did in the Elfen Lied manga to people like poor Nana-san? We won't allow it! Boss, let me…!

Shardclaw: No, you've fought long enough, you're taking a vacation after all…I've got something even better for times like these.

Kagami: Oh, and what will that be…?

With a grin, I simply snapped my fingers as a bullet goes flying from nowhere and hits Kagami in the nads, causing him to groan in pain and hold his groin. To the wanker men's surprise, a tall woman with blond hair wearing a black battle dress and holding twin pistols leaped down in front of me. Just then, her comrades comprising of a younger girl and three males, all dressed in black decorated uniforms and looking all in their bad-ass glory suddenly surrounded the two men.

They just happened to be the God Generals, the coolest set of villains from Tales of the Abyss and the woman holding her pistol at Kagami's face just happened to be the ever so hawt, awesome, bad-ass, Legretta the Quick.

Kagami: You're…!

Shardclaw: That's right, Kagami. Ever since I've managed to play and beaten Tales of the Abyss, which I'm currently playing on Unknown right now on the second play-through, I've always thought that the God Generals would provide sufficient use to me as part of my security detail. While Legretta-san serves as one of my newest personal bodyguards/wankster assassins and occasional bed warmer, she takes orders from me now as well as her buddies since I was kind enough to bring them back to life so I can use their skills.

At this, Legretta, who is well known to show little to no emotion, blushes at what I just said.

Legretta: Shardclaw-sama…you shouldn't address me like that in front of the fanboys, they can get jealous knowing that we're under your payroll now.

Shardclaw: Sorry, Legretta-san, a slip of the tongue there. Well, here are my orders for dealing with these two, Sync and Largo, you can simply beat the crap out of them until they are just bloody pieces of meat while Arietta can feed the corpses to her monsters unless Dist has plans to dissect them for his research, I suppose?

Dist: Oh, please, who would want to waste time on imperfect specimens like them?

Shardclaw: My thoughts exactly. Oh and don't be afraid to use your Mystic Artes if you have to. Legretta-san, take them away from my sight at once and do as you please.

Sync: Our pleasure, Shardclaw.

Largo: Ha, I will be enjoying this.

Arietta: They will make a fine meal for my friends until the next hated person on Shardclaw's list is called out…

Both men get dragged off stage, screaming high pitched tones to a distance, until we hear the sounds of Sync's, Legretta's and Largo's Mystic Artes going off accompanied by their death cries.

Greg: Okay, I admit it now that was a whole lot better than I originally thought. To think to have even the God Generals working for you now, you're simply amazing, boss. On another note, having an omake at a chapter like this must mean that you've got big plans for SX's future revisions, isn't that right?

Shardclaw: That's right, Greg. Most of you out there are wondering right now about what's going to happen next, what and who else is going to be included into this story later, and what other minor to major changes I have planned for the story ahead, am I right? Well, I can assure you that I've got plenty more surprises in store ahead and you should be seeing them starting from the next couple of chapters before the next major story arc begins as they will be more like filler chapters to focus on the other characters and developments for this story's future events. And it will be MAJOR in terms of starting another phase of the story, just as how the current Gantz manga story is without its most powerful leaders and how everything is changing for the current team.

Greg: You need to lay off that for awhile and go back on focusing on some of the other manga that you need to be crossing over into this story, Shardclaw-san. In any case, does this mean that you're keeping the omakes the same as well by bringing back the Weiss boys to assist in the introduction of chapters too?

Shardclaw: I'm intending on doing that as well. Of course, the omakes won't be as perverted before, I can guarantee you that. I won't let a simple thing such as scantily clad and uber hawt and cute girls from various anime and games get in the way of my introductions of this already famous story this time around.

Girls in the audience: Awww, no fair, Shardclaw-sama!

Greg: That's good to hear. For a moment there, I thought you're going to let your love of animated chicks get the best of you this time around by having them publicly seduce you in front of dozens of fanboys, incurring their jealousy.

Shardclaw: Only once the revisions are over and the updates start moving again. But for the time being, I'm going to do that just for my updates for my other current MGS/anime multicrossover fic, Oh My Metal Gear! 2: Substance since I still have stuff and ideas that also will be crossed into it later on.

The girls in the audience: Really? We can do that, Shardclaw-sama?

Shardclaw: Since I got attacked in the recent chapters of that story for presenting the characters close to the actual ones themselves, it can't be helped.

Greg: You guys don't know the meaning of restraint, don't you?

Shardclaw: Why worry about the details? In any case, thus close this omake for this revised chapter and arc for the first quarter of Soldier X. As usual, please keep sending the encouraging comments and words as they will keep me moving along the revisions with guarantee that it will be accepted with much praise. See you all in the next, revised chapter as it will be a sort of flashback arc to denote what went on during the period of the Mantis arc with an all new and different telling of perspective using some of the other anime and game characters that will be showing up later in the next story arc.


	12. Fading Light

ShardclawK: Greetings once more to the readers out there, here I am back again to deliver unto you a new revised update on this story after getting such high praises and appreciation on the last chapter. Sorry if it seemed like a long wait for the update since most of you couldn't wait to see what happens next, but as I said before, I'm a working guy and I also have new anime and manga to be checking out as I'm also still in the process of expanding the newly revamped Greg Kinezono's character and this story so it will be much better than it was before, especially when we get to the upcoming future arcs ahead.

This take on the future SX revisions will be totally unlike anything from before with several new additions and surprises since the revised direction of the story takes place from this chapter while I plan to have the next set of chapters that will focus on hinting to new future story arcs later for the course of the newly revised and soon to be quite complex, yet intriguing storyline of Soldier X.

In the meantime, this revised chapter will be more like one of those to take a break from the action in the story for a while and focus more on of those character interactions for both canon and original characters in the developments and appearances that you've grown to love so far including revealing more secrets to Greg's past and character as well as things to come that will affect COE and SX during their revisions as well to tie in the storyline for MGS4.

And to notify those who haven't found out about it yet, but have been requesting for an update of it since the last chapter to keep up with who else has been included into the story, but doesn't know about the particular anime/game, I've also revised and modified the character's listing for the story, adding some new titles to the story as well which I think would bring smiles to some people's faces when they recognize the names, so go check it out. Let me know if there's anyone I've missed since I've yet to come across a number of them, especially for the Shadow Hearts series as I haven't played part 3 up to now.

* * *

_Previously in Soldier X:_

_It was a hard fought battle, but after being able to pool their skills and teamwork together efficiently in the final heated battle against Psycho Mantis, the group consisting of Greg and his surrogate mother, Rio, along with his three FOXHOUND comrades, Riku, Nagi, and Tot, managed to overcome the dangers Mantis was able to pose while in his emulate form and were able to defeat him as Greg, through the use of his powers, was finally able to free Mantis of the brainwashing effects that had been placed on him, thus allowing him to cooperate with them by exchanging information with the group._

_Mantis revealed information about the involvement of the Patriots and the biodroid technology, which was created by Yuina's father himself, much to the shock of the group, though they opted to look more into the matter after they were safe from danger. However, Greg chose to stay behind with Mantis longer while he let his foster mother and his friends escape the base to join the remainder of their comrades who were able to escape earlier, since he had lingering questions about his past and the future. _

_However, just when it was time for departure after Greg had obtained some vital information, the underground facility suddenly began to self destruct and crumble around them, and then Mantis began to undergo what he had predicted to be his second death. Unable to do anything for the man he had just risked his life to rescue from the enemy's clutches, the helpless Greg Kinezono could only look on in horror as Mantis was killed before his eyes and shortly afterwards, the Patriots made their presence known as they had the whole scenario planned out from the very start all the way from the events that led up to the current day. _

_Spurred on by the urge to live past the events of the day, Greg put his own life in danger as he summoned all of his psychic power along with his nanomachines' energy to make an escape out of underground deathtrap, where he barely was able to reunite with this friends and family before he collapsed due to the fatigue and wounds he endured during the mission._

_Now that Warrior and the Shinsengumi has retreated to the Uruha mansion with various members of the Hokage and Uruha who came in time to assist in their escape, they are gathered to await the results on Greg's condition, as well as discuss to the members of Riku's family and ninja clan about the events of the day, while unknown to all of them, more unusual developments regarding Reese were afoot as he has made an alliance with a seemingly mysterious man named Richard Dixon who has a connection to Greg's past…_

_And if that wasn't enough, a whole new world of problems that await those who defend the safety of the world, also begin to take root..._

* * *

Metal Gear: Soldier X

Chapter 11: Fading Light

"Well, so much for going back to that place to look for clues now…" An attractive woman with long white hair tied back in a long braid wearing a yellow dress with an extremely short skirt and white panties said while looking through the scope of her binoculars. Removing them, a group of women, a few of them also dressed in the same yellow uniform though the majority of them were wearing a blue version of the same uniform and all wearing same colored underwear stood on a metallic platform, which is that of a battleship, docked across the ocean and away from the mainland as they were looking across to the distance to where the underground facility near the ruins of old Tokyo self destructed.

"What? Tell us what happened, Toniya." One of them asked.

"You can see it all for yourself, the place is going under. There's no way we can go after whatever data about this Soldier X we've heard about." The woman named Toniya replied.

"Well, that much we do know, but what about the people who went in there?" Another one of them asked. "Did they…?"

"From here, it seems that they made it out safely, the target included." Toniya said. "Though, he didn't look to be in the best of shape; he certainly wasn't able to even remain standing…he must have had one heck of a fight down there today."

"This is our chance, then! If they are just recovering from a major battle, we can easily take out the forces that came to back them up and capture the target, it will be a cinch!" Another of them exclaimed as a voice called out from behind.

"I don't think that's such a good idea, ladies." The voice said as a young girl, apparently sixteen, with long flowing dark black hair with a corset in it came up to meet her fellow comrades, wearing the same yellow outfit as well.

"Rie, we weren't suggesting that…we were just…" One of the females replied as the girl named Rie Petoriakowa approached them with a look of concern on her face.

"I know how badly you want this Gregory Kinezono man, but let's face it. We are not that inhumane to attack him and the allies that are with him just after he managed to defeat Psycho Mantis according to the data we just got." Rie said.

"But he's the vital key factor to reviving the Delmos plans! If we don't go and capture him at a moment like this…!" One of the females said as Rie stared at her which made her become quiet at once.

"I know that very well, he has what we lack in our current mission at the moment, but you know what they say, 'good things comes to those who wait'." Rie said. "We may have been tracking him for the longest time now, but after this little escapade that he just had, we don't need to pick a fight with his buddies that are with him, even from here, I can see that they are not the type to get messed around with so easily. We need some more time to think of our approach to this guy if we want to go through this without suffering any casualties on our side."

"So, what are we going to do then?" Toniya asked.

Rie sighed as she headed back to the ship's helm as the sea breeze blew across the deck, causing her hair to blow to the side, along with the skirts that she and the other Delmos were wearing.

"I'll head over to the mainland to do some investigating on my own, I've been getting some bad vibes about how the operations have been moving recently and I'm concerned with what that guy is connected to." Rie said. "If anything, I'll be asking the White Leader for permission to do so as early as this evening. For the time being, you guys are to monitor the situation here and keep me posted of anything unusual."

"Are you sure you don't need any back up, Rie?" One of the Delmos asked as Rie smiled.

"I'll be fine, it's not like I'm going to end up fighting anyone when I get there anyway." Rie said as she went into thought. (Well, it looks like I have to take matters into my own hands for now…if what the data on this Gregory Kinezono says is true, then White Leader must be serious about the 'Demology' plan for him…I just hope it isn't that serious…)

Meanwhile, across the land and on top of an abandoned office building in the sunken areas of Old Tokyo…

"Hmph…that figures. That old man, Reese, really had no more use for Mantis after all." A disgruntled Shade said to himself as he watched the black smoke rise from the deep underground outer areas of the city. "And to think that I fell for a deceitful trick to be used as a measuring tool for a psychic this time again…I must really have gotten soft since the last time I fought like that. But I still had some fun out of the experience…had that insolent psychic who was with that Hokage brat and his friends not been there, I would have had my way with the women with them more than once and still enjoyed accomplishing my mission…"

Before he continued on, he grabbed hold of a kunai that he had stored at his waist as he sensed a presence behind him, but eased up after realizing who was there.

"Well, look who decided to show up now, none other than the former Iga mongrel." Shade said as another Japanese male, wearing a dark traditional ninja gi appeared. He had cold and sharp, piercing eyes and long black hair that was tied back save for a portion that went down both sides of his face.

"Hmph, I don't know whether to laugh at or pity you for not being able to see just how incredibly stupid you've gotten, Koga trash, but after seeing you complain like this must mean that you yourself admit to having lost your touch." The man said in an insulting like tone as Shade smirked.

"Unlike you, at least I can still turn what I learned today into an advantage…Tenzen Yakushiji." Shade said as he faced the former Iga ninja. "In my years of immortality, I've learned that it pays to be patient and wait for the right moment to strike when fools such as these least expect it. You should have at least paid attention to your master's teachings regarding that, like a competent ninja."

"I didn't come here today to listen to your insults, especially if they are about Kurando-sama, Shingen." Tenzen growled at him. "In any case, he sent me here to let you in on a little piece of information that you may find interesting."

"I knew there could have been no other good reason for you to be here other than that." Shade said. "The only good time we've ever had together was the last time when I was able to fight and defeat Darva was not so long ago thanks to that ceremony where you gathered a huge amount of mara and malice, if I recall. Don't tell me the old man's already found another access to another immense power, and so soon too. It wouldn't happen to be the Orochi power this time, would it?"

"Sorry to disappoint you, but not as of yet." Tenzen said as he turned around. "But you are correct in this having something to do with the Orochi, as it seems that someone is trying to steal that particular power for themselves in preparations for the next upcoming King of Fighters tournament."

"So, the Heralds of Orochi are starting to make their move again…" Shade said as he figured out what Tenzen was saying. "So, what is it that the old man is suggesting that we do about this before it happens?"

"Oh, he wants that matter discussed with you personally; there are a lot of things that need to be covered." Tenzen said. "He didn't give me any specific details; only just for me to get you to where he currently is right now. And knowing how foul a mood that you are in right now, he told me to assure you that proper 'entertainment' will be provided to sweeten the deal. I even had a few helpings myself of the guests he had staying before I came here."

"Hmph, even now, he doesn't seem to disappoint and knows what I want beforehand. Fine, then, you'll lead the way." Shade said as he glanced back over to the distance for a while and thought to himself. (I'm sure things are going to get interesting from here on out, but I will stay true to my word on dealing with Reese when the time comes, as well as with the Hokage brat and that older psychic friend he had with him…considering he almost forced me to go at it with my full strength without calling on the Orochi's power, he could become someone to be watchful for. His name…it was Gregory Kinezono, huh?)

With that, the two immortal ninjas disappeared from sight as suddenly as they had appeared, leaving no sign of their presence from before.

Somewhere else in Japan, at a maximum security prison island area located outside Neo Tokyo…

"Pick up the pace, you douche-bags! We haven't got all day!" One of the wardens, a muscular male, shouted as he waved his baton at the large group of prisoners who were working on construction in their yard. "Hey, and the same goes for you, you tranny wannabes! Don't think just because you freaks are locked up here with the rest of your 'girlfriends', means that I'll go easy on ya!"

"This is cruelty! We're only humans just like you!" One of the Four Divas, a burglar group of men who dressed like women, this one being the burliest looking one of the group, spoke. It just so happened to be Chimama, the group's leader, who got a reply of swearing from the warden.

As could be seen by just about anyone, the group had seen better days, especially now that prison life had started to get to them. Also their typical women's clothing was now replaced by the standard prison uniform.

"What a joke! Do you really think so?" The warden laughed as his friend spoke after seeing this.

"Yo, Wakabe, take it easy on those guys. They are a special case, you know." The other warden said as Wakabe spat on the ground in reply.

"Yeah, well they don't look so special now, do they?" Wakabe grinned. "Ever since they were brought in here by Police Town a long time ago, I've been looking forward to tormenting poor souls like these all my life just for personal amusement!"

"Really, is that so?" The younger warden said, almost uninterested. "What about the other nutcases that we get everyday, do they apply too?"

"Hmph, say what you will, but I despise people like those guys with a passion. Trying to pass off as women when they even don't know how to…" Before Wakabe can finish, a loud explosion rocked the outer prison walls, crumbling it in its process.

BOOOOOM!

"What the hell was that?" Wakabe shouted as he reached for the alarm close by, before he got knocked out by a cloaked figure wearing a mask as the younger warden held his gun up.

"Who…who the hell are you?" He exclaimed before the figure dropped a canister next to him as nerve gas came out, putting him to sleep.

Chimama, Mama, Caroline, and Josephine looked on as they then saw an armored SUV drive through the rubble of the broken prison walls before stopping close to them. Then one of the doors opened.

"You're the Four Divas, right? My boss wants to hire you." A cloaked figure said as he extended his gloved hand. "If you want your freedom and a chance for revenge, I'll be glad to offer both to you as long as you can trust me."

"Chimama, this could be our big break!" Mama, who had long curly red hair and was actually the most feminine looking of the four as well as the brains behind the group, said as Chimama nodded.

"Yes, good fortune must be smiling upon us to make this happen!" Chimama said. "Alright, we accept your offer!"

"Get in!" The figure said as the Four Divas hopped in as the remainder of the prison guard began to fire at the escaping SUV which sped off just as the alarm went off signaling a break out had occurred.

"Phew, that was too close for comfort." Chimama said as he saw that he and his group weren't the only ones in the vehicle, a number of men and women he had never seen before were also in the vehicle. "Oh, I don't think we've ever met before."

"Like you guys, these people were incarcerated as well just as you were, but my boss managed to free them just as we did for you." The figure said as he pointed out to the people in the van. The first two that he indicated was a woman with long dark hair with a portion of it tied back while another part hung loose on the right side of her face. She was wearing an expensive coat over a tight and very low cut black dress, which fully revealed her buxom figure. Accompanying her was a man in casual clothing with his short black hair tied back, and he was wearing a pair of sunglasses. "This is Mrs. Butterfly and her henchman, Tetsu, who holds dealings in the black market of smuggling everything from women, drugs, and weapons."

"It seems like we'll be working together very soon." Mrs. Butterfly said as she smoked while Chimama spotted a pair of twin females with matching short brown hair and features seated next to each other.

"Next is the famous assassin pair known as the Blood-Sucking Angel, Lindsey and Cindy." The figure said as the two women nodded at the Four Divas while they spotted a young girl with a pair of short ponytails and wearing glasses.

"Next is Kirika Rindo, formerly of the Far East terrorist group, SAN." The masked figure said.

"But she's just a kid." Josephine said which got an angry glare from the girl.

"For your information, I'm 25 years old." Kirika said coldly as the figure continued.

"Last, but not least for now, the psychotic serial killer, Mahito. He was the most troublesome to get out, as we had to break into a mental displacement ward to make it happen." A Japanese youth with brown hair and complexion simply raised his head with a gleeful looking smile as Chimama winced looking at him.

"I'd appreciate you tell us why we are all being rounded up like this." Mama said as the figure spoke.

"Oh, my boss will fill you in on everything that you need to know and what needs to be done. Besides, I'm sure all of you want revenge against the ones who put you in those places, am I right?" The figure asked as the group of criminals nodded. "Now that we're all in agreement, I'm going to let you in on what has been happening on the crime scene these days…"

"We're back." Kendall Martin said in a neutral tone as he and Richard Dixon entered a dark sealed room that the door they had passed through kept tightly sealed from intrusion. The room was filled with several rows of large containers that had oddly colored liquids in them, along with corpses of monsters and human beings carefully preserved by those very same liquids. In front of them stood a man of medium build with short brown hair, a hairline scar, and blue eyes who appeared to be in his thirties and was dressed in a white lab coat as he turned around to face him.

"So, I take it that you delivered the message to him?" The man asked as Kendall raised his head.

"Yeah, we talked to the old fart called Reese, but he's so full of himself as usual, he didn't take our warnings seriously." Kendall said as he folded his arms. "This was why you should have just let me use my power to blow off one of his arms to serve as an extra warning to him, Thorn."

The gene manipulator and scientist for the Patriots, Robert Thorn, a powerful psychic himself, simply smiled at Kendall's comment.

"Well, as much as I understand that your position in the Hunters is to be respected, Kendall Martin, or more appropriately, Soldier X, doing so would only hinder further uses that are required of Reese. Regardless of your feelings towards him, there is still much more wi will need from him in the future. Or would you rather waste time in finding a replacement?" Thorn said as Martin groaned.

"Tch." Kendall's face showed a hint of irritation as he faced Dixon behind him. "At least we can leave it to him to locate the other possible emulate host, as well as the other biodroids that are currently in our world for the time being. But if he by any means strays from the original purpose…"

"Don't worry about it; I have made sure that the new strike force that has been assigned to him by the Patriots were programmed to take him down the second that he betrays us." Dixon said. "While we're keeping their personalities intact these new I-Weapons should be easier to keep under control than our brainwashing of Mantis thanks to the more advanced programming we've installed in them. Still I doubt we'll have to fall back on the fail safes since one of the benefits of keeping these particular units' personalities is that most of them are will be focused on revenge against the ones responsible for their demise. That in itself should provide them with motivation to follow us."

"Just remind me, which of the I-Weapons has Reese selected for his unit of guards?" Kendall asked and Thorn, in reply, tossed a clipboard to him and upon catching it began to look over the papers and profiles of those who were brought back to life to assist Reese.

"First we've got the Chinese assassin, Sha Li, supposedly killed by the Noir assassins a couple of years back before they practically disappeared off the face of the planet." Thorn explained, as Kendall began looking over the profile. "It was trouble enough to keep this battle able beauty from the Soldats when the time came to retrieve her. Fortunately that decrepit organization's troubles made things doable."

"Yes, I'd heard about that, something about some assassins they couldn't keep under control. Moving on, we have Mikoto, a ninja employed by Kouran Mori years ago. Killed in a fire that occurred during an incident on Koran Mori's private land." Kendall read on in the report.

"Fortunately the corpse wasn't too badly damaged thanks to the presence of another acquisition." Thorn commented. "Actually, the story behind that is rather interesting, considering it was by his request that…"

"Another time, thanks." Kendall said impatiently before he noticed something on her profile and frowned. "Hold on, it says here that…" He then looked over at Thorn. "If that's what you were referring to, are you sure it's a good idea to have her active considering Reese does work with us?"

"That's odd from you, Martin," Dixon commented. "Just a moment ago you were rambling about how much you wanted Reese dead at your hand, yet now…"

"It's not what you think, Commandant. What I meant to ask was whether it was a good idea considering the circumstances of her death." Kendall said. "The last thing we need is for our operations to be jeopardized by the likes of those two…but then again, even if they do make up, the picture of those two in bed together by itself would make even my stomach turn."

Dixon let out a small laugh as Kendall continued to go through with looking at the series of reports.

"Moving on… now we have Go-Go Yubari…personal assassin for fKendall Martin said as a small grin appeared on his face. "She was slain by the Bride, aka Beatrix Kiddo, a nail driven into the skull area of her head." He then turned to Thorn. "It really is amazing, no matter how badly damaged the corpse is, you lot are somehow able to bring them back to life."

"Well, that's to be expected of the Witchblade's power." Thorn said. "I admit I do wish we had the actual artifact, but the method of creating I-Weapons that we recovered from Douji Industries after its collapse and Mr. Wado's assistance is more than satisfactory. Not to mention these new models are so much more advanced than the old ones, it may be worth finding a way to slip them under the ban into mass production at some future date."

"Good luck getting a vote passed on that, you'll need it considering the moral ground. Besides I wouldn't trust relying on some magic trinket that can't be rationally explained." Kendall then opened the last of the folders. "Well this last guard sounds like another notable character…Hermann Kruch, also known by his soldier codename of 'Khyber'." Kendall paused. "Should be interesting to see who took someone this skilled down…'Killed two years ago by …'"

Kendall stopped as he noticed the name and suddenly flung the clipboard at Dixon who caught it.

"Whatever is the matter, Martin?" Dixon asked with a knowing smirk. "An old and familiar name strike a chord somewhere?"

"Hmph, so even at that time, the reject was capable of such things, was he?" Kendall said with a sadistic looking smile. "But even so…he is still far off from matching my level. I wonder… when the time comes, when his life will truly depend on it, will he be able to live the way that I have since he abandoned his role?"

Just then, they overheard a buzzer go off over their heads, as it signaled the arrival of other occupants of the base they were in at the moment. Dixon stood up firmly and faced his subordinates.

"There will be a time to test that soon enough, Martin. But for now, it seems that both of your partners have returned from their mission. Go and see what they've brought us." Dixon said as Kendall nodded, leaving the room. As he went into the passageway, Thorn approached Dixon to speak to him.

"It must mean that they managed to crush the Pacific Medical forces and successfully retrieved the unassigned Humaritt." Thorn said as Dixon nodded.

"But, of course. Even though they are the support team of the group, both Blood Dancer and Abyss Saint can get their tasks done when it comes to menial missions such as this one." Dixon said. "Now that that part is done, it's time to move onto the next phase of the plan…"

"Are you referring to the integration of the Soldier X gene into humanoid type androids?" Thorn asked with a smile of curiosity. "Is that why you needed the Seraph biodroid so badly?"

"Why stop with just human beings, when the process can now be processed just the same for a diclonius or even now, a Humaritt?" Dixon replied with a question of his own. "Until recently, the SX gene could only be applied to just the human genes, but after what we've learned from the conclusive data based on Anna's tests, it can now also manifest itself among the other foreign genes within its host."

"Speaking of diclonius, Anna Kakuzawa's training and handling of the SX gene is still proceeding well, just as planned, as there are no expected problems." Thorn told him. "Restoring her to human form was easier than expected, but I personally made sure that the same symptoms that occurred on the previous attempt on another diclonius will not occur whenever she utilizes her vectors."

"Could you be referring to her late father, Kakuzawa, perhaps?" Dixon asked as he heard Thorn. "Ha, that old fool had it coming. Using that rejected SX gene that he stole without realizing that it had failed to be duplicated one hundred percent to its original state was quite the wrong move on his part. Either he was too hasty, or perhaps he had simply gotten so greedy that he didn't take the proper precautions, with him being part diclonius and all."

"Hopefully, his daughter won't follow the same fate, thanks to the information you've provided me on how I can make this work on Anna Kakuzawa without any problems." Thorn said.

"Most excellent, so think nothing of it, Thorn. Like you, I was just testing the limits on how much a diclonius can handle if she had traits of the SX gene within her DNA." Dixon said, fixing his shades. "Though, it rather surprised me to know that the genes of a diclonius can be compatible with the SX gene and managed to evolve into something different from all the other samples at present."

"Yes, while they are intriguing, it appears that they do have their secrets that we have yet to unravel. Secrets we certainly can use to our advantage until we can locate and then capture the queen Siphelit, Lucy…" Thorn said as Martin stepped back inside the hallways, along with Thorn to meet two of the current Hunters that just returned from a mission.

One of them was a male of Canadian decent in his early twenties, with straight cut, dark black hair who stood at an average of five feet and a female younger than he was, apparently in her teens, with red hair that was dyed in color. A single and loose ponytail hung from the back of her head as she wore a pair of straight, dark shades as if to protect her eyes.

"Looks like you two had some fun today, Blood Dancer and Abyss Saint." Kendall said as he approached his two partners as the male started to speak.

"Quite the opposite actually, those Shimba industrial guys were awfully protective of their merchandise." He said, as a trio of lab wearing assistants from Thorn's lab area wheeled in an unconscious female with bright pink hair with, her eyes glazed over and devoid of any color. Her body was apparently covered in bruises and wounds and there was a single rose lying on her chest as the male picked it up to smell it. "But you already do know us by our names, Kendall, no need to address us by code names since we're back at base."

"Well, sorry for not remembering, Joshua." Kendall said as he looked at Melissa in silence. "Oh, and hello to you, Melissa, hope you're doing well."

"How did your visit with Matthew Reese go, Kendall?" Melissa asked as Martin growled.

"It was a real pain! First he goes to send his flunkies to trash the reject's apartment, and then he goes off saying he has other things going on with his plan and leaves us to clean up after him like we're his servants!" Kendall shouted. "Were things any different and that old fool wasn't around, I wouldn't have to endure waiting to kill that punk, Matthews, and just go after him myself."

"Hmm, so in other words, you didn't get to see him, huh?" Joshua said as Dixon and Thorn entered the room. "Well, if it isn't the Overboss and Dr. Thorn themselves. Did you come to check out this Humaritt that you assigned us to capture, and well… check her out?"

Dixon and Thorn approached the prone and damaged female cyborg and after a quick look, Dixon nodded as he looked at the assistants.

"Take her to the restoration room where the repairs can begin, I'll be there shortly to implement the SX gene designed to her memory banks." Dixon said seriously to the group as they carried her off into the other room. Just then another assistant came in and handed him a file, which Thorn promptly opened and glanced. "I see…so that batch is complete and ready for a test run. I'll look into it once this matter has been settled."

Meanwhile Joshua continued to explain to Kendall about the Humaritt they had just brought in.

"From what I've read on what these Humaritts can do, she originally didn't have any master or orders, which explained why she was practically invincible to anything both the Shimba Industrial and Pacific Medical guys threw at her." Joshua said. "To think that the only thing capable of stopping her was her own self going past her limits…poor thing. And she had lots of battle capability to boot…"

"Che, if you care about that thing so much and feel so sorry for it, why don't YOU become its new master after the Commandant manages to restore its vital functions to normal?" Kendall asked as Joshua reacted.

"Wait, Martin, what I meant by that is…" Joshua before Dixon spoke in his stead.

"You know, that is not such a bad idea, Martin. Joshua, the Humaritt known as Triple B could be quite useful on your missions in the future. Considering that you and your sister act as the support for the Hunters, it would be best if you did have a fighter backing you up." Dixon said with his arms folded. "All we need is some time for her to…blend in, so to speak, with the rest of us, Anna included and I'm sure she will feel right at home."

"Yeah, I know that sounds cool and all, but still…" Joshua muttered as Kendall interrupted him.

"Let it rest, will you? You and Melissa don't have enough of the experience in combat as that Triple B had before she was shut down. Besides, the only useful abilities you have that are dangerous are this…" Kendall said as before anyone saw it, he suddenly took out a combat knife from Joshua's weapon holster and cut a gash across the man's left arm, causing him to flinch a bit.

"Hey, what did you do that for?" Joshua said as the blood that started to run from the cut suddenly stopped in mid-air as he opened his palm to let the droplets hover over it. "Did you think just how much doing this grosses me out?"

"Don't let it get to you, you have the most multi-purpose Soldier X ability of the group, Free-Fire, which allows your psychic energy control the flow of liquids, even your own blood down to its very blood cells, and use them as weapons. I don't see why you should be complaining about a cut like that, you've had worse in our previous missions." Kendall said as he grinned at Joshua. "And besides, you have your precious sister's Soldier X ability, Restoration, to take care of them. After all, she's the only in the group granted with at least moderate healing abilities, even though she can't use them on herself for some reason."

"It's not like I have a problem with that, Kendall…I did prove I was of use to you many times before in the past and I'm still able to do so." Melissa said as she took off her shades, revealing both of her eyes were white in color in the pupil area then she lightly touched her brother's arm to heal the gash on her brother's arm. "Even though the fact remains that I'm blind, and that I can't use my power to heal my sight, even if I wanted to."

"Well, until the time comes that something can be done about it, you two guys better continue living up to my expectations for the group, especially when the group is reformed after Anna's training." Martin said.

Melissa gave a slight smile to Martin at first, but soon after, her body swayed to the side as if she had gotten weak. Before she fell over, she was caught into Martin's arms in time as he suspected this would happen before hand.

"Don't tell me you used more of your power than you had to today." Martin simply said as he helped her stand straight once more. "What did I tell you the last time about over doing it?"

"I know about that and I did what I could to limit as much of it as I can today, Kendall." Melissa replied as her cheeks grew red a little from his gesture. "It was just that…"

"Look, if you're feeling more tired than usual, you don't need to push yourself more than you have to." Kendall advised to her. "If anything, I'll talk with the boss about sending you out to the next mission, okay? You're still not used to strenuous missions like this, I knew I should have been there with you guys instead of going off to meet that deadweight Reese earlier today, just in case."

"Thanks, I'll be sure to remember that." Melissa replied as Kendall released her.

"Hey, didn't I just say that we would have this covered, Kendall?" Joshua said with a sheepish grin. "I know how worried you are about us whenever we're out in the field, but…"

"Damn it, who said anything about me being worried about any of you?" Kendall replied with a snarl as Joshua shook his head.

(As usual, he's trying to hide his true feelings about how dangerous these recent set of missions are becoming for me and Sis.) Joshua thought to himself. (From the looks of things, it won't be long till we probably start our actual mission to go after the 'one who got away'…)

"Oh, yeah, Kendall…I was wondering about that thing we discussed, you know, with the Overboss about the mission we'll be having in Japan…" Joshua said quietly as Kendall quickly replied to his comrade.

"So, you're still not sure if you're up to it, huh?" Kendall asked simply. "Now isn't quite the time to be so sentimental about the Hunter's cause, Joshua. I'm sure the Commandant went over this with you already."

"Yes, and he gave us the options for Melissa and myself to participate in the mission or not to partake in it as well, even though we're all heading there despite any objections." Joshua said. "I mean, we're not as used to operations on the battlefield as you are, but we still have to act as support in any case."

"Well, it just means I can get to kill more enemies than I thought I would if you guys can't come." Kendall said as a tall, Japanese woman with long hair that was braided into a ponytail approached them and Kendall noticed her. "Ah…Shirakawa, I was looking for you."

The woman named Shirakawa, who was in fact the former assistant to the Siphelit Number 7's adopted father, Kuruma, also formerly Kakuzawa's slave for 'personal enjoyment', and was supposedly killed by Lucy some time ago, approached the Hunter group wearing her trademark glasses as she had been working for them for some time now. Martin handed over her the two suitcases that he had confiscated from Greg's apartment earlier.

"What is it, Martin-san?" Shirakawa said as she looked at the two cases he gave her questioningly.

"I need these to be checked out; they were possessions of the previous Number 3 who betrayed us." Kendall said. "Notify me and the Overboss about anything you've come across that can be deemed as either weaponry, armor, or any of the like as soon as possible. Oh, and that reminds me, how are the prototypes for the new weapons coming along?"

"There are still issues about calibrating its precision and firing ranges, Martin-san." Shirakawa replied. "However, we had to eliminate a few of the other previous options for its application formula before it can become a hazardous precaution like the one before it…"

"And how long will it be until it can be ready for use in the field?" Kendall asked her. "Soon, I hope."

"It can be done within two days, but even within that time…" Shirakawa stopped midway as Kendall interrupted her.

"As long as it works, that's fine enough with me." Kendall said in a serious tone, his arms folded. "Just have it ready in time for the next mission, okay?"

(Again with more powerful weapons, huh?) Joshua thought as he watched his comrade from behind. (That is so like you, Kendall.)

"I'll do the best I can. Anyway, Overboss Dixon, the report on Kinezono's current readings has just reached us and they are what you predicted from before." Shirakawa said as she handed him a filed report as he started to read it. A broad smile came to his face as he thought to himself.

(Hmph, even from beyond your grave, you still managed to pull a fast one on me, don't you, my old friend, Curtis?) Dixon thought to himself with a grin. (I must commend you on how you were able to easily fool me into thinking that I've known what had happened to the strongest Soldier X gene at the 'time' of your death, but eventually the past will catch up. Now, that I know that you would have resorted to using your own son in hosting the gene that I've been searching for all this time as a desperate measure, it's only a matter of time of drawing him out into the open, thus making my search for him all the more easier.)

"What's so funny, Overboss?" Joshua asked as Dixon simply handed him the report before replying.

"It seems that our little runaway managed to surprise even me, Steele." Dixon said as Kendall reached over and snatched the report out of Joshua's hands to look at it and he violently began to shake it as he read the contents.

"What's the meaning of this?" Kendall shouted. "How come this says that he managed to beat Mantis and how can he be giving off these readings? Normally I can rate much higher than him in just a normal sparring match!"

"Well, that goes to show that even he has advantages with the SX gene that we aren't aware of as of yet." Dixon said. "But I suppose that is to be expected. He is carrying the original, after all."

"You know what, screw this! I'm going to kill some time in training." Kendall said as he began to walk off.

"Okay, now he's really pissed off." Joshua said as he rubbed his head. "I hope we still have a training center after this."

"Oh one last thing Martin, don't forget that you still have training with Anna later, so I wouldn't go and waste all that energy you have blowing off some steam." Dixon casually said to him to which Kendall pounded his fist into a wall near Shirakawa, which suddenly imploded within itself, leaving the stunned woman looking in shock at what he had just done.

"Damn it!" Kendall shouted as he left the room. (Damn it all…how is it possible that he of all people can possess the current and strongest Soldier X gene? It must be a mistake, since I was the strongest up till now!) Kendall thought as he left the room in a fit of anger. (No need to lose my cool over something like this…I've always been the most powerful of the Hunters and will still be, no shadow from my past that caused me to be the way that I am now will surpass my destiny as the host of the true Soldier X. And when the time comes for our little reunion, dear Gregory Matthews…)

"Well, it was good work keeping tabs on the situation while we were gone, Shirakawa. You can be excused now." Dixon said to her as she bowed to him.

"Thank you for the appreciation, Dixon-san. But I still have work for Dr. Thorn that needs to be completed before the day is done." Shirakawa said as Thorn extended his arm.

"Well, I won't keep you waiting, especially since I have some documents on Anna that I need you to have properly checked before administering them to the medical room." Thorn said as Shirakawa nodded and left the room to go to his office while glancing back at the two men.

"Well, Thorn…" Dixon said as Thorn nodded.

"So far she seems to be working normally. I know it's risky having a prototype made an integral part of our research team, but the rewards have so far been outweighing the risks." Thorn said. "I know we haven't been able to work out any fail safes into the non combat models, but considering she's the first functional one…"

"The problem with creating I-Weapons from female corpses is, according to what you've told me is that even transformed they're more human in appearance, internal structure, and personality when compared to their male counterparts which makes them unpredictable and potentially difficult to control. " Dixon said. "As I remember from the reports, it took several tries in programming and recalibration until we could work out a way to ensure that they wouldn't degenerate into Ex-cons and even then you had to take steps to ensure there fail safes installed."

"The theory is that it's a by product of the Witchblade's influence due to the fact that the subjects are female and the Witchblade bonds with women only." Thorn explained. "Perhaps if we had the data the NSWF had on the Cloneblades we could get a definite answer, but sadly that was stolen by another organization that got there before we could." Thorn gave a sigh. "In any case, we were able to install the programs to prevent any personality degeneration on Miss Shirakawa's end, but we don't have any fail safes should those programs fail since the non combat models are so different from the combat ones. Still, being a non combat model she wouldn't have access to any weapons, so…"

"Does she know about her current condition?" Dixon asked.

"No, I don't believe that's necessary for now." Thorn answered. "She didn't take the news of the death of that Kurama well when we revived her, and I don't think the news of being dead and technically no longer human would be good for her mental health."

"No point taking chances since there's of knowing if your programs could withstand a subject's nervous breakdown. Still, have surveillance keep an eye on her for the time being." He then looked to where Kendall's outburst had left the large crater in the wall. "Besides, I think it's time that you find a way to reinforce this place some more before the next violent outburst from Kendall which could very well destroy even this base even if he didn't mean to."

"Dually noted, still it was definitely worth it to see the most fearsome Soldier X ability that I heard so much about, Destruction." Thorn said with a grin. "A simple name and the perfect description for it."

Their conversation was interrupted when, Joshua called out to them. He and Melissa were further down the hallway as they had stopped to chat and as a result hadn't heard Thorn and Dixon's conversation.

"Sorry to interrupt, but we're off to get freshened up and take a break from all the work we had today. Let us know when it's time to train." Joshua waved off to the two men as his sister followed soon after him. As he watched the rest of his unit go their separate ways for now, Dixon looked across the room to where Anna Kakuzawa and Triple B's quarters, the latter of which was now being prepared, were, he then began to think to himself about what the day's events would mean in the near future.

(I wonder how dear Gregory Matthews will react when he finds out that his own late father's research has brought about such pleasant results.) Dixon thought to himself as he walked toward the building's training facility. Once there he looked at the footage of Kendall in training. "I would like to see the look on his face, but considering that he's unable to respond to anything at the moment due to his body going past its physical limits, its unlikely. But no matter, he will probably be finding out the truth eventually when he recovers. Until then, I will continue preparations for our arrival in Japan soon…then we can officially start our 'Zero Tolerance' operation."

Around the same time on the other side of the country, Nastasha Romanenko, Maki Kawasaki, and Nanvel were dropped by at the Uruha mansion by Joker and Raiha, along with Gennosuke and Kenshin Mori, who were contacted by Kurei to pick them up from the safe house after they had lent their assistance to Rio and co in covering their escape that day.

Nanvel was carrying emergency supplies and a case of the spare nanomachines that will be used to ensure Greg's recovery. But before all else, Maki and Nanvel were overjoyed to see Lilica again, who went to meet them as they wasted no time to embrace one another upon seeing her.

"Lilica!" Maki cried out as she hugged Lilica, while Nanvel got to hug her from the sides as well. "Are you alright?"

"I am. Really, Maki, I wasn't hurt at all during that time." Lilica smiled at her friends. "Boy, seeing you guys again makes me feel so much better right now."

"Yeah, us too, Lilica. We feel the same too." Nanvel hugged Lilica. Then, she looked around the living room where everyone else with the exception of the rest of Team Warrior waited. "Well, Maki and I heard what has happened before coming here from Gennosuke-san and Kenshin-san on the way over here. That's why I made sure to come prepared."

"I'll show you to where they are. Yanagi-san and Serina-san are with him along with the head of the medic team, Oboro-dono, doing whatever they can to take care of his wounds." Miki spoke, offering her guest to come along with her.

"Thanks, just show the way." Nanvel said as she quickly passed the people in the room to head upstairs, while Maki and Nastasha stayed behind. As the two left the room, Neon then stepped out from one of the rooms with her husband, Kurei and Kagero. With them, stood two young children who looked like 5 to 6 year old pre schoolers. One was a boy with black hair, while the other was a girl with black hair as well.

"Hey, it's Lilica!" The boy ran to Lilica, as she smiled when she hugged him.

"My, you've grown some, Sora." Lilica smiled, then holding up the other twin. "And you too, Aoi. You've both grown up well."

"Lilica, you're dirty. We heard that you got kidnapped by a bunch of bad people and how everyone came to help you…but we're glad you're okay." Aoi spoke to Lilica, as she only giggled at the younger children. Then they both came closer to her. "We missed you, Lilica!" the two hugged Lilica at the same time.

"You two stay with Lilica and Daddy, while I go and show Maki-san to where Rio-san, Maya-san, and Yuji-san are there waiting outside as well." Neon said.

"Yes, do please lead the way, Neon. I have some important issues to speak over what has happened privately." Maki said as she and Neon left the room to go to the lobby area while Lilica stayed back with Nastasha.

"Alright, Mom, we'll be seeing you." The young twins said in unison as they stayed with Lilica, who was later joined by Umi, Tatsuko, and Inuko. Also in the room with Lilica were Riku, Nagi, and Tot, along with trio of the Shinsengumi female group, Gennosuke, Kenshin, Raiha, and Joker getting themselves seated, as Recca got himself into a more fixed state of mind before he spoke.

"Okay, Riku...with the exception of Oboro-san, Yanagi, Maki and the remainder of Warrior that is staying close to the room where Greg is at the moment, is this everyone?" Recca asked before speaking seriously. "From what I've seen about what went on today, I'd say things are definitely getting drastic."

"Yes, there seems to be a very serious problem going on here indeed..." Kurei spoke, then just as he said that, a figure entered the room behind the group from one of the rooms. Seraph looked on in curiosity and surprise at the sight of such an unusual group of strangers in the room.

"Seraph, you're awake." Riku stood up to meet the woman as she was introduced to some of the occupants of the Uruha mansion. "How is Yuina doing?"

"Well, after being able to gain supplemental nutrition and a much deserved cleaning, she's finally resting well, despite all that has happened." Seraph said as she sat down herself. "Still, the deep scarring to her heart remains…"

"If there's still anything that you two need from us, we'll be able to accommodate until Yuina recovers from this, you have our on that word, Seraph." Riku said to her. "And the same goes for the people in this room you haven't seen before; count on them to be your friends from now on."

"Thank you for going through the trouble of accommodating us, Riku-san." Seraph said, bowing lightly to him. "Even now after everything, you're able to assist us…"

"You don't need to say it, Seraph. You and Yuina were the ones in the most trouble today, so we had to do what we could to ease your troubles." Riku replied quickly. "As for accommodations, you should be thanking my uncle as this is his house, and also the rest of the clan as they helped to arrange it all. I was really just a messenger"

"Are you alright yourself, Seraph-san?" Tot asked her. "The day's been pretty rough on you too, you should rest as well."

"I'm aware of your concerns, Tot-san, but I can manage since most of the damage done to my body was minimal." Seraph said. "A full night's rest can fully restructure over seventy percent of my body's damaged molecules."

"I see, still, it wouldn't hurt to check just to be safe, Seraph, so I'll tell Serina-san to give you a check out too after she finishes her work on Greg later." Riku said as Seraph nodded.

"I would appreciate that, Riku-san. I also would recommend the same for Yuina after she wakes up from a full rest." Seraph said as Riku nodded to her suggestion.

"Okay, we'll keep that in mind." Riku replied to her as his father spoke.

"In any case, Riku, we should also introduce ourselves to your new friend that you rescued." Recca said. "Oh, excuse me, I'm Recca Hanabishi, one of the heads of the Hokage ninja clan and the young man you know already is my son, Riku."

"I see, so you're this brave ninja's father." Seraph said as she smiled at Recca and then at Riku. "I can already sense the similarities by watching you."

"Hey, what is that supposed to mean?" Both Riku and Recca said in unison which made some of the people in the room laugh to this while Kurei spoke now.

"We've just only been informed about you and Yuina, but it's best to let you know that we're all on your side and are willing to aid you as well in this matter, just as my nephew and his partners, as well as their comrades have done today." Kurei spoke first. "Allow me to introduce myself as well, I'm Kurei Mori, also one of the heads of the Hokage ninja clan as well as Uruha and where you're located right now is the base where we normally gather."

"This is a mansion that houses ninjas?" Seraph asked, almost in a tone of surprise.

"That's right. Think of this as a fortress that's been fitted to protect us from the enemy forces. We also have many, various allies that assist us in the same role my son and his partners play in FOXHOUND." Recca said.

"I see…" Seraph said simply as she greeted them.

"As you've met my brother's son, this man here is also my eldest son and also Riku's closest cousin, Kenshin Mori. The ones with them who also assisted Riku earlier are also long time Hokage clan members, Joker, Raiha, and Gennosuke." Kurei said, introducing the trio to Seraph while Joker noticed the presence of the Shinsengumi in the room as well.

"We couldn't help but not recognize the familiar names of the Shinsengumi here, so allow us to greet you as well and also to thank you for assisting Riku today as well." Joker spoke.

"So, you know about us and our reputation?" Dee asked.

"Certainly, our knowledge of the numerous mercenary groups is quite vast among the Uruha assassin group." Raiha answered. "Riku's friends must certainly have good connections, indeed."

During this, Seraph was getting to meet Kenshin and Gennosuke as well.

"It is an honor to meet you as well; I must thank you for being able to protect us during the escape." Seraph said as Kenshin spoke.

"Well, Seraph-san, considering the outcome of the mission and knowing that the enemy wouldn't give us the slip so easily, we were able to prepare for the worst upon our arrival to that base. It was really all in a day's work for us." Kenshin said. "Besides, I'm practically Riku's 'aniki' so to speak, so I've got to at least be around to give him the support he needed."

"Kenshin, you don't have to put it like that, though I appreciate the thought." Riku replied with a smile. "Besides, I'm sure Gennosuke-sensei felt the same way for his student, which was why he came too, right?"

"That's for certain, Riku." Gennosuke said, bowing to Seraph before returning his attention to his student. "Not only did it give me a good chance of letting me see how far you've advance in controlling your powers lately, but I also got to see for myself how good your medical skills have gotten. I'm certain Oboro-dono would be proud once she hears about this."

Riku blushed a little bit, but then stopped and tilted his head slightly, remembering how Greg was eager on meeting Oboro before and did his best to hide the feeling of regret on the fact that he couldn't do more for his friend and keep it from showing on his face. Though that attempt was in vain, as it had become obvious.

"Riku, I'm sure he will be okay." Lilica said suddenly, although the expression on her face looked sad too. "Greg's a fighter; surely something like this won't keep him down forever."

"Yeah, you're right. Greg may not look it, but he's really a resilient guy, he's shown all of us that today." Riku nodded. "I'm sure he'll pull through this once Mom, Oboro-dono and Serina-san are done with him. And with Nanvel just joining in, I'm sure the chances of that just got better."

"It's been over a couple of hours since we got here, though…I know the medical team has to take their time, but Nanami and I can't help but worry too, Riku." Nagi said.

"Yeah, Greg-san looked really bad when we brought him in. He also looked like he was in a deep sleep, maybe the fatigue caught up to him in more ways than one…" Tot said as well while Kenshin spoke.

"I know you three are worried for your friend, and while the most of us do not fully know him as you do right now, I can be sure that things will work out for the best once the medical team set their hearts to it." Kenshin said to them. "Though, we have to wait until they are finished to confirm how things will be, then…"

A short silence followed afterwards until Kurei began to speak.

"Well, until the medical team gives a report on Greg's condition, we need to discuss about all that has happened today, since this is of grave importance. We can save the full introductions for later when things have calmed down." Kurei said seriously as he looked at Seraph, then at Riku and his partners. "Riku, I'm sure you understand that we need to know what's going on too so we can help Seraph and Yuina better."

"I do know that and I'm willing to tell you guys what happened today, for Seraph's sake as well, since she needs to know what we could be expecting in the near future soon." Riku replied.

"Yes, considering the situation, things have gone out of hand because of that guy, Reese's actions." Recca said. "It wouldn't be a surprise to me that he's responsible for this mess."

"Seraph, you do know that what we've gotten into is very dangerous, meaning that whoever was responsible for putting you and Yuina into a situation like this, also means that they won't give up until they get what they want from you." Kurei said. "Still, do you want to listen in on what we're about to learn from Riku and his partners over what has happened?"

"I'm prepared to intake the information; while I still have little memory of this planet, it will be a good source of information for me at this crucial time, although, it will be hard for Yuina to accept it the most when the time will come for her to learn the truth as well." Seraph said.

(Well, she's right about that. We won't be able to keep this from her much longer, now that she and Yuina are involved in a much bigger role just as Mantis said before he died when he was with Greg…) Nagi said in thought to his partner.

(I'm sure that had things turn out differently in the end, Greg would have done the same and filled her in on what's going on, but I guess we have to do it in his place for now.) Riku replied in thought. "You're right, since things have gotten way out of our control, you should probably know that much, Seraph, since you have been involved into this before anything else as well."

"Since everyone is in agreement, we can pass the time by exchanging information until news from the medical team arrives and also ponder more on the matter on what possible dangers we would be facing later from the enemy." Recca said as he looked at Gennosuke.

"You're correct, Recca-san, this is a serious time we're all dealing with at the moment." Gennosuke replied seriously. "First, we should begin with detailing to Seraph-san about the enemy that was responsible, before going on to discuss about the events of today."

"Don't spare any details, you guys." Kenshin said to Riku and his partners. "If there's even a little hint worth mentioning, we should know about it too."

"That is why I'm out here as well, despite what Yuina and I just endured." Seraph said seriously. "In any case, you were about to explain the likeliest reason as to why we were targeted and Yuina's aunt had to die in the process, were you not?"

"Yes, we'd better begin with what we do already know about it. Now, Seraph…we should start with the kind of enemy that was responsible for causing you this grief in the first place." Riku spoke first. "Since you were the one who learned from Maki and the others basically on who Reese and the Patriots are before we met you, I guess we should also fill you in on what kind of threats the people he works for possess."

"Yes, Greg-san and Maki-san told me about the Patriots and their doings, so I have a vague idea on what they are capable of." Seraph said as she looked at Lilica. "Will you be alright here with us instead of being with your comrades?"

"I'll be okay, Seraph, though I do think its time I get back to the others anyway, they are pretty much worried over what happened to Greg, especially Rio of all people." Lilica stood up. "Kurei, it will be okay Sora and Aoi come along with me, right? They may meet their mother on the way."

"Most certainly, Lilica, since this conversation we will have is between those who have been through a lot today and I don't need to scare them. Thank you for the consideration." Kurei replied as Lilica took the children's hands and beckoned them to come with her as Umi, Tatsuko, and Inuko stood up as well.

"Ah, I think we'd better follow Lilica's advice and go too." Tatsuko said. "I know the medical team's got things handled, but I'm just as worried about how Rio-san feels about it.

"Yeah, I'm with you on that one, Tatsuko." Inuko spoke as Umi headed in the other direction.

"I'm going to gather the rest of the referees that are staying here at the moment to come check up as well." Umi said. "I'm sure since most of them were told about what's been happening, the most they can do is help cheer up the Warrior group."

"Yeah, you go and do that. We'll be meeting you at the lobby area then." Tatsuko said with a nod as the three former referees left the room, leaving the remainder of people to start discussing what had happened.

"Now then, Seraph, if Greg hasn't told you about the kind of person Reese was before he revealed himself today, I'm sure you can grasp the idea why every single one of us doesn't really like him. We can tell you from our point of view of most of the detestable things he has done that I'm sure you'll need to know…" Riku said as he and his partners began to explain to her about his past actions…

Meanwhile, in the lobby area of the mansion, Maki was sitting across the couch area where Rio, Maya, and Yuji sat, holding onto a cigarette and sighing after hearing all that has happened from her three Warrior operatives, while Neon was sitting across listening to the conversation as well. Most of it was still pretty hard to accept, but she will eventually understand things better when Nanvel gets a report on Greg's condition later, hoping for some good news.

"I see…so Greg stayed behind to get some secret information from Mantis and in turn, the enemy must have found out about it and eliminated Mantis and tried to take down Greg along with the underground base." Maki said solemnly as Rio, who looked tired due to the experience she had today, spoke.

"I'm so sorry, Maki…I knew I should have listened to my instincts and stayed behind, but I didn't want to upset Greg if I did." Rio said, still gripping unto Greg's lance, the Ascension with both her hands as it was laid on her laps. "And what happened to Mantis after everything we did today…what Reese has done isn't forgivable!"

"I know what you mean…Greg must have been hit the hardest since he was the only one with him at the time." Yuji said miserably. "To think how this will affect him mentally from now on…chances are he won't be able to recover from this so easily."

"Damn it all!" Rio hung her head and shouted. "What gain is Reese trying to get from all of this?"

"Rio, I know how bitter you must feel about all this, but now isn't the time to think about how we were all manipulated into this for the enemy's gain." Maki advised her. "For the moment, now that at least we've gotten Lilica back along with both Seraph and Yuina, it's best to concentrate on recovering ourselves from this ordeal until the time comes to counter what other surprises Reese and the Patriots have in store for us."

"She's right, Rio, although I feel the same way about Reese as you do now." Maya said to her friend. "We should be grateful that at least we will be safe here at the Uruha mansion for the time being and I'm sure with their alliance with us still set, they will continue to support us from now on."

"That's for certain, Rio-san. Kurei and everyone else here will see to that, I can assure you." Neon said to her.

"Yeah, I know that and I really appreciate it." Rio replied, as she looked at Maki with concern on her face. "Yet, I can't help but think about everything regarding Greg's powers…was it part of the reason why he stayed behind with Mantis?"

"Most likely, since all we know right now at the moment is that that facility had something to do with whatever Greg's father was involved in." Maya replied. "And those things you claimed Greg did with the Ascension during the fight with Mantis…what is really going on?"

"I wished we all knew, Maya, but I guess the answers will have to wait until Greg recovers from this. You guys need a much deserved break from all that has happened, so don't worry yourselves any more than you have to. When the time comes, we'll seriously gather around to ponder about this." Maki told them as Lilica entered the room with Sora and Aoi holding her hands, with Inuko and Tatsuko behind her.

"Lilica, how are things up front?" Maki asked her as Lilica sat next to her, as did the two young children stood next to their mother, and the two referees stood next to the Warrior operatives who took part in the mission earlier.

Yuji felt an urge to take out his camera and start filming the cute and pretty former Urabutosatsujin referees, but since the mood right now killed any perverted indication he had before, he soon dropped the idea.

"Well, it seems like Kurei and the other members of the Uruha and Hokage are going to get down into telling Seraph all that she needed to know about Reese and the Patriots, as well as getting into what really happened today with the members from Riku and his partners." Lilica explained.

"We were just telling Maki and Neon about what happened during the mission as well and from Rio, about that fight with Mantis and afterwards." Maya told her. "You missed out on one hell of a story, Lil; you should have been here to hear it."

"Thanks, but I've been through enough wild stories for one lifetime, I can do without it until later." Lilica replied sheepishly as she laid back. "Still, considering that Greg did one heck of a job today, he still managed to find his way back to us despite getting hurt badly."

"He did say he wanted all of us in Warrior to stay with him as a real family from now on before and he sounded like he meant it." Maya said with a small smile on her face.

"It could be that, but I guess this also applies from what his memories of his late mother told him, I guess." Rio said solemnly. "That he has to live, no matter how hard things look. I guess in a way even she knew of the burden he was to bear later on in life because of his past…"

There was a short silence afterwards until Umi entered the room with a group of other females the members of Warrior never met before.

"Well, I managed to find as many of the former referees that are staying here at the moment, but I didn't remember that all of them staying here." Umi said as one of the referees stepped up to speak. "In any case, girls, with the exception of Nanvel who is with the medical team at the moment, this is Greg-san's surrogate family that Riku and I have told you about."

"So, this is Team Warrior, one of the groups that we're allied with, right?" The girl asked, wearing a mouse cosplay. "I'm Demi, Number Two referee after Tatsuko, representing the Year of the Mouse."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Demi." Maki said, bowing to her. "Greg has told me that he made some friends out of the group of referees when he last visited the mansion with his girlfriend."

"When you said 'Year of the Mouse', those that apply to the outfit you're wearing?" Lilica asked.

"Of course, each referee represents something pretty much similar to a zodiac from China or the like." Demi replied. "While you already know Umi, Tatsuko and Inuko, they too represent animals of a year as well."

"I represented the 'Year of the Rabbit'." Umi simply told them.

"While I represent the 'Year of the Dragon' and Inuko represents the 'Year of the Dog'." Tatsuko said as Inuko nodded as well.

"I see, so that makes four referees we've met out of you so far." Maya said. "And you guys?"

The remainder of the group got to introduce themselves to Maki and the Warrior group. After Demi was introduced, next was Amagi, a cute freckled girl who represented the Year of the Horse. She does what she can to support Demi and is a good natured girl whose friends with Enma, who represented the Year of the Monkey. Like Amagi, Enma is also a good natured person and is always cheerful.

The next to be introduced was Yoko, who represented the Year of the Sheep or Ram. She is one of the most self assured and outgoing of all the referees, having no doubt to her own attractiveness and loves to work the audience. She also craves attention, limelight and admiration more than Tatsuko and is the source of confidence among the rest of the referees. Despite all these qualities, she prefers to dress in her ref outfit than do the task she wore it for in the first place.

Following Yoko, the youngest of the group, Inoko was next. She represents the Year of the Pig, though hasn't done any of her duties as a referee as yet, she still had quite a fan-base and is training to become a professional referee to be on par with the rest of the girls. She happened to wear an eye patch over her left eye and happens to be one of Domon Ishijima's fans.

Next to be introduced to Maki and the others from Warrior was Midori, who represented the Year of the Bird. She wore a cosplay that closely resembled a large bird. She happens to be one of the spunkier referees, not hesitating to yell back to the audience who make comments about her body.

The last of the girls to be introduced was Ushino, who represented the Year of the Cow. It would seem obvious since she is the bustiest of all the refs and she has to wear cow related costume wear consisting of a cow bell around her neck, two rings on her left leg, along with a pair of cute, rounded glasses, which got a much forced back reaction from Yuji who kept staring at her. Like Umi, she is timid, and has a habit of flinching when the fighting for one of the participants starts to go bad as well as hiding her eyes during a fight. She is not such a big fan of violence.

Altogether, the former Urabutosatsujin referees were getting to greet the various members of Warrior and started to get along well with each other as they began to give their own support to Rio over what has happened. It was Ushino who got to speak with Rio when she approached her.

"Rio-san, while the rest of us don't know your son like Inuko, Umi, and Tatsuko do, I'm sure that he will be fine." Ushino smiled at Rio. "The medical team here is one of the best in treating its patients, so he's in good hands."

"Yeah, Rio-san, so don't look so gloomy." Inoko told her as Rio grinned as she looked at Neon.

"Was this your idea, Neon? Rio asked simply. "Because if you're trying to make me feel better, it's actually working."

"Oh, I wish I had a hand in this, but they are just as worried about Greg as everyone else is." Neon replied with a smile.

"You know…this reminds me of something similar several years back." Maki said with a light sigh. "This was not the first time Greg had his extremely close brush with death… The only difference is that Greg didn't have too many friends back then, yet still he always had a way of making ones, even if it meant getting into trouble."

"What are you talking about Maki?" Yuji asked as Maya clubbed his head since he was staring at the referees too much, especially at Ushino.

"Try to remember. You were there too, Yuji, when Greg got into that nasty fight that almost got him killed." Maya exclaimed which was pretty much the surprise to Neon, her children and the Urabutosatsujin referees.

"Greg got into a fight?" Umi asked. "I know it may sound troubling, but may we ask with who and what for?"

"Well, it would be pretty strange to hear it coming from us, if Greg was awake, as he would tell you all a much better detail on what happened." Rio said as she shrugged her shoulders. "Still, I can tell you as much as I know from what he told me what really happened. It took place long before he joined FOXHOUND; he was still in Japan at the time and was hanging out with the kids around the block for exercise as he was in training at the time…"

August, 23rd, 2008, 6:58 pm, in front of the Mizuo train station at Neo Tokyo…

"Damn, I knew I should have tried to leave the basketball court earlier before it got dark like this, but because the kids around here are pretty enthusiastic about sports in these parts..." A seventeen year old Greg Kinezono said, wearing a hooded, jogging shirt and basketball pants. He was also wearing a large set of head phones around his neck hooked to an Ipod in his pocket and was carrying a medium sized gym bag with books, training equipment, and small lifting gear in it.

He was already late in getting back to the district near Rio's apartment before it got dark, as he had been warned by Maki, Rio, and Seishiro about how dangerous certain parts of the area could get after dark, so he was behind on curfew. If he didn't have to stay back around the busy district, shopping for supplies that he will need for his education and training purposes, he would have been back home before the sunset.

Worse yet, he had spent all of his allowance on the supplies, meaning he was short on the right amount of money for a taxi fare at the moment. That meant that he would have to walk the rest of the way home, which was basically a fifteen to twenty minute trek from the station to the suburbs.

"I can almost sense something's going to happen tonight." Greg muttered his thoughts out loud to himself. "On a night like this, it's probably would have been better to have stayed put at home and waited for tomorrow morning, but now I guess I don't have a choice. Well, here goes…"

Turning towards the street across from his direction, Greg started to walk towards the street leading to the park, where the lamplights began to illuminate the darkness of the area around him. He could hear the fountain of the park was still churning water and was also lit with fluorescent lights as well.

"This is nice…" Greg muttered as he took in the sights of the city at night. Still, he knew that he shouldn't be out too late, although he wanted to relax a bit after a hard evening of training. He continued walking through the park and to the other side where he was able to get back to the main street where the suburb area was.

(Okay, seems that home isn't too far away. Taking that shortcut at a time like this was a good thing when I…) Before Greg finished what he was thinking, he stopped to overhear noises coming from a back alley some buildings away from Rio's apartment building.

"Come on, baby, you know you want it." An older male's voice said as Greg then noticed the sound of a muffled scream of a girl slightly younger than him following afterwards.

"Hey, you know there's no use of you trying to resist us. We're Yakuza, you do know that?" Another male's voice spoke as Greg quietly crept in the direction of the voices to investigate what was going on. "And even if you do cry out and someone managed to hear you, there's not a thing they would to do us."

From around a corner, Greg glanced to see a group of four to five Japanese males, two of them were over twenty years old while the remainder of them looked younger. Three of the men were surrounding a young girl with short, chestnut brown hair, wearing a white and blue school uniform that was partially torn around her blouse area, while her mouth was being covered by one of the men and tears could be seen coming out of her eyes.

After noting the clothing fashion of the men, Greg could tell that they were indeed members of the Yakuza, as they had admitted, but they looked to be simple cronies as he noted their personalities. He overheard from Rio that they've gotten more active in the area as of late, causing trouble for the neighborhood lately, especially by harassing young girls which was one of their acts.

"Okay, I got first dibs on her." One of the older men spoke, spitting out some of the alcohol he was drinking and approaching the trio holding the girl in place as he started to unzip his pants.

"What? Fine, but I don't want any sloppy seconds and neither does anyone else here, so you'd better not ruin the fun for the rest of us, you hear?" One of his friends said as Greg turned his head.

(I know this looks bad for her, but I can't pick a fight with these guys. Rio said I should just leave these kinds of people alone.) Greg thought as he started to walk away, before he stopped as he remembered Rio's voice ring.

(Now, Greg, its okay for you to use what Seishiro-san and I taught you to try and help someone in trouble, but you must never, ever use it to start some kind of fight for personal gain. The same goes for your powers, too.) Rio words of advice came back to him as Greg grunted with contemplation over what the girl would have to go through if he left things as they were. His right artificial arm suddenly began to shake, trying to hold back any guilt he was getting from staying away from intervening. Eventually…the pain that soon gave away afterwards forced him to make a choice.

(Ah, dammit! I'm so going to regret doing this!) Greg thought as he turned around and headed back to the alley where he stopped to face the group of Yakuza as Greg called out to them.

"Stop what you're doing right now!" Greg shouted to the group as they turned to see him standing behind the group, holding unto his bag. "Leave the girl alone."

(Did that guy hear what was going on here and came to help?) The girl thought as one of the Yakuza who was still holding onto the girl spoke.

"Well, well, what do we have here? Some punk that thinks he's a knight in shining armor, maybe?" One of the men asked as Greg lowered his eyes at the men, trying to put up a brave face for the girl, but still was feeling scared as he stared at the men with contempt in his eyes. "I hope my trembling of excitement doesn't make me look too bad."

"Trembling? That's just probably from your drinking too much, buddy." Greg replied seriously as one of the Yakuza cursed loudly at him in reply, taking out a pair of batons to arm himself with.

Battle theme: _**The theme of Arcueid-Nero Chaos's**_ theme from _Melty Blood: Act Cadenza. _

"I was just thinking the same thing too. Go and beat some sense into that little bastard!" One of the men shouted as the baton wielding Yakuza male charged at Greg, who sidestepped before the batons were swung at him and he countered by striking the man with an upward blow accompanied by the heavy weight of his training gym bag that he was holding. The force of the bag met the underside of the man's chin, bruising it as he got lifted off his feet and was knocked flat on his back.

"Why, you…!" One of his friends spat as he prepared to go help his friend, but before he finished, the gym bag was thrown at his chest area, while Greg suddenly followed up by rushing to the second Yakuza that was there and Greg planted a straight punch from his left arm into the chest area, knocking some wind out of him. Greg then grabbed the one who got injured by his training bag from before by his jacket and manage to throw him across to a heap of garbage, crashing into it.

"Dammit! What's the matter with all of you?" The Yakuza holding unto the girl said as he released her and took a steel pipe that was on the ground as he used it to strike Greg at his back. Staggering against a nearby wall, Greg held onto it as he regained his balance as he saw the Yakuza charged with the pipe once more. The young psychic suddenly avoided the incoming strike as he grabbed the Yakuza's arm and used his strength to wrangle it away from the Yakuza as he then used his psychic powers to push the man a great distance from himself and the girl.

Taking some steps back as he approached the young girl with his bruised back turned to her, Greg glanced at her, making sure she was alright.

"Hey, are you okay?" Greg asked as he held his left fist up in a ready fighting pose and breathing heavily. "They didn't hurt or touch you unnecessarily, did they?"

The schoolgirl simply shook her head fervently as Greg stared back at the recovering Yakuza group.

(At this rate, even I can't hold my own against this number…but since I'm already knee deep in this mess, I might as well perform to the best of my abilities until some miracle happen.) Greg thought as he smiled lightly at her. "Don't you worry; I'll make sure these guys won't touch you ever again. For now, I'll draw their attention while you make a run for it."

"Ummm…" The young girl simply muttered as Greg figured out what she was going to say.

"Gregory. Gregory Kinezono, that's my name." He simply said. "And yours?"

"K-Kyoko…" The girl muttered as her eyes widened as she looked to her side. "Look out!"

Greg took heed of the warning and managed to put up his right arm in time to stop a glass bottle that was being thrown at them. As it broke, it managed to cut away into his shirt, revealing light strands of nanomachines coming out of the prosthetic arm that he was wearing.

"What the hell?" One of the Yakuza shouted as Greg looked sternly at the group even harder. "His right hand's not even freaking real!"

"Kill the freak!" The leader of the Yakuza shouted as Greg lifted one of his arms to project a barrier to knock back one of the men while he palmed another to the side with his left fist. Another of the Yakuza then leapt from behind and swung his fist at Greg's stomach, which took the hit, before kicking Greg back in the face.

Before he lost his balance, Greg flipped backwards and used his prosthetic arm to claw into the wet ground beneath him as he slid across it away from the girl named Kyoko. A stream of blood leaked out of his cut cheek as Greg quickly stood up and stood guard against the group once more.

As three of them charged at him from the front, Greg stamped onto a nearby puddle as the water splashed on the men's faces, creating an opening for him to attack one of them with a single roundhouse kick. As he was stunned, Greg gave his accomplice a swift backhand to the back of his head as he dashed to the side once more and gave him a sweep kick to knock the Yakuza man back.

Stopping to breathe for a while, Greg looked on to see how many of the group was still standing, even though he was covered in minor bruises himself. However, before he could register what was to happen next…

"Kinezono-kun, behind you!" Kyoko shouted as Greg didn't get enough time to register what she said was behind him except for a sharp, cold, and piercing feeling that forced its way through the left side of his lower abdomen from behind. Looking down for a second at where the feeling came from, he then saw a tip of a blade, peeking its way through the front of his now blood-stained shirt.

"Kyyaaaahhhh!" Kyoko screamed loudly as Greg's body suddenly felt weak for a moment, as he caught on to what happened just now. One of the Yakuza from before that Greg trashed from before was armed with a wakizashi, a Japanese short sword, and had used it to stab him from behind when he didn't see it coming. No wonder it was getting difficult for him to breathe as he could feel his body getting weak all of a sudden.

(Did I…just get stabbed? Is this how it feels like…?) Greg thought weakly as he slowly slumped to the wet ground, blood pouring out of his wound, unable to stop the bleeding even when he tried to press his hand on it. (No way…does this mean that I'm going to die at a miserable place like this, trying to protect a stranger? How…pathetic…)

"Kinezono-kun! Kinezono-kun!" Kyoko shouted while she watched Greg slumped on the alley ground, as the Yakuza who stabbed Greg spat and looked at Kyoko now, with a murderous look on his face.

"Now that you've seen this, there's no sense keeping you around to tell others what happened. But why not have some fun with that body of yours before I slit your throat first, hmm?" The Yakuza ringleader said as he was about to approach the girl, a tall male with shoulder length hair of black color and was wearing an eye patch over his left eye and casual clothing of a dress shirt and long jeans leapt in with a flying kick to knock down the knife wielding man from behind.

"Who the hell are you…?" The Yakuza shouted, but got a swift punch to the face, knocking him backwards.

Kyoko could tell that this man was also here to rescue her and now Greg so she immediately rushed over to Greg, who was still slumped over and losing blood.

Meanwhile the man managed to knock out three more of the Yakuza within a matter of seconds before the leader, seeing that this newcomer was no pushover, called for the rest of his gang to retreat. After seeing the gang leave, the man turned around and approached Greg

"Greg! Can you hear me?" The man called out as Greg already recognized the tone of his voice as well as his face. "Greg!"

"Sei-Seishiro-san…?" Greg muttered as Seishiro took his left hand and held it firmly.

"I'm here, it's going to be okay, and those guys are gone now." Seishiro said, as he looked at the girl looking at the two, tears streaming out of her eyes. "Stay with me, Greg, I'll get you to a hospital right away."

"Kinezono-kun, he's right. The hospital isn't far from here." Kyoko said, holding unto his prosthetic right hand, surprising him a bit. "Just hang in there!"

"Even after…seeing me like that just now…you're still worried about me?" Greg muttered weakly as Kyoko shook her head.

"That doesn't matter! You…you protected me, the most I can do is help after all that you did…so, please…don't die…" Kyoko cried as Greg coughed a little, he even tasted some of his own blood in his mouth.

"Why did I ever…get myself into something like this…in the first place?" Greg muttered as Seishiro stood up and faced Kyoko.

"My car isn't far from here, so I'll drive him to the hospital." Seishiro said as he lifted up Greg's weak body in his arms. "I assume you're coming as well?"

Kyoko nodded silently in response. "Yes, I'll be fine, I need to be close by to see what happens to him, and also…"

She stopped for a moment as she hesitantly shook her head as Seishiro spoke on.

"There's no need for you to say anymore, but if you want to come, that's fine with me as long as your parents know that you're safe. I'll need you to look after him on the way to the hospital while I drive." Seishiro said. "In any case, we should already be on the way there."

Kyoko nodded at Seishiro in agreement and hurried along with him to his parked car just a few meters away from the alley where he easily laid Greg into the backseat, while Kyoko sat in the passenger's seat and Seishiro took the steering wheel as he sped off to the hospital.

"Do you think you can apply some pressure on that wound to stop the bleeding from getting worse?" Seishiro asked her as Kyoko nodded.

"I think so, I'll try anyway…" Kyoko muttered, as the sight of blood frightened her a great deal.

"Please do, I'm sorry to say won't be able to concentrate on keeping Greg alive long enough for us to get to the hospital in time while driving us there at the same time." Seishiro said with a heavy hint of concern in his voice. "I know you may not like it, but…you are probably one of the first persons that he would stick his neck out for. The most you can do is start repaying his kindness with some of your own."

Kyoko swallowed as she took her hands and pressed on a rolled up cotton towel on his wound while Greg was losing blood and consciousness by the minute.

"Kinezono-kun, please stay awake…" Kyoko said as Seishiro managed to get to the local Neo Tokyo hospital in time as he stepped out of the car at the emergency parkway where a trio of nurse orderlies were outside, attending to patients brought in from an ambulance near by.

"Can somebody please help us?" Seishiro asked as the orderlies noticed Greg lying prone on the car's backseat. "He was just stabbed in a fight when he came to the aid of this girl."

"Notify the emergency room at once that we've got one losing blood fast!" One of the orderlies said as two others brought in a wheeled stretcher and carefully rested Greg on it as he was groaning lightly in pain from the wound. Kyoko stood close by to see Greg get carried off inside as Seishiro took out his cell phone from his pocket.

"Who are you going to call?" Kyoko asked.

"His surrogate family, they need to know what happened so they can be here." Seishiro said as he dialed Rio's number. "And what will you do?"

"I…I will stay here, I can always contact my family later…" Kyoko said hesitantly as Seishiro got through to Rio as her voice got through on the other side.

"Hey, Seishiro-san, it's rare that you gave me a call." Rio asked from her end. "Sorry about the noise, I just got off work and was on my way to a karaoke bar with Miyuki. So, why did you call me up?"

"Rio, I'm afraid I've got some bad news for you that you may not like. Greg got himself into a fight with a small group of Yakuza who were harassing a girl on his way from training and he ended getting stabbed." Seishiro said as Rio exclaimed in reply.

"WHAT!" Rio shouted. "Is Greg okay, Seishiro? Where are you guys now?"

"At the Neo Tokyo hospital, I just brought him here." Seishiro replied. "The wound doesn't look too bad, but he did lose a lot of blood."

"Dammit, I'll contact Maki and the others about this! I'll be on my way there as soon as I can so you can tell me the details!" Rio quickly hung up as Seishiro sighed he looked at Kyoko.

"We should go inside and see what they are doing to help Greg." Seishiro told Kyoko as she nodded.

"Yeah, I just hope he will be okay…" Kyoko said as the two of them went inside the hospital.

Shortly after Seishiro called Rio, she and the rest of Warrior arrived and were there with him and Kyoko within half an hour. They hadn't got any news on Greg's condition since he was brought in and were anxious in knowing if he would pull through. While they were there, they were told about the details of what happened by Kyoko in order to pass the time.

"Damn, Greg should have known better than to get involved in fights against the Japanese mob, but I guess he's a little too good hearted not to leave some girl in trouble like that…" Rio muttered. "It's not like he intentionally went to pick a fight, those creeps started it."

"Well, rest assured that now that Kyoko just told us what we need to know can act as evidence as well since I can look at this as a case of attempted murder." Maki said seriously. "Before I came here, I had a team of forensics make a stop to where witnesses around the area heard the skirmish was taking place and they happened to come across the bloodstained sword that was used to stab Greg."

"So, we've also got psychical evidence too, is that it?" Maya asked as Maki nodded.

"Yes, chances are that the Yakuza who were in the area tonight may have had previous criminal records, so once the fingerprints from the weapon are confirmed and matched with the owner, we can get an arrest warrant made by tomorrow morning." Maki said as one of the doctors came in from the Emergency Room areas.

"You're the legal guardians of Gregory Kinezono, correct?" He asked as Rio, Seishiro and Maki nodded. "Well, I got some good news, the wound somehow managed to miss any vital areas, but he still lost a lot of blood tonight. For now, it seems he's been stabilized and resting comfortably, so even the next few days will be decisive. You will just have to pray that his condition will improve somehow."

Rio gritted her teeth as the doctor left the group while Maki approached the blonde to pat her shoulder.

"Well, at least we know that he's far from danger for now, so we'll be able to rest easy tonight…" Maki said as she looked at Seishiro. "And, once again, thank you for being there in time to help him. I know you did your best too to help him, so…"

"I'll be okay, Maki, I can't blame myself for any of this, though I wish I was there several minutes earlier before it got serious to that point." Seishiro said. "I was concerned on how late it was getting and that Greg wasn't at Rio's apartment at the time, so I went around the block to look for him in case he ran into trouble and it was a good thing that I did."

"We're really grateful that you did that, none of us were probably close enough in the area to be there in time to help Greg." Lilica said as she looked at Kyoko. "You don't have to worry about things here, we'll let you know on how Greg will pull through and as for those punks who harassed you, Maki's going to get something prepared for them as well by tomorrow, so you can come by the station for an ID parade and just show us who was responsible for this mess."

"You don't need to worry about any of them trying to intimidate you or the like, I'll be personally there to watch things myself since I'm one of Greg's guardians after all so I'll be personally be slapping them with a visit to court as early as later this week as well as to have them tried for at least attempted murder." Maki said. "But for the time being, you should be getting home since it's getting late."

"Yeah, if anyone's going to stay here, it should be us; your parents would probably be worried by now. Yuji will take you to where you live if it's far from here." Rio came and bowed to Kyoko. "Thank you again for being there with Seishiro-san through this."

"It was no trouble…but would it be alright if I come back tomorrow to visit?" Kyoko asked as Rio nodded.

"I think Greg would appreciate that very much if you did, Kyoko. He would need the company until he gets better." Rio said with a smile as she handed her a phone number. "Contact me with this number in case you run into problems, I'll tell the staff here that you're Greg's Number One Fan and you're free to check on him any time."

"Rio-san…" Kyoko blushed as Yuji approached them.

"Come on, we should be on the way, Kyoko." Yuji said as Kyoko bowed to the Warrior group before she left with Yuji in a hurry. As she did, Kyoko shyly asked Yuji what he could tell her about what he knew of Greg and he felt obliged to tell her and began doing so on the way.

Two days later, despite feeling a stinging pain from the wound area now and then, Greg woke up just as he normally would, but this time to a bright glare through the hospital windows next to the bed he was lying on. Lifting his right arm over his head, he opened the palm of his artificial hand and clenched it as he thought seriously to himself.

(I survived a near death experience…again…) Greg thought as he then heard a knocking on the door as Rio, Nanvel, Seishiro, Maki and Lilica entered the room carrying a bouquet of flowers and small containers of home cooked food.

"It's you guys…" Greg said simply as Rio hugged him as she rested the flowers close to him.

"Ohayo! So, you're finally up, you sleepyhead." Rio said as she lightly touched Greg's bandaged cheek. "Even though it was just a stab wound, you were sleeping for whole two days since you got here."

"I was out for that long, huh?" Greg asked as Rio folded her arms and stared at him with a raised eyebrow. "I guess that I'm not really that strong if I was sleeping for that long now, am I?"

"Really, Greg, you had us all worried. Why did you go and do something like that?" Rio asked. "I know there must have been good reasons and I can't really blame you, but still…"

"I know that the reason I got in here to begin with is my doing, but I couldn't just leave that girl in trouble like that." Greg said as he held his head. "Yeah, I know those guys were Yakuza too, but…something inside me just made me want to take some kind of action…I don't know, maybe I just don't like seeing other people being pushed around like that. I felt that I had to make a stand somehow, even if it meant either revealing my secrets or getting hurt, but those didn't matter to me at the time."

Rio sighed as she lightly patted Greg's head after he said this.

"Ah, why am I getting fussed up about you doing something like this for? What you just said is pretty logical, not to mention chivalrous on your part, no one can argue with that." Rio lamented. "But you're still going to take the responsibility for making us worry over you like this, so from today on, you're going to spend each evening cleaning out my apartment for a week and getting dinner and bath ready by the time I get home from work!"

"Hey, what kind of punishment is that?" Greg asked. "Besides, you're the one who keeps the apartment unorganized every time I used to stay there and clean up after you anyways when I was a kid. As a matter of fact, those are actually all the things that you assigned me to do every time I was living at home!"

"I don't need to hear any of your complaints, unless you want Seishiro-san to give you hell training for a week instead." Rio said with a sly glare to Greg making him flustered as he gave in.

"Fine, fine…you win, sensei. Although, you forced me into it, I'd rather take the training any day over being your personal housekeeper." Greg muttered as Rio grabbed him in a headlock and tried to suffocate him by pressing his head to her chest.

"What did you say?" Rio said as Maki chuckled seeing this.

"Well, since it's obvious now that Greg is strong enough to take Rio's smothering; I've got some more good news that I'm sure he would like to hear." Maki said as she took out a newspaper to show him a headline that was printed on the second page of the print after Greg recovered from Rio's attack. "Remember that group of Yakuza that got you into the hospital to begin with?"

"How could I not ever forget, Aunt Maki?" Greg asked as he looked at the page as his eyes widened in surprise when he read the headlines. "Hey, aren't these are the same guys that…!"

"That's right, Greg. Soon after that skirmish, I had the forensics at Police Town visit the scene and they happen to get the weapon they used to stab you with and managed to obtain the fingerprint data from the Yakuza guy who just happened to have a criminal record in our files." Maki said.

"The next morning, we found out that this guy was involved for notorious minor, drug smuggling rings around the Neo Tokyo district, not to mention running a money laundering business and real estate scam, and he was arrested on those charges before but that didn't keep him in jail for long." Lilica said.

"Because the Yakuza are always backed up by a high paid lawyer they have in times like these?" Greg asked seriously as Lilica nodded to him.

"Yes, but with the evidence from the blood samples we obtained, it was enough to point all what had happened to him and his friends, even the most professional lawyers in the city couldn't have gotten them out of this one." Nanvel said. "So, we got the guy and his accomplices arrested and had them brought to the ID parade where Kyoko, the girl you rescued and Seishiro-san pointed the guys out."

"That later lead them to a tribunal of judges that convicted them of assault with a deadly weapon and attempted murder." Seishiro said. "You may not know well of how the Japanese justice system works around here, Greg, but it's different on this side of the world. Many countries like this one either do not have or believe in trial by jury, but by a tribunal of judges."

"This means that those guys who harassed Kyoko-san and attacked you that night are going to be spending the next seven years in jail." Rio said as Greg nodded after hearing this.

"That's good to hear…all's well that ends well, I suppose." Greg said as he thought of something. "By the way, you said that girl came forth at the parade, Kyoko, wasn't it? How has she been doing ever since then?"

"She came to visit you yesterday evening while you were still sleeping and stayed like an hour just listening to my stories about you when I came to check you as well." Rio said. "She seemed concerned about how you were going to pull through this, though and said she would keep on visiting until you get better."

"I see…I hope I didn't scare her too much from that time, I ended up having to use some of my powers against those punks who were harassing her." Greg said sullenly.

"Ah, she didn't seem to mind it, as a matter of fact, we ended up telling her everything about you from your artificial arm to your powers." Rio admitted as Greg looked at her wide eyed.

"Why did you go and do that for, sensei?" Greg asked as Seishiro answered for her.

"It was obvious from after what Kyoko-san saw that she had questions about you, Greg. We had to be honest and straightforward with her, and she looked like a trustworthy girl, especially since you've done quite a bit to get her admiration." Seishiro said as Greg blushed and turned his head to the side.

"A-anyway, now that I'm better, how soon can I get out of here?" Greg asked.

"Well, we can get you discharged as soon as today, if that's okay. As long as you don't push yourself since you're still recovering, that is." Nanvel said.

"Today is fine enough, Aunt Nanvel." Greg said simply.

"Alright, the doctors already gave you an ok about this from your last check up, but we need to get some food into that stomach of yours as well as get you a fresh change of clothes." Rio said, grabbing Greg's hospital shirt.

"Hey, wait a minute…!" Greg exclaimed, trying to hide his embarrassment. "No one said anything about you changing clothes for me, I can manage that myself!"

"Oh, let me at least do this for you since one more time since it's been so long since I could toy with you like this!" Rio said as she managed to lift the shirt off, exposing Greg's bandaged chest. "There you go! Now, for the trousers…!"

"SENSEI!" Greg exclaimed loudly as Seishiro and the other Warrior women in the room started to laugh at Rio's antics for driving Greg crazy in order to try to make him feel better.

Several minutes later, after Greg had a breakfast of beef and pork udon noodles and a serving of strawberry sundae that Lilica cooked and prepared herself, knowing one of his most personal of desserts, he changed into casual clothing and left the room with Seishiro and the Warrior group where they would meet Yuji outside waiting for them. However to their surprise on the way out, they met him talking to a familiar face as Greg was the first to point him out.

"Hey, isn't that Shin Murakami-san?" Greg pointed as Rio nodded.

"Well, of course, that's him. I know that face from anywhere here in the hospital." Rio said as she approached him. "Good morning, Shin-san, it's a surprise that I'd meet you here of all places, but then again, this is where we first met you all those years after all and since then to check up on Greg's medical progress."

"Rio-san, Greg-san…it's good to see you too again, though it is under strange circumstances that we always to meet this way." Shin said as he looked to the side. "Kyoko, is this the person that you told me about?"

"Kyoko…?" Greg muttered as he saw the same girl from that night, smiling across from the distance approaching Shin from behind the reception desk.

"That's him; he's the one along with Seishiro-san who rescued me from those guys." Kyoko said simply as Greg stepped back.

"Huh? Why are you here?" Greg asked as Kyoko blushed while Rio looked at Shin and then back at Kyoko.

"Wait a minute, Shin-san? What's really going on around here? Just how is it that you know about this girl so much?" Rio asked as Shin gave a sheepish grin to the blonde before replying.

"I suppose it's my fault for not saying anything earlier to any of you from all the previous visits you made, but Kyoko here just happens to be my younger sister, a sophomore attending Neo Tokyo U at the moment." Shin said as a short silence followed as he said this as Greg and Seishiro looked at each other first before they looked back to the rest of Warrior who had shocked looks on their faces as well.

"Ehhhhhhhh?" Every person in the group except Shin and Kyoko said out loud in shock, most especially Greg, who was dumbstruck by this revelation.

"Wait a minute…you're his younger sister?" Rio asked as she suddenly glanced at Greg's expression when she nudged him at the side. "Talk about a strange turn of events. Who'd think that Greg would end rescuing the younger sibling of his private doctor, thus winning over even more favors, hmm?"

"And what is that supposed to mean, sensei?" Greg asked, flustered. "I had no idea about it until today just like you did, so it's not like I wanted to get a girl's attention or anything…I was just helping someone in distress when it looked real bad."

"Aw, come on, Greg, you don't have to be so defiant about it." Rio wrapped her arm around her surrogate son's neck and pointed to Kyoko. "Besides, she's a rather cute and attractive girl your age, it wouldn't be nice to her if you just ignored her after doing something so chivalrous and brave."

Greg's face turned even more crimson, as did Kyoko's as Rio, Maki, Lilica, and Shin laughed.

"Easy for you to say, I would have died if Seishiro-san wasn't anywhere close by to rescue me. These things happen only by coincidence." Greg said. "Seishiro-san, did you know about this?"

"Trust me; this is a first for me too. I'm just as surprised to know this as you are." Seishiro said as he then patted Greg's shoulder. "But that in itself is a good thing; at least Kyoko-san here will be one of the real first friends you've made here."

"That's true, I guess." Greg replied simply, looking at Kyoko who was still blushing as Greg sighed. "Umm…I really don't know what to say…I'm not that good when it comes to girls…"

Kyoko simply bowed to a nervous Greg as she offered a nicely decorated lunch box wrapped in a red and white handkerchief with a bow in top.

"Please, I worked through last evening on making this…it's a special recipe I used from my mother. It's a meat pie lunch, so I was hoping that if you can…" Kyoko asked as Greg looked on at Rio in silence, who in turn gave him a wink.

(Go for it.) Rio mouthed the words as Greg sighed when he took the bento from the girl's hands.

"Sure, I might as well since I've never had meat pie before." Greg said with a smile as he opened the handkerchief and opened the bento as he was impressed by the girl's culinary skills and presentation. Taking a pair of chopsticks, he took a piece into his mouth and gave it a taste before shutting his eyes to savor it.

"Well, how is it, Greg?" Seishiro asked as Greg's eyes started to water after he swallowed it.

"This…this is…" Greg shook his right fist as he spoke. "…this is how meat is supposed to be used! What kind of magic hands this girl must have to create such a meal?"

Kyoko's eyes widened as Greg took another bite just to make sure he wasn't dreaming.

"This is short of anything close to any other homemade style bento I've ever come across!" Greg exclaimed. "You guys should try this out, it's just beyond words!"

"Take it easy, Greg. It's just a special lunch she cooked for you, but then again, you always get like that whenever you're tasting new recipes to use as inspiration for your style of cooking ramen." Rio said as Greg flushed.

"I do not! That applies to you, acting shamelessly like that every time I do the cooking." Greg said as Kyoko sighed with a smile.

"I'm glad…that you liked it. Even though I've never cooked before, I just thought I needed to repay you for what you did. My mother showed me what to do after she and Shin found out what happened since this is also her thanks as well to you." Kyoko said as Shin spoke.

"You have to excuse her personality, even though she's intelligent and good natured, she still comes off as a bit timid and shy most of the time." Shin said as Kyoko shouted back at him.

"Shin-chan, don't say it like that! I don't want to feel any more embarrassed than I am now!" Kyoko nudged her brother's side as he laughed at this while Greg looked on, feeling a slight migraine come inside his head watching the two of them.

(What's this? Something from my past…did I also have that kind of closeness to my younger sister too as well?) Greg thought, holding his head as Rio approached him.

"Greggie, are you okay there?" Rio asked as Greg replied to her by nodding at her.

"Yeah, just felt a little woozy for a moment, but I'll be okay." Greg replied.

"You must still be having those headaches that you told me about from the last time you visited me, Greg." Shin said. "You are taking the medication that I prescribed for you, right?"

"Yeah, though I still do get them trying to remember stuff, from time to time." Greg said as Kyoko looked at him with a look of concern. "You don't need to worry though; it's nothing serious, just something I've had to cope with since I was a kid."

"You're a very strong person, Kinezono-kun." Kyoko said as Greg shook his head.

"No, I'm not really." Greg said in a low tone. "Even though I may have troubled myself and those around me by putting myself at risk to come to your aid, I still have ways to go before I can believe in my own strengths. I'm not such a reliable person as you think I am…"

"That's not true. You helped me out back there and that's not a bad thing." Kyoko said. "I'm sure anybody else with the same kind of convictions that you had would have done the same for me, so don't think ill about what you've done. I think I owe you a lot, Kinezono-kun."

Greg started to fluster as he glanced back at Rio and the group watching the scene intently before he stared back at Kyoko.

"A-anyway, I'll give what you told me some thought, thanks for consideration, I know you meant well in trying to make me feel better." Greg said as he rubbed his head. "Hey, don't you guys have to get to work today?"

"Awww, but we're so enjoying this little show you putting on for us; I'd hate to ruin it for you." Rio said as she clasped her hands together as Greg took her hand and started to walk as did the Warrior group.

"You know how your boss gets about your late comings to work; we should be going now." Greg said to Rio before Kyoko called out to him.

"Wait!" Kyoko called out to Greg as he stopped to look at her. "Will I…get to see you again sometime soon, Kinezono-kun?"

"I'm not really sure about that, I already have plans to leave for the States soon, so I doubt I would have time to stick around longer than I have to…" Greg said as Rio suddenly stomped on his left foot, causing him grimace quietly, but suddenly catching the message that she was sending. "…I mean…just because I got my future set, doesn't mean I don't have any leisure time to spare in Japan before I go…"

"I see, well…at least continue to visit Shin more often, I usually drop by there too to bring lunch to him." Kyoko said as Greg nodded to her.

"Whenever I'm in the area, I'll be sure to do that. He owes me a lot too, you know." Greg replied to Kyoko with a light smile as he turned around. "Well, thanks again for the meat pie bento, I'd really appreciate it. It was really nice meeting you. Take care of your brother and yourself, Kyoko-san. And try to be more careful whenever you're traveling to home at nights from now on, okay?"

Kyoko looked on as Greg hurried back to where Rio, Seishiro and the other members of Warrior waited for him.

"Well, that went well now, didn't it?" Rio asked with a smile to her surrogate son.

"That's because you forced me to be say unnecessary stuff to a stranger, and a girl no less!" Greg replied. "Are you trying to get me into some kind of trouble by playing matchmaker or something?"

"Aw, all of that was your doing, Greg. I had no part in it whatsoever." Rio said as she shrugged her shoulders as Greg rubbed his head.

"Once I get better, I'll make sure to have you answer for putting me in that spot in the next sparring match, sensei." Greg said in embarrassment.

"Ha, I'd like to see you try!" Rio lamented as she wrapped her arms around Greg's head and smothered him against her chest as the members of Warrior laughed to seeing this. As they left the hospital building, Kyoko and Shin stood at the exit doors, watching them leave as Shin smile secretly while watching his younger sister watch her rescuer leave intently.

(Kinezono-kun… arigatou.) Kyoko thought to herself, holding unto her shirt with a light smile on her face before she bowed to the distant group.

"Wow, I didn't think that Greg-san was involved with something like that from long ago." Tatsuko said as Maki nodded.

"Yes, it does wonders for us to know just how much about him we have yet to learn, yet what we already do know is that he has faced death more than once." Maki said with a finger near her lips. "He may as well be protected by a divine will or something if he doesn't mind risking himself for strangers in trouble…"

Before Maki continued, her cell phone rang which alerted Rio and Maya in surprise. After the second ring, she quickly answered it in her usual, calm tone.

"This is Captain Kawasaki speaking." Maki said as she listened from the other end, her facial expression getting serious by the second as she heard from the speaker from the other end as to why she was being contacted. "There was…? How long ago did this happen? I see…and what are the patrols doing? Alright, alright…I'll have to be there to ascertain the situation myself; the Commissioner would want me there in any case. Expect me in at least half hour, the most."

"What is it, Maki?" Rio asked her as Maki hung up her cell phone. "From the way it sounded, something must have happened in the city."

"No, it isn't the city that's in trouble, but it's actually a number of local state and maximum security prisons all around the country." Maki said in a serious tone. "There was a massive prison break sometime after lunch and a number of escaped convicts are currently on the run."

"What did you say?" Rio exclaimed. "Did you find out anything on who escaped and how?"

"I need to get to Police Town Headquarters ASAP to find out more, the chief of police and the Commissioner are trying to do what they can to prevent the country going into a state of mass paranoia because of this and are doing what they can to keep this under tabs from the media." Maki said as she stood up. "I wish I could stay here to see how Greg will recover from this, but my role in Police Town requires that I must be present with the rest of the police force to settle things. Not to mention that since this is a serious matter, it's not likely that I'll be coming back here anytime soon, as this looks like it will be at least an all-nighter if some of those criminals aren't caught by the day's end."

"Well, I should be coming with you if that's the case." Rio lamented as Maki stopped her.

"Rio, take it easy. I've got things covered for the time being. If anything, I will be contacting you guys about what happened today while you all rest up here. Besides, don't you have a much more important matter to be worried about at the moment?" Maki asked as Rio hung her head as she remembered Greg and his current condition.

"I get it…I'll try to take things slow, for his sake." Rio said in a low tone. "Still, are you sure that you'll be okay getting back to the city from here, Maki?"

"If you need a guide to take you to the city, I can ask Kurei to have one of our clan members to take you there, since now the possibility that the enemy could be watching our movements since this development came up." Neon said to her.

"I'd appreciate that, but before I leave, I'd like to stay a little longer just to hear the news on Greg's condition, to put my mind more at ease." Maki said.

"Well, we deal with one problem and another one pops up when we least expect it." Lilica said. "Who do you think would organize a mass multi-prison break, Rio?"

"We'll be more screwed over if Reese is behind this one too, but I don't think he would resort to that sort of thing. We learned that from after we ran into that Shade guy and we found out Shade too was a pawn for Reese's game." Rio said, rubbing her head and going into deep thought. (Arrrgh! This is so damn confusing! What the hell's really going on around here? Was the prison break around the country all some part of Reese's plan as well? Oh, Greg…if only I knew what's going to happen next so I could at least prepare you for the worst…)

"Look, Rio, until Maki gets a good idea about what went on, we shouldn't rack our brains worrying about what we can't do about the situation." Maya said. "For now, I think we should take it slow like Maki said and think things over."

"Yeah, I hope that will at least ease some of the anxiety that I'm having right now over things…" Rio said as she hoped that there wouldn't be any further problems ahead as they were now…

Meanwhile, back at the living room area of the Uruha mansion…

"Now that Seraph-san has a vague idea on who Reese and the Patriots are, we should start talking about how the mission went today for Greg and the rest of you guys." Kurei said as Seraph looked focused even more after having just listened to Riku and his partners as well as various members of the Hokage and Uruha members on the dirt on Reese and the Patriots.

"I know now, why such a man would have done all of this to hurt Yuina, but in a way I cannot even begin to comprehend why." Seraph said, trying to hide any sense of bitterness and anger, a sense that she was not used to, that she had against Reese from showing. "Didn't he even consider other human being's emotions when he did such unspeakable things?"

"Unfortunately for us, it seems he has lost all sense of compassion and only has regards towards his own self, Seraph, but it's not like he had any to begin with." Riku said. "It even disgusts me to even think that this guy was part of FOXHOUND and more particularly, one of the commanding officers that we usually took orders and missions from…"

"I understand what you mean Riku, but that doesn't change the fact that what has happened has already happened and we really can't do anything now to change anything about it. Reese had already accomplished his role and now in turn, caused disorder in the group." Nagi said. "I just hope the Colonel, Commander Silverburgh, or Michael will be able to keep things stable when they are informed of this. In fact, we probably will be receiving some word from them on what action should be taken soon, especially now that Reese has crossed the line."

"Before we do that though, we need to concentrate on the situation we're facing. There's no need to openly go after Reese the next time he reveals himself, or else it could be another trap just waiting for us. " Recca said.

"Recca-san is right, Nagi. For the time being, you three also need to recover from today's mission with your companions, as I can imagine that you all must be very weary from all of the events." Gennosuke said as he faced Riku. "Riku, leave the discussion of the matter about Reese to your uncle, myself, your parents, and your grandmother."

"Thank you, Gennosuke-dono, but the three of us should be okay for the time being, since most of our wounds were taken care of before we got here." Riku said and then stopped as he noticed Maki enter the room with Neon. "Maki, why are you here? Shouldn't you be with Rio and the others until the medical team is finished upstairs with Greg?"

"Apparently, something just came up over at the city and I've been called to report back to Police Town HQ, as I have to be present over a matter of great importance as soon as possible." Maki said with a serious tone.

"What happened, Maki?" Nastasha asked as Maki replied to her friend.

"Since you're all here, I might as well tell you what I've heard. Apparently, a number of wanted and dangerous criminals just escaped from their prisons from all around the country." Maki said, this news definitely catching the attention of everyone else in the room. "The police chief himself told me that it's possible that someone organized this since a few of these criminals rank from psychotic serial killers, professional assassins, to thieves and burglars, all ranking from highly dangerous to common in terms of criminal classifications."

"When did this happen?" Nagi asked as she looked at her watch.

"I just got the call about this about five minutes ago…so taking into account the time we got here from that base, it must have happened shortly after lunch." Maki replied.

"So, someone else has been busy during our mission below old Tokyo and has started something new we should be worrying about." Riku said.

"Yes, in the case that this news gets out on the media, we could be looking at a new state of anarchy in the country, that is why I have to be there and try to keep that from happening, though that will be hard too. It won't be long before this becomes a national issue." Maki said, fixing her glasses.

"And you need access to the city while staying hidden from the enemy in case we were tracked on the way here, is that it?" Kurei asked as Maki nodded.

"I know just how much you need your mansion to be secured from the enemy and I respect that a great deal, but for now, I will need your permission to leave here and get to Police Town HQ, as I think it will be a matter of days before this thing can be sorted out, so I probably won't be back here to check on Greg for awhile." Maki said.

"Well, we don't want to get in the way of your profession, but is that alright with you, being away from Greg in his current condition?" Recca asked.

"Don't worry; as much as my work is important to me, my family comes first before everything else." Maki said with a smile. "So, I'll stay here a little longer, at least until I hear some news on his condition."

"Alright, when that happens, I will have Kenshin take you back to the city under his watch." Kurei said as he then saw the rest of Warrior came in behind Maki afterwards.

"Yo, Maki, what's the situation?" Maya asked as Rio came in afterwards, still looking rugged as before and holding onto Greg's Ascension lance, still in its original form and in its steel casing.

"I was just telling everyone about what happened while we were here, and that I'd stay here for awhile longer until I at least hear some good news on Greg's condition." Maki replied.

"Oh, it was about that mass prison break, wasn't it?" Yuji asked. "Who could have pulled off something like that?"

"We'll know once I gather enough information when I get back, Kurei already gave me permission and security to get there." Maki said as she looked at Nastasha. "So, what were you guys discussing about yourselves?"

"If you all must know…" Nastasha said as she lit her third cigarette since she came to the mansion before she spoke. "…Seraph was just getting told about what the Patriots are from me and the ones who helped us today."

"How do you feel, Seraph?" Lilica asked her. "I know it's hard to accept at first, but what we're all fighting against is very true and real. It's just that we never would have thought the enemy would start picking on people like Yuina."

"It's not like this is the first time something like this has happened, as we know people who have been put in similar situations before." Riku said. "So just so you know, you and Yuina aren't the only ones who suffered because of people like Reese."

"I'll get by, somehow…it's Yuina that will have the hardest time trying to comprehend everything you've just told me." Seraph said. "Not to mention that her father's also been thrown into this matter…"

"I know we should be doing what we can for Seraph, but Riku, I think we should also know more on what happened with you guys and the Shinsengumi today if we want to know why Seraph and Yuina were targeted." Recca said seriously.

"Well, we were just about to get to the part where we'd start telling you what we went through today anyway, Dad, though most of it is pretty unbelievable stuff even compared to some cases that we've dealt with in the past." Riku said to his father.

"Just try us, we're all ears." Kenshin said as Rio and Riku looked at each other before nodding to each other before speaking.

"Alright then…it all started when Greg came back to Neo Tokyo after leaving NERV after that last Angel battle some days ago…" Rio started to explain at first.

During the time after, the rest of Warrior entered and joined in, and had their chance along with Riku, Nagi, Tot and the Shinsengumi to explain to the members of the Uruha and Hokage about what had happened that day, and many of them were indeed surprised over what they were told. All about Lt. Matthew Reese's revelation and his involvement with the Patriots and how they were responsible for the revival and brainwashing of Psycho Mantis, Yuina's and Seraph's involvement, Greg's origin of his powers...they explained it in the best of terms to Recca, Kurei, Neon, Raiha, Joker, Kenshin, Kagero and Gennosuke. At the end, it seemed only more questions than answers were left among the group's thoughts.

"I couldn't believe what I'm hearing..." Recca shook his head in shock. "To think that the Patriots are after an advanced artificial intelligence, created for human possession in battle…"

"Yeah, it's hard to accept it at first, but that's the truth and what had happened." Riku said, seriously. "Trust us, we saw it first hand ourselves and we can tell you that something like this is what Reese would want to get his hands on."

"You're right, but then again, it's not like this is the first time that we have had a similar case like this. But to think Seraph may have come from the future…" Kenshin stopped to look at her before continuing. "And you said that Yuina's father may know more about this and could possibly be in the enemy's hands?"

"Most probably, according to what Mantis said." Nagi said.

"Well, the Patriots and that Reese must really be proud of their handiwork now, seeing the results." Kurei gritted his teeth. "To think that we would have to come across another who would go that low as to hurt others for his own benefits, even innocents."

"This really is a serious matter, Riku...if only we knew the seriousness of the situation before hand and predicted Reese's movements; we would have been able to keep tabs on his whereabouts." Kagero said. "But I'm sure even the Patriots would have been able to cover them up…"

"Not to mention that you guys would encounter Shade of all people today as well…" Kenshin said, very much surprised to hear that Riku and his partners were able to escape death from the immortal ninja mercenary if Reese didn't stop him before. "…as grateful I should be to that Reese just this one time for being able to put a stop to Shade before things got more serious, it does come as a bit of a surprise that Reese would enlist his help into this."

"It was all for testing Greg's psychic strength and even though Greg has encountered some problems dealing with Shade when we faced him, it was enough to give Reese the results he wanted." Riku said. "In the end, even Shade himself got used in this little plan that was set up by the enemy."

"Well, we won't get anywhere in this without fully understanding the reason why Reese would go through all of this if it's just to expose the truth of your friend's abilities, not to mention the mystery involving Seraph-san as well unless its directly under the Patriots orders." Kagero said.

"What are you saying, Grandma?" Riku asked in a tone of concern.

"It's a possibility that he could have been working under someone else at the time as well if he was able to gain access to Greg-san's confidential records and obtain them for himself." Kagero explained.

"She could be correct in that assumption, Riku. Unless the Patriots allowed it, they certainly wouldn't have let Reese go to these lengths just to attain the information he needed on these biodroids that you told us about." Gennosuke said. "Someone else must have been pulling the strings behind all of this with Reese from the shadows; that someone could be one of our clan's enemies or it could be someone who we have yet to gain information on."

"I just hope it's not anyone from the assumed enemy organizations that our allies are currently fighting against, or else we could be in more trouble if any of them manages to find any of the biodroids or Yuina's father, who was the brains behind their creation." Recca said.

"According from what we learned from Mantis, the enemy already has had a head start in learning about the existence of biodroids before today happened, so it's possible that Yuina's father could be in captivity somewhere by the enemy." Riku said. "Of course, if he sensed that this sort of thing was to happen and that he'd be targeted later, my only hope is that he already went into hiding to keep a low profile, but its probably too late for that now..."

"So, we don't know exactly if he's still safe or not at this current time, since Mantis was more concerned about warning us about something called the 'Guns of the Patriots' that seemed to be of more importance to him at the moment." Nagi said.

"Yes, that alone does sound like something we all should be looking into. From the looks of things, it could possibly be related to what's been going on in Tokyo-3 at the moment, or could it be part of another scheme?" Kenshin asked seriously as he looked at Kurei. "Dad, what do you think?"

"It's obvious that it just doesn't stop from Yuina's father and the biodroids' existence, or the fact being that Greg was originally involved in one of the Patriots programs for creating psychics, Kenshin." Kurei said seriously. "This is just a prelude of even more problems to come if Reese continues at the pace he's going…"

"So I take it that this means that this particular ninja clan is going to have these matters looked into, right, Kurei?" Maki asked.

"Most certainly, which why we all thought that it was a good thing to have most of our allies from both within and outside the Hokage clan and Uruha gather since they too could have reports on what's been happening on their sides lately." Kurei said. "Not to mention, they could also help your Warrior group look more into the matter regarding Greg-san's relations to this Soldier X project we were told of, meanwhile we can also assist with looking into the matter of Yuina and Seraph as well."

"So, these allies you're talking about…other than us who are already here, just how many can we expect and how soon they can get here?" Lilica asked.

"A number of them are on the way as we speak since they were contacted only a day after Riku told us about what has happened." Recca said. "A number of them are probably going to be in groups while some will be individuals and a number of them are already backed by major organizations you may or may not have heard of that can also help us as well."

"Well, it's good to know that soon we'll be getting some major help in sorting this mess out, though judging from the status we stand by as just a strike force, it's not like we're affiliated with big name corporations like you guys are." Rio said as she stopped to think to herself. (Well, unless you count the reformed Company for one thing which we're allied with to thanks to Greg and Rumina's efforts from the time when we had that adventure in the Underground…)

"You'll eventually get your chances to meet our old and new friends when they get here, as they have heard some stories about your group as well, so getting along with them shouldn't be too hard." Riku said to her.

"Remember that you have to tell Greg about this as well when he recovers, but I'm sure he'd be surprised about it but take it well considering his good personality, so I'm sure it will be good news to him. He could really use it." Lilica said, placing a finger near her lips and tilting her head.

"So, what do you think should be done now, Riku?" Recca asked his son.

"For one thing, Reese is going to answer for what he has done...after getting someone like Greg and his family involved in something like this, along with what happened to Yuina and Seraph, he can't be forgiven so easily. However, I realize that dealing with Reese will have to wait." Riku answered, sensing that his answer was in a way a test of his judgment. "That is because right now I think we should do whatever we can to help Yuina and Seraph; they were hurt because of Reese as well…a great deal more than anyone else in the matter."

"Yeah, point taken, leader." Nagi looked at the two. "Until we get a firm grasp of the situation, we might as well take care of them until Greg recovers. He may know what we can do to help them until we can find Yuina's father..."

"What makes you say that, Nagi-kun?" Tot asked him out of curiosity.

"It may sound strange coming from me, but we've only known him for a couple of days and already I feel that I've known him just as long as I've known everyone else we've met in FOXHOUND up to now. Also, all those things he did during the mission to make sure everyone who helped us was comfortable and watched over showed me that's the kind of person Greg-san is." Nagi said to his girlfriend. "He probably even feels a bit responsibility for what happened to Yuina and Seraph as well, so he would probably want to take it on in order to make up for things."

"You know what; I was thinking the same thing too about him." Tot replied with a smile.

"I'm sure your friend would be pleased to hear that you three are taking up the responsibility of taking care of me and Yuina in his place for the time being." Seraph said as she lightly bowed to the trio. "As much as I'm certain that I can deal with certain matters myself, it is Yuina that will need the most guidance from now on. So, please…"

"Seraph, we already know what you're going to say next, so there's no need to trouble yourself any more than you do right now with worrying about Yuina at the moment, we promise as your friends that we'll do our part to get her through this tough time she's having." Riku said to her.

"And besides, Seraph-san, once things get better for the both of you guys, I'm sure that there will be lots of exciting and good stuff we all can do together from now on." Tot said.

"Thank you again, Riku-san, Nagi-san and Tot-san." Seraph replied to them with a smile.

"Well, you three seem confident about handling that matter, so I guess there was no need to be worrying." Recca said.

"Well, we do owe it to Greg who somehow was the link in helping get Seraph and Yuina back before things got difficult for us, so most of this is thanks to him." Riku said as Seraph nodded.

"Yes, it was because of him from our first meeting that things turned out this way in our favor." Seraph said as she looked at Maki. "And I'm also grateful to Maki-san and her group also took the risk of getting Yuina back while in the process getting their loved one back thanks to Greg-san's efforts as well."

"You guys have a lot of good things to say about Greg, huh?" Maki asked with a smile. "He would feel pretty embarrassed to hear you say things like that, but I guess it's one of the more unique qualities that he seemed to have picked up from his time with Rio and Seishiro-san."

Maki looked to the upper levels of the mansion and began to ponder to herself. She then began to smile as tears started to run down her cheeks around her rounded glasses.

"Greg...because of him and Seishiro-san...I came back to Warrior, did any of you know that?" Maki said to Riku and the others.

"Really? You left the group before?" Nagi asked her.

"Yes, something very bad happened years ago to me...and both of them were there to support me and put me back on track." She sat down to explain, before pausing to wipe her eyes before she continued. "It happened just after a while when he joined FOXHOUND. Lilica and the rest of Warrior should remember about it..."

"Yeah, the black diamond case..." Lilica nodded in agreement. "That was the one of the craziest, yet most dangerous of cases that we ever had to handle since the start of Warrior..."

The date was January 21st, 2011, and Greg had just completed one of his first routine missions. He was using the Harrier to get to where Maki lived, despite orders from a certain Lt. Matthew Reese to return to headquarters as soon the mission is completed.

Even though it was a family emergency, Reese insisted that Greg came back to HQ at once. Unable to find an excuse to evade him this time around, he later got a call from Riku that day in which the young ninja told him what he told Reese while he was still in the Japanese vicinity.

"Riku, are you sure that telling Reese that for me was alright?" Greg asked as the Harrier got closer to its destination. "I mean, to tell him that I was held back in the wrapping up of the mission, even though it already ended two hours ago, and the fact that Reese knows that… wouldn't that end up putting you in a great deal of trouble with him?"

"Yeah, but whatever happened to Maki must be really important, I could tell by the look on your face when you found out, so I felt that I had to cover for you. Besides both Linn and Garland are okay with it as well, saying it's alright and that you have until evening to get back to headquarters." Riku replied to him over the Codec. "I'm willing to take any blame for covering you like this if Reese says anything, but if things get out of hand, I'm sure that General Drake will put in his own opinion on the matter and make Reese come to an understanding."

"Riku…thanks a lot, man." Greg said to him simply. "I'll be sure to find a way to repay the favor someday."

"Hey, don't worry about that, it's no trouble at all, I was glad to help. After all, you're the model of a family man in this group; I know how worried you must be about her." Riku said to him, and it was clear to Greg that the ninja also was concerned about what was happening. "Anyway, give Maki my best wishes, will you?"

"I will." Greg smiled at him as he logged off and finally reached his destination.

After he landed the Harrier some meters away from the house and on the driveway, he got out of his Sneaking Suit and then leaped out, wearing only the casual clothing he had on underneath. He had on a plain white dress shirt, half unbuttoned, as the FOXHOUND dog tags shone on a chain around his neck. He was also wearing long blue jeans and a black combat boots. It had fresh mud and blood under the pair of boots, thus indicating that he was fresh from a mission for the FOXHOUND.

"Where is she, Lilica?" Greg asked, stepping in the house where Maki was staying.

"She's in her room." Lilica replied sadly. "You've should have seen her, Greg...she's not the same Maki we knew...she's different. She's really depressed over what happened when she had to stop that Harry Masato guy."

"After hearing as much I heard from Rio and Nanvel, she would have good reasons." Greg replied. "I still can't believe that she decided to leave Warrior because of this mess...she must really be emotionally hurt."

"Yeah...it's not usual to see her without her glasses..." Lilica said. "She really had it rough… she even ended up breaking them."

Lilica turned and handed Greg a pair of Maki's glasses, which both of the lenses were splintered and broken. His heart broke when he saw this and felt Maki's pain.

"Aunt Maki..." Greg said to himself. Then he patted Lilica. "Don't you worry about it, Maki's a tough woman, she should be able to recover from something like this…but I still can't help but worry about her. That's why I came all the way over here."

"Okay, Greg." Lilica tried to smile. "I know I can always depend on you."

Greg then started to make his way up stairs to her closed room before Lilica called out to him gently.

"Hold up, Greg…she's not alone in there." She said to him. "Seishiro-san's with her too."

"Aw, yeah…he was taking some time off the recent mission for FOXHOUND in this country that he took prior to what happened." Greg said as a thought hit him. "Still, it wouldn't hurt to look and see what he can do to help Aunt Maki."

"Are you planning on eavesdropping on the two of them?" Lilica asked him as she placed her hands on her hips. "Have you no shame?"

"Aw, come on, you want to know too, don't you?" Greg asked her, as Lilica shrugged her shoulders, defeated.

"Alright, you got me there." Lilica said as she pointed at him. "But I won't be covering for you if we'll get caught since you're always so nosy."

"Hey, it can't be helped. That's the kind of guy I am." Greg smiled as he and Lilica carefully snuck in close enough to the slightly ajar door leading into Maki's room. Managing to get a good view of the inside, they could see Maki at a distance, wearing a white robe, which was partially open.

Greg looked into her eyes; they were red just as how her pupils looked from all the crying she must have gone through since she had to stop her former first love, Harry Masato, from causing more chaos and destruction in Police Town. From what Greg knew from Rio's stories, Harry was a police man himself years ago that saved Maki one day from a crazed gun man and she had ended up falling in love with him at that time, making her decide she would be a cop herself one day.

They happened to have been married after she graduated from the police academy, but before they could begin their life together; their ceremonial cruise became victim to a bombing attack that had supposedly left Masato dead, but had Maki spared to live for another day. She had searched for his whereabouts, and was unable to locate him, while Harry was actually still alive and was rescued by a group of fishermen. He was horribly scarred from the attack, and at the time he learned that the bombing was in fact the act of the very same police chief he had worked with and this was all to kill him before getting too close on cracking the black diamond smuggling case.

Harry wanted revenge and used the rumors of his death as an advantage as he went underground. His plan was simply revenge on the police and had formulated many plans to gain his ultimate goal of destroying all of Police Town. Warrior stopped his army of berserker female fighting machines and Maki discovered the horrible truth of Harry Masato. This tragic reunion ended in a gun confrontation on the top of Tokyo Tower and Maki had to stop Harry, her former love, permanently before he could accomplish his terrible goal, by actually shooting him dead in his tracks.

Greg was now a member of FOXHOUND when he heard this and he had to do something about it when he heard from Nanvel that Maki was resigning from the police and how her mood had drastically changed. But upon seeing this, he decided to let Seishiro take care of things since he was much closer to Maki longer than Greg has.

"Aunt Maki..." Greg said silently as he looked at her near pale face as her depression must have really affected her usually radiant color on her face. (Seishiro-san, do what you can to help her.)

"Maki, are you feeling any better than yesterday?" Seishiro said to her as Maki only as she sat down near a table. She was holding unto a small photograph of Harry and herself together.

"How can you ask me that...after hearing what I've been through?" She said without looking, as her head laid low. "I...didn't know what to feel then, or now...I shouldn't have done it..."

"Maki..." Seishiro stepped up closer to her and placed his right arm on her shoulder. "This is not your fault. Not fully knowing why Harry would have done this, you had to do what needed to be done or else he could have killed you and gone after the others if you hadn't made the decision to stop him. If I myself knew about what was happening from before…I would have intervened and done it instead of having to see you put yourself through this pain."

"But he was your friend, wasn't he, Seishiro?" Maki asked him. "Surely, you could have talked him out of it and made him surrender to the authorities…"

"Yes, there's that too." Seishiro replied to her. "But from what I was told, he was pretty set on seeing this through; he even considered your group as obstacles.

"I...I actually still loved him after all this time, Seishiro." Maki started to sob again, as she sat on her bed. "I still ask myself since I pulled the trigger; if that was the same man I was going to spend the rest of my life with, or just a fake, twisted copy of him? Was it really worth killing him...so that his face would haunt me for as long as I lived?"

"No, it's not really right to begin with, believe me. It will weigh on your mind for some time to come, but you should consider one thing. You chose to keep the old Harry in your heart all this time, the Harry I also befriended lies in both of our hearts." Seishiro said to her.

"He would have given me everything that would have made me happy, Seishiro...and he still would have if he hadn't been corrupted like." Maki said.

"I believe so too...part of this lies in my fault as well." Seishiro replied. "If I had only made sure to continue my pursuit of looking for him after that bombing incident and if I had found out that he was still alive since then, maybe it would have been easier for me to persuade him to come back to us. But none of us could have known the truth then."

Seishiro gently took the picture away from Maki and held both her hands.

"Maki...I know you've been grieving long enough about this, but I don't think that is what the old Harry would want. I'm sure he would want you to be doing what he did before that bombing...protecting the civilians of this city with your own sense of justice with him on your side. If...if you can find a way to remember him like that...you should be able to stop blaming yourself and move forward. I'm not forcing you to come back to Warrior, but that's your choice anyhow..." Seishiro explained to her.

Maki looked at Seishiro as tears continued to stream down her face. "Oh, Seishiro...I'll try to...if there's anything to make the old Harry happy..."

"Let's just cherish the good memories that we all shared in the good old days, in both of our hearts. That way, knowing him as a friend of his as well, it should be for the best." Seishiro touched her cheek and wiped some of her tears with his bare hand. Maki then took one of his hands and rubbed it against her face.

"Oh, Seishiro-san...I'm so sorry I..." Maki threw herself at Seishiro in an embrace and started to cry around his shoulders. He simply smiled and started to stroke her blue short cut hair.

"Shhhh, that's okay, Maki...let it all out." Seishiro whispered into her ear. "If you want me to take in all of your sadness for you, just let it out on me. I'm here for you..."

"Seishiro..." Maki stopped sobbing and she started to smile at him. "Thank you...I don't know what to do now..."

"Your choice will come eventually, Maki, you should just let your wounds heal until you're ready." Seishiro told her as a thought came into his mind. (If only…you actually knew how I felt about you too…).

Fully understanding what was happening, Greg smiled to himself as he stepped back, holding unto Lilica's shoulder.

"Greggie, aren't you going to help Maki too?" Lilica asked him as he shook his head.

"I would, but not right now. I think its best that we let Seishiro-san and Maki be for the moment, I think he's got it covered." Greg said quietly with a grin to Lilica, as she smiled back at him with a nod.

"Yeah, I think we should leave them alone too." Lilica said as she walked out of the room with Greg as well, careful not to interrupt the moment between Seishiro and Maki, who already overheard what Greg and Lilica were saying and smiled to each other before embracing once more.

"It was only a couple days after I made up my mind to cancel my resignation from the police and I was back on track, because of Greg and Seishiro mostly; I owe my thanks to them." Maki smiled at her friends.

"I didn't think Greg had quite a history that affected you guys that greatly." Joker said as he heard this.

"Yeah, I hope he manages to get through this, he really fought honestly with all of his strength today, making sure that everyone of us came back home." Tot said sadly, but tried to keep a smile on her face when she saw one of the former referees appear and called everyone from upstairs. It happened to be one of the referees who came back from checking with the medical team's progress on Greg thus far, Umi.

"Everyone, Nanvel-san, Serina-san, Oboro-dono and Yanagi-san are finally finished." She said. "They said it's okay now for us to come and check up on them as they have some things to discuss."

"Well, we've waited long enough. Let's go and check on them to hear what they were able to do for Greg." Kurei said as Rio's eyes lowered, hoping that her surrogate son's condition was in acceptable terms.

(Greggie…please be okay…) Rio thought as she followed the large group soon after.

A few minutes later, Nanvel stepped out along with a tired Yanagi and Oboro, from one of the guests' rooms in the mansion. The three of them were busy putting their skills and abilities as an inventor, medic, and healer altogether in an attempt to stop the bleeding caused by the wounds on Greg's body from the nanomachines deactivation.

Rio, Lilica, Nagi, Tot, and Riku rushed to see them to hear their news. Behind them, Recca, Kurei, Yanagi, Neon, Joker, Kenshin, Raiha, and the three former referees, Umi, Inuko, and Tatsuko along with the rest of their friends, stood by behind them, holding onto Kurei and Neon's younger twin children, while Nastasha, Maki, Yuji, Maya Jingu, Gennosuke and the Shinsengumi stood with them.

"Finally...it's done. He's resting comfortably for the time being." Nanvel plopped on the seat to wipe her brow and opened a suitcase containing a variety of equipment and an assortment of frozen nanomachines for Greg while Oboro sat next to her, worn out as well. Next to the two women, a slender and tall blonde woman wearing a pink sweater and long blue skirt sat down next to them.

To Rio and the other members of Warrior that were there, it was the first time that they've seen her at the mansion as unknown to them, she was actually a Humaritt working with the Hokage clan as one of the medical team personnel who went by the name of Serina. Her lover, Yoshiki Kamiwazumi, was also assigned to the Hokage clan as a one of the tech heads, but he was currently on the way back from an assignment prior to the day's events.

"It took a while, but we managed to stop the bleeding from his right arm in time before he lost any more blood, while Oboro-san, and Yanagi took care of healing some of the other serious wounds, and Nanvel-san and I managed to oversee the state of his nanomachines as she introduced me to how they work for him, but..." Serina stopped as she didn't want the news to distress Rio.

"But what is it? Don't tell us that it's that bad?" Rio exclaimed.

"Not as everyone thinks it is, not very many of the wounds he had before he was brought here were life threatening." Nanvel said with a sad tone in her voice. "After managing to operate on his wounds, this is what I got at the end...2 broken ribs, several lacerations about the chest area as well as his legs, which were badly cut, and there were wounds to his left hand, caused by the continuous uses of the gauntlets and greaves. Still it's a miracle that he can still be breathing after all the damage he took, considering that he also lost a sizable amount of blood when he lost the nano colony for his artificial right arm."

"Greg..." Riku muttered. "Mom, Oboro-dono, does this mean that he's...?"

"We did our best, Riku. The entire team did everything in their abilities to make sure Greg will recover from this, but it will take awhile longer than planned for him to make a full recovery." Yanagi held unto her son as she placed her tired arms on his shoulder. "The good thing is that he's in the most satisfactory condition for him to recuperate properly."

"It's as she said, things will be okay for now. If Greg was able to sustain his own life after the nanomachines in his Suit stopped working, he can still pretty much get through in turn, though his capabilities as a combatant will be decreased dramatically. For now, his vital signs are satisfactory." Nanvel said. "Though, we have come across some pretty bad news…"

"His injuries weren't that complicated, but I suspect that the mental trauma he probably underwent has only worsened the recovery condition as well." Oboro said. "It may only be days to tell us if he will survive this ordeal or not."

"And what are the chances of him waking up?" Rio asked her as Oboro shook her head sadly.

"I'm very sorry to be the one to say this to you, but it's a struggling battle now. Nanvel-san here told me of the details about his condition and the science that your son used to suppress his psychic powers and it seemed that this nanotechnology that was within specific areas of his body may take longer to operate due to the stress endured by his mind." Oboro said.

"In other words, it's up to Greg alone to cooperate with the new nanomachines he's been given if he ever wants to recover and wake up again, but after what I heard about him not being able to help Mantis when he died…" Nanvel stopped to swallow a bit as the news was hard on her as well. "…that alone along with all the endurance he used trying to suppress his power this entire time could have weakened him drastically."

"No, Greg…it can't be." Lilica said, some tears streaming out of her eyes.

Rio simply slammed her fist into the wall next to her as she gritted her teeth. "Damn it all to hell! Why after all that everyone went through, did it have to come to this? I knew I should have followed my intuition and stayed with him and Mantis at the time…"

"Hey, come on, Rio, there's no reason to be upset that Greg's in this condition." Maya said, trying to cheer up the group. "Given the situation, he had no other choice and was willing to take the risk, considering that he already guessed what was going to happen to Mantis at the end and probably spared you and Riku and his partners from having to witness him die such a horrible death by sending you guys out ahead."

Rio looked at her friend then she looked at the floor sadly thinking about Greg's fate. Now that the events of the day had brought the two of them closer than before, she felt a deep sense of regret over not being able to do anything more for her surrogate son after he was able to do his duty as he had promised before to her and the Warrior group.

"You're right, Maya. But I can't help but worry about him...it's so like him to be like this, even though for Mantis's case…" Rio said simply, still in a sour tone. "Even now, I wish I could do something for him, to make him forget his pain, but no matter how much we try to support him, his powers and past are now becoming obstacles for his existence. This will just make things harder for him from now on…"

As Rio said this, Riku looked on at Nagi and Tot in silence as they mentally conversed with each other about what they heard about Greg's condition.

(Man, this is more serious than I imagined.) Riku said in thought. (If what both Oboro-dono and Nanvel said were true, we may have a tougher time helping Rio and the rest of Warrior with dealing with this situation than I originally thought.)

(But judging also from what they said, Greg still has some time before that personality of his can do something that would endanger his life.) Nagi thought in reply.

(Yeah, Greg-san did say that the personality would do things to him first before going after anything else, or would just find ways to torment him mentally on a conscience level.) Tot inputted. (Do you think you can do the same thing with him like you did with Aki some time ago, Nagi-kun?)

(It may be similar in some ways to what I encountered when I faced Shiso while I was in Aki's mind a couple of years back during our mission in dealing with the Mikage family. Though what I did was able to help change him for the better, one difference is that I simply showed him the truth and what happened from there on was more done on his accord. Therefore, I can't really say for sure that there's anything I can do to make this personality more compliant, especially considering the extent of Greg's powers after what we've seen today during this past mission…) Nagi stopped as if to reconsider something. (I'll probably need reinforcements this time around if we ever plan to do anything like that.)

(You mean like what you and Alice did for Mayako-chan?) Tot asked.

(In a way, yes, though I don't think we can deal with Greg's other personality like we dealt with Terror.) Nagi answered. (A simple waking Greg up and then using a seal won't cut it.)

(True enough, that case is a bit different from this one, though we need to know more before saying that for sure. I guess I should get Alice and the rest of the Uruha Ryu to gather here as soon as possible to support us if we want to help Greg put this problem of his to rest before everything else. We're also going to be contacting Yukimura about this as well, so he can help point out what we should be careful of while we proceed and get his opinion too.) Riku thought before Rio suddenly called out to them.

"Hey, you guys are rather quiet again, aren't you?" Rio asked, suddenly cutting their mental conversation. "If you guys are doing what I think you're doing, we're way beyond the point of keeping secrets from each other anymore."

"Could it be that you guys have an idea about Greg's situation and something we can use for it?" Maki asked as Riku gave a hesitant sigh and replied.

"In some ways, we think what may be happening to him has happened to some other people we know from outside the clan in similar cases." Riku admitted. "Although it's kind of early to tell what is really responsible for the cause, there's surely ways that it can be dealt with…"

"Wait, so does this mean that there's some hope for Greg?" Lilica asked as Rio's eyes lit up.

"Well, once the rest of our allies and teammates get here and learn of the situation, I think Greg should be in good hands. Most of them are 'specialists' so to say, about these sorts of things, you guys don't have to be worried about him anymore." Riku assured the Warrior group who sighed heavily in relief as they heard this.

"Riku…you're really are such a good friend to us. We can't thank you enough." Rio stepped forward and embraced Riku tightly, enough that he blushed furiously at her gesture.

"You don't have to put it like that, especially after all that he did for us today. It's the best that my partners and I could do for returning the favor." Riku replied, rubbing his head.

"Since that's the case, Nanvel and I will be ready to support and answer any questions about what we know of Greg's powers that would be any help to you and your allies." Rio said to Riku who nodded in agreement to this.

"Yeah, you'd better do that so we can get a grasp of what we're fully dealing with." Riku said to her.

"Also...we should do what we can to help Mantis rest as well, he was a victim of this mess as well, so he might as well be buried with honor and where no one can disturb him." Rio suggested in a solemn tone.

"Why exactly do you want to do this, Rio?" Riku asked.

"Well for one, Greg asked me too before he passed out and second, I really think Mantis should have a place where he can finally rest in peace, considering after all he was going through." Rio answered.

"But didn't he try to kill you?" Riku asked as Rio gave him a quick smile before speaking seriously once more.

"No, Riku...Reese tried to kill me. He ordered Mantis to do that." Rio replied. "The guilt's all Reese's, and one of these days, before very long, he's going to answer for it."

"We all agree that Reese is fully responsible for everything that has happened, but until we could get to that matter, the burial of Mantis comes first importantly. We at of the Hokage clan can help you get a resting place for Mantis if you let us." Kurei said. "We have an ancient burial ground for our ancestors and fallen warriors like Mantis."

"This burial ground..." Rio began. "Are you sure no one will find it?"

"They'd be stupid to even try." Riku answered. "The Hokage, and many other ninja clans, made sure that the ground where they buried their dead was sacred. Only the clan chief and a few others knew the exact location, and the only people who know that now are me, my father, Uncle Kurei, and Grandma. If we bury Mantis there, I'm sure he can rest in peace without any danger of the Patriots disturbing him ever again."

"Can you guarantee that?" Maki asked.

"Of course I can." Riku answered. "The forest that surrounds the gravesites, are littered with traps of the worst kind. Anyone who comes in uninvited doesn't come out."

"And in the case that someone is brave enough does try attempt to force their way anywhere near the site, they will have to come through us first as we will have some of our allies on the patrol of that particular area, just to play it safe." Kenshin added to Riku's suggestion.

"Alright, it's arranged then...while Greg is recovering and we wait for the remainder of our allies to assist in the situation regarding his powers and recovery, we should prepare a proper funeral and burial for Mantis." Kurei nodded. "That's two problems put aside for now."

"Still, part of the problem lies on what Reese and the Patriots will be doing now." Nagi said. "The matter about the existence of biodroids being known to the enemy bothers me a lot."

"Yeah, Nagi-kun's right. I know we should be asking Seraph-san and Yuina what they know about it, but it wouldn't be right considering what they went through today soon after everything that they went through." Tot said.

"I agree. We should give those two some time to recover, both mentally and physically until they are ready to talk to us some more. We shouldn't rush the matter, although it is pretty urgent." Riku said as Recca spoke.

"You and your partners are really considerate about Yuina and Seraph's welfare on the matter, not to mention how much they are involved in it as well, so we can understand this decision." Recca said to his son.

"Hey, we pretty much go through these things during certain FOXHOUND missions, though it is pretty rough on us as well, when we have to deal with the ordeals that affect your mental level and morale." Riku replied. "The only thing we can do about them is to learn as much as we can from those experiences and be prepared to help out in any way, even if the case is severely traumatic to the victim."

Tot shuddered slightly as she remembered what Gladys Smithson went through during their mission two years back and what treatment she had to undertake before she was mentally stable again.

Not only during the time that the Mikage base was captured by the enemy forces comprising of Shade, and the three members of Schwartz at the time, Brad Crawford, Schuldich and Farfarello. Shade used Gladys as his sex slave for repeated uses until she was rescued by Riku and his partners. If that wasn't enough to send her over the mental edge, the person that she worked and admired the most, Kagami Mikage had abandoned her and was later killed by Black Arts Viper, and later on, the remaining C-Genomes that she had been taking care off like a mother killed themselves by destroying the facility they were being kept in by using their tennyo powers, rather than be captured by the Patriots' forces. The damage to her mind was bad enough that she had to be sent to a mental hospital to be treated.

Fortunately for Gladys, she had been able to recover from the ordeals and had been able to get her life back together. The last time Tot, Nagi, or Riku heard from her, she was currently working as one of the agents for Michael Hansen's Wolf Pack as thanks to the man who had defended and protected her through the aftermaths of the mission, even saving her from death as well.

(Now that I think about it, Gladys-san is also in the same team that Seishiro-san is in as well. I wonder if she knows about Greg-san through him.) Tot thought to herself at first.

While wondering how Gladys has been doing up till now, Tot also hoped that Yuina's condition wasn't that severe, but promised herself that she would do her utmost best to help her out as well. But before she could ponder more on how Gladys had been doing, Nanvel spoke up as if to say something again.

"Oh, and Rio…I just happened to find this in what was left of Greg's Sneaking Suit before." Nanvel said as she took out a cd case that was smeared in some petrified nanomachines and blood, both of which were Greg's and showed it to everyone. Although it looked damaged, the data disc inside the case itself was untouched and safe.

"Hey, I don't recall Greg carrying that with him during the mission." Maya said. "Did he get that when he stayed behind with Mantis?"

"It appears so." Nanvel said simply. "I guess this is why he did that, Maya, he probably may have been searching from answers in regards to those powers of his and Mantis secretly gave this to him."

"Well, if that's the case, we should start looking at what information it has that could probably help us…" Rio said, reaching for the case, but before she could touch it, Nanvel already took the case before Rio did and stored it into her breast pocket. "Huh? Nanvel, what are you doing…?"

"Rio, as much as I want to learn more about the mystery surrounding Greg's psychic powers, as well as learn more about the past that he tried to forget, I don't think it would be right for us to go ahead and look at this without Greg to witness this as well." Nanvel said sternly. "Mantis did entrust this to the person who risked his life to save him from the Patriot's brainwashing, knowing fully well what would happen. This was intended for Greg to know the truth, after all."

"I know that, but..." Rio spoke before Riku placed an arm on her shoulder.

"I think she's right, Rio, even though I'm curious about it as well. It would be best to wait till things calm down a bit and for Greg to recover, so that he can see what that disc contains first. Besides we need a little time to assess the situation more anyway, especially after what's happened recently." Riku said sternly as Rio had to agree after hesitating a bit.

"I guess you're both right." Rio said solemnly as Maki smiled at Rio.

"Don't worry, Rio. It will be kept safe until Greg gets through this. But for now, we should focus on what we can do about what Nanvel said, which worries me the worst right now." Maki said as her tone sounded more worried than ever. "Also, I'm pondering on the case that something this serious has happened to Greg, a lot of people that he's associated to are not going to be happy to know it and I'm not refereeing to those just from FOXHOUND alone."

"Oh, yeah, Greg's got a mess of friends and allies outside the group all over the place." Maya lamented. "It will be kind of hard of who we should be contacting first about the situation if they don't know already."

"Well, I know for sure when I get to call Haruko and Yukari-chan later to check up on things, they won't be too pleased to hear about Greg's current situation if they ask about him, this sort of news would break their hearts, especially Yukari's." Rio said. "Greg's the closest thing to an elder brother to that kid and she really looks up to him, you know."

"Not to mention a number of certain people that he is affiliated with from the King of Fighters like Geese, Billy and Lilly Kane, Nagase, Luise Meyrink, Seth, Rock Howard and Hotaru and Gato Futaba, B. Jenet, Kyo, Iori, Shingo, Cyborg and Mirror Kusanagi, Adel and Rose Bernstein as well as the Beart sisters and the Art of Fighting, Psycho Soldier, Hero, and Rival Teams." Yuji said. "Of all them just mentioned, I know I wouldn't like to see Geese get angry knowing one of his best agents almost died because of the enemy that he's trying to keep a low profile from. Though I bet Ash Crimson will probably revel in joy over the matter when he hears the news."

"Uggh, Ash is one of the reasons why trouble always happens in KOF these days, even outside it like when he caused that fire in Southtown, or even that last time where Greg ran into him, Oswald, and Shen Woo. Things didn't go well since he didn't have Nagase working with him at the time and he got his ass kicked severely." Lilica said.

"If that's not bad enough, what about those from his home turf back in the States?" Nanvel asked. "Greg's done some notable stuff at the neighbor-hood that he currently stays in the area close to FOXHOUND headquarters, one of them stopping a demolition of the apartment complex that he and his neighbors are staying. After managing to get the dirt on the greedy contractor responsible for the demolition when he came across compromising information on the slob, it was enough to put him in jail for life due to money racketeering crimes and stolen insurance claims. So as of now, they are rather supportive of him because he helped supported the community in a big way. Now, whenever he's in trouble, he has support from the tenants of the building that he's living at too."

The members of the Hokage and Uruha as well as Riku, Nagi and Tot stood surprised to hear how Greg has become popular with the people the group of Warrior just mentioned. They were also pleased to know that Greg was needed not just in FOXHOUND and among them, but around those who seemed to have counted on his help.

"Rio, I don't know how I should say this, but even I'm impressed to know how much of a Samaritan Greg is trying to be. None of us knew just how many people outside of FOXHOUND that he has helping him." Riku admitted.

"Yeah, he may even have friends that even we wouldn't know about as of yet, that's just to say how far he's grown, he's been to many places in the time he was in your group. The way I see it, I think Greg would have wanted us to try and fix things for him, since he pretty much was responsible for the mission and how it turned out at the end." Rio spoke. "With the exception of Mantis' death at the end, everything else went fine, its as if he was guided to do a fairly good job of having everyone watching each other's backs today by something divine."

"I agree with you much on that, but what makes you say that about him being guided, Rio?" Riku asked her.

"Well, if I recall correctly, the Americans had an old post Impact song that he listened to at times which had a phrase that could definitely fit Greg's bravery and actions for all that he was able to do today for us." Rio said with her arms folded. "'Heaven helps those who beat their fears.'"

"That's a strange way of putting it on how things went today, but I think I see where you're getting at, Rio." Riku said to her with a smile, agreeing with her comment.

"Well, even I could have seen it myself, that Greg is special in his own way, Rio-san. Still, what happened at the end…it seemed that he didn't get any closure now that the person he saved is now dead…" Nagi said as Tot looked at him, feeling his emotion and understanding. Ever since Nagi met Greg, he had started to regard him as a reliable comrade, even though they have been only quick good friends. She hoped too that Greg will be okay.

"Don't fret too much about it. Greg-san's really is one of the strongest people we have ever met so far and I really had the honor of meeting such a new and great friend, along with his family of Warrior. I know I can believe that he will be okay since he's got such wonderful family and friends to help him out through this." Tot said with a smile.

Nagi looked at Tot and she gave him a nod of assurance. "Yeah, you're right about that. Thanks a lot, Nanami."

"And I'm very certain, from seeing how much each of you from Team Warrior cares about Gregory-san and the same for the comrades that aided him today, that you most assuredly will." Gennosuke suddenly spoke with a light smile. "Until then, you can leave him to our care as discussed before."

"Oh, yeah, thanks a bunch…umm…" Rio stopped as she looked in Kurei and Recca's direction as she was having trouble trying to address Gennosuke and his wife, Oboro since she heard they were referred to by the suffix '-dono' more than '-san' at the end of their names from most of their fellow Hokage clan members. This was because '-dono' is considered a more formal, and in some cases old fashioned term as it is based on the suffix '-tono', which means 'lord', making it an even higher level than the suffix '-sama' as it confers utmost respect. "Help me out here a little, how should I address them, Kurei, Recca?"

"No need to trouble yourself about formalities today, Rio." Kurei said as Oboro spoke.

"Yes, we're all allies and friends here, Rio-san. If it makes you more comfortable, you can just address us as Gennosuke and Oboro of the Hokage until you get to know us better." Oboro said as she smiled at the blonde. "Besides, Riku told us a bit about you and your team before today, so it is an honor to finally meet you, although I wished it was under better circumstances…"

"Hey, I feel the same way, especially after hearing Riku say nothing but praises about your skills as a medic the whole day." Rio said as she clenched her teeth. "Greg would have been pleased to meet you just the same, if he was still conscious…"

"Rio-san…" Oboro said as she held Rio's hand, feeling her anxiety. "You don't need to fear a sad fate for your son; I can tell when the team was working on him that he's a strong person that will fight through this. Not to mention, as while I was operating on his wounds, I've seen that he has recently been taking some of my specially made medicine, which must mean that he really has taken my skills in high regards. So, if the effects from the applications from before managed to keep him in satisfactory condition by the time he was brought here…"

"Yeah, he was holding onto the last spare vials I gave him during that fight with Mantis, Oboro-dono, so the chances of him pulling through this are slightly stronger." Riku said. "But it's as Rio said, you should have heard from him about how much he appreciated having the fruits of your knowledge to help him out today. He really put it to use when he didn't have his medicine any more."

"That reminds me. Nanvel-san…when you get time after dinner, can I speak to you about what kind of symptoms that Greg suffers from concerning his anemic condition and what kind of medicine he takes to deal with it?" Oboro asked. "I want to start working on an herbal remedy to counter some of those effects and have it ready by the time he wakes up."

"Okay, I'll be sure to do that, Oboro-san." Nanvel said with a big smile.

"As you can see, things haven't become hopeless for your son." Oboro said to Rio. "So, try and be strong while we work on helping Greg-san recover, while you get yourself a well deserved break from this. I can see that you also need some tending to yourself, Rio-san."

"Don't worry about me, where do you think that Greg got to be so tough?" Rio asked with a big grin, before taking both of the woman's hands and held them as she bowed to her. "But I will take it easy until things get better, and thanks a lot again for everything, Oboro. You have no idea how much you've done for my son up to now…oh, is it okay that…?"

"You want to see him, is that it?" Oboro asked Rio nodded silently. "Well, I guess it would be alright that those closest to him could get to see him, but try not to make too much noise, he's sleeping peacefully after going through such a delicate emergency procedure."

"Hold on, Rio…" Maya stopped her friend as Rio glanced at her. "We're coming in there with you."

"Yeah, we want to check up on Greg too, you know?" Yuji said with a smile. "He's the reason why we're all together like this, anyway. And who knows, you could get emotional after seeing him in such a sorry state, you will need us to look after you until his condition improves."

"Same goes for us." Riku said as his partners stepped to Rio's side. "I know just how close you've been to Greg during this whole thing and he did help us out a lot at the end, we just want to at least be there with you guys and show our presence so he can at least feel that we're there with him as well."

"So, that way, he can recover better?" Recca asked his son. "I think Rio would like that very much."

Rio stood and looked at the group of people standing around her and almost broke into tears after realizing how many were ready to support her through this. With a small grin, Rio nodded to people in front of her.

"Heh, thank you, everybody. I'm sure Greggie would like the company as well." Rio said as Oboro opened the door and the group entered the room.

The group carefully stepped closer and was able to see his head bandaged over his right eye, while the stump of his arm was bandaged up as well. The chest area was wrapped in bandages, and the cuts he had taken about his body were turning to scars and blemishes, thanks to Yanagi's healing abilities and Oboro's medicinal herbs. His face was deep in a trance that seemed to be relaxing him a bit. She sat next to his side and started to stroke his cheek with one of her hands. Greg's skin was still toughened and broken from all the fights he went through today.

"At least he's resting comfortably, considering all that has happened today. Most assuredly, he will pull through the night without any worries." Serina said. "I know you who are the closest to him want to stay with him, but remember that you too need tending and above all some rest as well."

"Sure, we just need to set our minds at ease by looking over him, even if it's only for awhile." Lilica replied as she took his bandaged left hand and held it gently.

"I understand that. Nanvel was telling me some good stories about him and the times he spent with you during the whole procedure today." Serina said with a smile as Nanvel replied with a grin.

"Hey, it was the best way to pass the time, not to mention give the mood a brighter sense of hope towards the situation." Nanvel said in a quick reply.

"So, Rio, what are you and the rest of Warrior are going to do in the meantime while Greg's recuperating?" Riku asked her. "You know its okay to take it easy here for now until things get better."

"I appreciate what you guys have done for us, Riku, but as a police officer for Police Town, I can't really stay away from my duties much longer than I have or else the chief will get suspicious. Maki's got things covered for now, but sooner or later; I would have to get back to working there in case something has come up, now that Reese has made his move." Rio said sternly.

"Well, we do understand that there are still criminal elements in the city that aren't related to the Patriots, but it can't be overlooked, that's for sure." Recca said.

"Neon told me about the call Maki got before and it's possible that it could be related to what's been going on lately." Kurei said. "Which is why I'm advising you to be careful on how all of you from Warrior approach the situation, it could be another trap set up by Reese and the Patriots for all we know."

"Thanks for the warning, but it's not likely that the mass prison break was their doing, I don't think Reese would organize one hell of an escape like that if he's looking to make a squad force out of criminals alone." Rio lamented. "Still, I'll be okay as long I've got someone here to watch my back in case someone from an enemy organization would be looking for Greg, Yuina, and Seraph for obvious reasons."

"Okay, if that's all you need, let me do it for the time being." Riku offered. "I myself have got some errands to run from tomorrow on anyway, that includes getting the rest of the Uruha Ryu here as well from their recent mission."

"Thanks a lot for the company then, Riku." Rio replied as she looked at him and sighed a little. "Say, that reminds me, have any of your buddies from FOXHOUND been contacted about this yet?"

"No, but we might as well give them a call since Greg's going to pull through this. I bet everybody who is from the group at NERV headquarters at the moment, as well at HQ, must have been worried about us since we broke contact before we fought Mantis." Nagi said to Riku.

"Right, I would have to contact them later, I suppose. I'm sure Linn is worried about Greg the most as well…" Riku stopped to think for a moment before he faced Rio. "Oh, another thing, Rio…by any chance does Greg have any outside allies and friends himself that you mentioned before that would be needed to be contacted about this as well?"

"Yeah, it wouldn't be fair that everyone who is allied with the Uruha and Hokage to get together and leave any of your allies out, I'm sure there must be people Greg must have on the outside that can help you guys out and us in return." Recca said.

"As much as you guys are right about Greg and Warrior having their own allies and friends on the outside, I don't think they have such big profile names and organizations compared to the ones you guys have made from all we know right now or those you haven't told us about yet." Maya said. "Although a number of them are special, in their own 'normal' way, I suppose."

"Now that you mention it, there are a few kids that Greg, Linn, myself, Maya, and Lilica helped out for a time just last year after that incident you guys had at FOXHOUND, which caused you to split up for awhile." Rio said seriously. "I'm sure out of the way they are able to fight, they can pretty much fend for themselves, but I'm still worried about them…"

(At least since we last checked with the kids from the Underground, things seemed to be normal for now and are improving for the better since Kashin changed, but I can't help but worry…sure, that base we were in earlier today was nowhere close to the Underground in terms of relations or location, but was it really just a leftover from one of the projects that the Patriots later took up for themselves?) Rio stopped midways to think to herself as a thought bothered her. (Well, it won't be long till we will be meeting up with Rumina, Chelsea, Ginnosuke, Ruri, and all the other allies and friends we were able to make from the Company again soon and we'll be tangoing with them soon enough once they hear what has happened to Greg.)

"Rio-san? What's the matter?" Tot asked as Rio shook her head.

"Ah, it's nothing, Tot, just something that was on my mind." Rio waved it off as Riku noticed the serious tone in her voice as he thought to himself.

(Hmm, considering how serious Rio looked a while ago, I'd say Greg and Linn may have been involved in something just as big as the Mikage mission, but she said it was after we all split up after that…'incident'. Is that pretty much the reason why Greg couldn't take the offers for joining the Wolf Pack or the Uruha Ryu, even though both Michael and I personally asked him respectively?) Riku thought, a bitter feeling in the back of his mind as he remembered what had caused the split up at first, before he focused back to the discussion at hand. (As much as I'd like to find out what they were dealing with, I should probably wait until its time for them to come forward with who Greg could be allied with that we haven't met yet…)

"Well, I can guess that those guys would be okay, but who knows if Reese and the like would go picking on them while we're not around to help?" Maya asked. "Rio, be sure to give Chelsea a ring later to see things are still safe on their end, just in case."

"I'll be sure to do that, Maya. I'm even wondering how Soichiro-san is going to take the news now that his favorite sparring partner is like this?" Rio asked as Kenshin was next to speak next.

"Soichiro-san? Who is that?" Kenshin asked her.

"Oh, Soichiro Kadotake, he's just a public servant working at the Living Environment Division of the Tokyo Environment Office. Greg bounced into him not too long ago through another affiliate we have. On the outside, he looks like a wimpy pervert, but the guy was in the wrestling club in school and his hand to hand fighting skills are on par with just about any other FOXHOUND recruit at the moment. Not to mention, his girlfriend is a professional dominatrix who works as a spiritual medium part time, so they make quite a couple." Rio explained, causing some of the Uruha and Hokage clan members to look at her wide eyed as she said this.

"Rio-san, just what kind of friends does Greg make on the outside that you know of?" Neon asked her as she grinned to this.

"Well, other than having to work for Geese Howard, getting involved with people from another world, and making friends with a dominatrix, I'd say Greg's got a habit for hanging with the unusual crowd." Rio said. "It's not like I chose who he gets to make friends with anyway."

"I guess he is popular in that way, I suppose." Yuji said, causing Riku to look at the sleeping Greg with a nervous chuckle.

(I'd never thought Greg was mixing with that kind of crowd, but then again quite a few people would consider some of my friends strange, so I guess I can't really complain.) Riku thought. (Still, I'd like to meet these people that Rio just mentioned, especially this Soichiro guy and his girlfriend. I've never met a medium who was also a dominatrix before…)

When Riku was about to ask more questions, he saw the group of Warrior members huddled at a spot near Greg's bed, they discussed quietly amongst each other what they can do by the meantime while he recuperates.

"Well, while Greg is resting, I guess we can start preparations for him by the time he wakes up." Lilica said as she rubbed her head. "I'm certain he will need to keep up to date on what's been happening from today onwards, so I've got to start collecting data and intel that would be useful to him and the rest of his FOXHOUND buddies later on, not to mention try and download some more of those Devil May Cry 3 combo videos that he may have missed since the last time I saw him."

"Right, we also can't forget that his other buddies and comrades that exist outside of the FOXHOUND group would also need to be notified about this as well, so we'd better start making the rounds when things ease up." Maya said. "I may even have to make a stop at Neo Osaka to check on my father and the gang to see if things are still calm on their side and ask them for favors this one time before things get hairy later."

"I'll be the one contacting Geese and whoever else from KOF are allied to Greg; I'll speak to him personally later about this if he hasn't heard by now." Rio said. "What about you, Nanvel?"

"I'm going to have to come clean with Naomi over the developments regarding what happened today at the facility, as well try and salvage as much useable data from what was left of Greg's Sneaking Suit." Nanvel said. "Before that, I'd like to discuss something with Seraph-san first before I talk things over with Oboro-san and Serina-san if they want to assist in Greg's recovery in the future."

"While I'm in Police Town, I'll do some digging around myself as well." Maki said seriously. "These days, the local gangs and crime-lords are being quiet, but something about that is suspicious in itself."

"Yeah, that reminds me that he would need to catch up on some Gantz manga reading as well, so I'm sure after such a long wait when he wakes up, he could at least get two to three new chapters to read since Oka-sama has delayed weekly updates lately, so I'd better get those prepared as well." Yuji said.

"At a time like this, is that all you can mention about helping Greg right now, Yuji?" Maya asked him.

"Hey, I'm doing the best I can too, you know." Yuji said. "Besides, you can say it's one of his strengths, he just can't get by without seeing Kei Kurono in action, presuming he's been revived or not by now."

"Like you can't get by without your hentai material, I suppose." Rio lamented. "Why can't you take an example from Greg and read normal stuff like him? He still even reads the Full Metal Alchemist manga long after he saw the series, the movie and all the animated specials."

"What? I do read normal manga time to time!" Yuji exclaimed, getting nervous. "Why, I've even got my sights on getting all four volumes of _Giri Giri Sisters_ when things calm down…ooops!"

"Ah, ha! So you're still thinking of pervy stuff as usual. You're asking for a beating, Yuji." Maya said, ready to clock Yuji one.

"A slip of the tongue, I swear, girls." Yuji cried out as he pleaded to Rio. "Rio, aren't you going to save me?"

"You brought this on yourself, so I can't help you anymore today, Yuji." Rio said as she folded her arms. "If you want to get beaten up, I'd suggest you take it outside where you can't disturb Greg."

"Rio!" Yuji cried out as he managed to escape the room in time as Maya, Nanvel, and Lilica chased him.

"Come on now, we all had quite a day...it will be time for dinner soon and you do need to get out of those suits after everything that's happened. The people from Warrior already have their rooms ready as well, so they can get themselves more comfortable and join us as well." Yanagi said to the guests.

"I agree, a good long bath and a warm meal really do sound like a good idea around this time." Recca agreed. The group all nodded in agreement, as this day was tough emotionally and physically for all of them.

"And I guess that you two are going to get busy with what you were talking about before on the helicopter on the way here, right?" Riku asked his partners, recalling what they said earlier, before Tot waved her harisen at him while Nagi blushed.

"Hey, you'd better stop saying ecchi things about Nagi and me that aren't true before you get another bruise on the same spot from before, Riku." Tot warned him as Rio giggled some to this.

"Jeez, you guys sure love to put on an act whenever things get depressing, huh?" Rio asked.

"Well, that's the way things have been with them for years now, so it's almost customary." Kenshin answered for Riku. "I would know after seeing them being so close knit for so long."

"As much as we'd like to get used to the antics, it's still going to be tough knowing what lies ahead and what we have to deal with." Rio said in a mellow tone.

"Ah, you're worrying too much, Rio. I'm sure things will get better eventually once we're past the bridge." Recca assured her. "Now, we should let Greg rest and get ourselves taken care of, we're all beat."

"Thanks, but…I'd like to stay with him for just a bit longer, if you don't mind." Rio said as Recca and Yanagi nodded to her.

"Sure, take your time, Rio-san." Neon said as she, along with the various members of the Hokage and Uruha left the room, Rio and Riku along with Nagi and Tot were the only ones in the room now, watching Greg as he slept.

"Well, now that I know he's going to pull through the night, I can head over to the city now. Chances are that I may spend the night there as well considering how things turn out, so I'll contact you on the situation as always." Maki said as she hugged Rio. "Give Greg my regards and apologies for not being here in case he wakes up later, okay?"

Rio nodded to Maki as she did the same with the other Warrior members in the hallway as she proceeded to leave the mansion under protection from Kurei's eldest son, Kenshin and Joker who both agreed earlier to leave with her since Kenshin had to pick up a few members of his team, Hokage Ryu, on the way who went by the names of Reiji Azuma, Elen Azuma, and Cal Devens.

"I've got to hand it to you, Rio. That's one incredible son you've got there, Rio." Riku smiled at Rio. "Until today, he did things that I've never seen him do before."

"Yeah, even though he seemed uncomfortable about it earlier, he did a good job guiding and assisting us through some tough moments." Nagi said.

"Rio-san, you should feel proud of Greg-san because it is kind of rare to meet someone who is genuinely kind and caring to his mother, even if they aren't related by blood." Tot said to her. "I know because of that, and of everything else we were able to find out about him and you guys from Warrior today, he will pull through this."

"I know...I'm so proud of him...yet still…" Rio wiped some tears from her eyes and shaking her head. "Stupid...it's my fault he's like this...If I wasn't so nosy to look into Greg's line of work by helping him from the side, Lilica and everyone else like Yuina and Seraph who later got mixed up into these problems...no one would have to be going through this!"

"Rio...it's not your fault Greg's like this...it was his choice that he sought to face a highly dangerous situation by seeking Mantis to save Lilica and Yuina." Riku said, patting her shoulder. "And besides, we can't be sure what happened to Yuina wouldn't have happened even if you hadn't gotten mixed up in this."

"I know that but...there are times I think, that after all the things I've done to make him stronger...I don't deserve to be his mother. It's like everything I'm doing one ends up causing him more pain...do you think I'm really that heartless, Riku?" Rio asked.

"No, I don't think so." Riku said. "You just care for Greg so much you just have trouble trying to express it the way a real mother should."

"You think so?" She asked him.

"I know so. You were praising him highly a lot, especially with all that's been going on recently." He said. "If he didn't have your kind of support from long ago, he would have ended up becoming someone totally different, he would probably have gone insane because of the loss of the past he once had."

"He looks tough, but he's only human like the rest of us, so it's only natural for him to have the kinds of emotions one would have when he has suffered a traumatic time as a child and kept them hidden as he grew up." Nagi said. "I know that because I've been there too…"

"Nagi-kun…" Tot looked at him compassionately as Nagi looked over at her.

"But, somewhere along the line, I was able to hold on to myself, because of Tot and later after I met Riku and all of our friends here and at FOXHOUND, I knew I was able to put myself at ease because of the trust I was given. Even though there are bits of my past I'd rather not live with, I'm happy because I have my friends to help me ease my burden." Nagi said, taking Tot's hand and giving it a light squeeze. "Rio-san, I know this isn't much, but as a new friend to such a wonderful son that you now call your own, I'm asking you to take the best care of Greg-san. We know that after today, things will get better for everyone, especially since we know what kind of a person he is to be able to bring people together like this."

"Yeah, it's what we thought about earlier before we faced Mantis, everyone's all together now because of Greg-san." Tot said with a smile. "And if you have any problems or anyone who will try to hurt him while he gets better, you can leave it to me and Nagi-kun to look after you guys."

"It's the same with me, Rio. I promise my family, friends, and I will help defend you guys in case anyone stupid enough tries to come for one of my closest buddies." Riku said with a grin as Rio laughed lightly.

"You three…" Rio said as she nodded at them. "Thanks for the offer; it's good to know that Greg can depend on you to watch over him through this."

After Rio said that, Riku took a glance over as she watched Greg sleep one more time before Riku spoke.

"I wonder...is he really at peace while he's sleeping?" Riku asked.

"I just hope whatever Greg is dreaming about, it's only about good things...the last thing he needs is more nightmares." Rio got up and stretched herself. "Come on, Riku, we should let him rest. While we're going to have dinner with our friends and your family, we should discuss some things over with Recca and Kurei as well as get sorted out with the rest of your FOXHOUND buddies on what we should be doing afterwards about the situation."

"I got you. We should do that and leave Greg to rest more comfortably, Rio." Riku replied as he walked out of the room with her, as Rio stopped to look at him one last time, thinking to herself.

(Greggie…even when he wakes up, he'll probably just feel bitter about being unable to prevent Mantis from being killed, I just know it.) Rio thought sadly. (If he were to just forget all about what's happened…while me on the other hand, can't really do much but try and keep him away from the danger of knowing his past, knowing that will be impossible in any case. All I've done is put on a show…what an ugly personality I must have.)

Wiping a tear, Rio quietly shut the door behind her; leaving Greg to slightly groan a bit as his closed eyelids flinched while he slept. Unknown to them, he was getting an unwanted visit by his innermost enemy within his mind-space…

"So, how do you want to go about this, dear Greggie boy, hmm?" Violent Greg asked him as Greg Kinezono looked on, clenching his left fist, feeling slightly more powerless in front of his counterpart. "I'm sure being the masochist that you are, you'd want a slow and endless period of suffering before you submit, or should I see to it that it gets done quickly so you won't have to feel any humiliation after letting Mantis die in front of your eyes? Which do you prefer?"

As Greg stayed silent for a while glaring at his counterpart, Violent Greg turned his head to the side and scoffed simply as he shrugged his shoulders.

"Giving me the cold shoulder treatment, is that it?" Violent Greg asked. "Need I remind you who the one in control here? You won't be able to fight me in your current state because you don't have your powers anymore."

"Because of your cowardly doing, I suppose." Greg replied as Violent Greg angrily stomped the ground under him.

"Speak for yourself, the one who chose to come to this place right after failing to save Mantis. Unlike you, I'm no coward." Violent Greg said as Greg started to protest.

"Enough with the lies, you brought me here!" Greg shouted at him. "Do you think I enjoy coming here to see you of all people at this moment?'

"I don't know, you tell me." Violent Greg said as he rubbed his head. "As a matter of fact, you seem to be more relaxed here, now that you no longer have the will to resist your fate as Soldier X."

"That crap again…" Greg muttered. "Is that what has this been all about for so long? Why you always do what you can to provoke me so much?"

"It's time you accepted things the way they should be. You can't keep fighting the growing urges inside you much longer, now that things have finally come to a head." Violent Greg said.

"My…growing urges?" Greg asked in an unsure tone.

"Your regrets, your anger…trust no one and nothing else but those feelings!" Violent Greg said as he raised his arms as if he was praising his own words. "Feed your anger, your hate. Those are the only two things you will ever need to keep you strong in this world, dear Greg."

"I don't need strength, not anymore." Greg said to his counterpart as he fervently shook his head. "There's only one thing I want…the only thing I need…"

Battle theme: _**Get Down to Business-Order Sol's theme**_ from _Guilty Gear Accent Core._

"What? To love and be loved in return, is that it?" Violent Greg said as he smirked at him. "Who could ever love…a failure like you?"

"Ahhhhh!' Greg snarled at his counterpart as he cried out and charged at him, as Violent Greg simply smirked as Greg threw a left punch at him which he dodged with ease as it brushed nothing but the air near Violent Greg's face.

"Yes, that's it! Stop lying to yourself, you hypocrite and show me your true self!" Violent Greg spoke as he dodged the next set of one handed punches that Greg threw at him. "You want it, don't you? You want to see Reese and your enemies, the Patriots, bleed for everything in the name of all the misery and pain they've caused you and your friends, am I right?"

"You're wrong!" Greg shouted, as he fell forward, only to stumble on the ground and fall on his face. "I…I…"

"Don't lie to me! There's nothing better than the feeling of vengeance against those who took away the innocent lives of a couple of strangers, just because of a grand plan set up by the same enemy you've been fighting for years. You can feel it welling up from within inside you, can't you?" Violent Greg asked. "Greg, you know you can't leave things alone as they are now…just give in to your emotions and I promise I'll be able to settle things against them to make things right."

Greg stayed still for a moment as he clenched his left fist into the dirt below him as Violent Greg offered a hand.

"I'm asking you one last time as a gesture of peace, Greg…let me take control or else suffer the agony for denying yourself for the rest of your life." Violent Greg said as before he got a response from his counterpart, Greg suddenly turned around and threw a handful of grey dirt at his Violent Greg's face. "What the…?"

As the dust got into his eyes, Greg got up and sent a rising uppercut from his left hand at Violent Greg's chin, stunning him a good bit as he backed off a distance from Greg, holding his face.

"You son of a bitch!" Violent Greg shouted, as blood began to seep out from a cut made to his face. "To think you got first blood by using such a cheap trick on me…well, from that little act, I guess you're still going to be quite the stubborn hypocrite that I grew to hate. And to think I was going to take it easy on you…"

"Do whatever you want with me, but I'll tell you something since you want to vent your frustration on me." Greg stood up as he held his chest, breathing hard. "There's no way I'm going to easily give in to the temptation of taking lives just for the sake of vengeance. Sure, I would be lying to myself if I said I didn't have any lingering feelings about how Yuina's aunt and Mantis had to die because of Reese and the Patriots, but at least I know that if I take any sort of action…there will be dire consequences to pay on my part as well. Once I kill purely out of hatred, there will be no stopping it, it will be an endless cycle that will go on until either me or all of them are dead, so what's the point about…"

"I've had enough of you and your stupid preaching! Just shut your cakehole already!" Violent Greg suddenly threw a wave of crushing air at Greg, who got sent flying into a nearby rock behind him as he felt the impact enter his body.

"Guuhhh!" Greg cried out as before he can register what was going to happen next, Violent Greg was already in front of him, holding onto his neck with his right hand.

"I knew from the start that there's something about you which was the problem as to why I wasn't able to totally assimilate with you for all these years." Violent Greg said. "Now after looking at you today after my first attempt failed earlier, I think I'm beginning to see why. It's your natural conscience; it must act as a self defense mechanism to counter my influence, but for it to be able to resist me with such strength…that must be it."

"What…what the hell are you saying?" Greg asked as Violent Greg's grip tightened on Greg's throat.

"You still don't see it yet, do you?" Violent Greg said as he struck a fist into Greg's stomach area, causing him to spit out some blood. "Manifestation…it must be the influence of the Soldier X gene that you currently have in you as well as its most specialized power. You rely on your own mental will when it comes to your usage of your powers and in response, the SX gene that you have must have been influenced to act in accordance to that situation, like the nanos for instance."

"Is that the kind of power…that I have?" Greg asked as Violent Greg shrugged his shoulders.

"That's just a theory, though the manifestation thing could be true too." Violent Greg said. "And it's probably why I came into the picture as well…not to complicate things, but to aid you whom I despise the most!"

"That's not my problem! If you want to take it up with someone, do it with my father!" Greg shouted as Violent Greg slammed his temple against Greg's, sending excruciating pain through his head.

"Of course it's your problem, because you're his only legacy! And you can't do a damned thing about it because you're so blind to the implications of what you can do with such power!" Violent Greg said as he threw him against the rock and started to pummel him with multiple blows with his fists. "And that is why I despise being in the same mind and body such as yours! Why can't you get it right?"

"Its not like I wanted this power to begin with!" Greg shouted as Violent Greg kicked him furiously now.

"Shut up! There you go again with your lame ass excuses!" Violent Greg shouted. "Maybe it never occurred to you before, but I despise do gooders like you who don't know jack about their destiny! You're turning away from the role given to you; the most you can do is respect your father's wishes and abide by them!"

"Maybe it never occurred to YOU, but what if I don't want to?" Greg said as Violent Greg slammed his fist into his right cheekbone and against the rock behind him.

"Dammit…" Violent Greg stopped his punch as he walked backwards to look at Greg who was covered in bruises and cuts because of Violent Greg's assault. "…why? Why can't you realize your role as the new and true Soldier X? Why do you continue to resist like this if you enjoy the torment so much?'

Groggily standing up, Greg wiped the blood away from his lips and stood up firmly as he looked at his counter part.

"Maybe…I'm just stubborn like that. It really can't be helped if I want to endure pain if I can continue getting the appreciation that I'm wanted in this world by my family and friends." Greg said. "That is enough for someone like me to get through in this world, even though most of it will continue to reject me, a failed psychic…I will keep doing what I can to protect it, even if it's only a little."

Violent Greg silently cursed as he took a step to come closer to Greg as he suddenly stopped to feel a water-drop land on his face. Before long, a gentle downpour rain began to fall on the field as both counterparts faced off in the barren field.

(Rain, now? In this place?) Greg thought as he looked up and the blood from his wounds began to get cleaned from the downpour. (Yet, somehow…I have a feeling that this can be my powers acting in accordance just as Violent Greg said a moment ago. And the warmth coming from the rain…it feels familiar somehow…)

"Well now, this scenery gives off such a nostalgic feeling now, doesn't it?" Violent Greg said as he looked around the area as the ground below them started to turn muddy. "I may not know what's happening because of this little display, but no matter, allow me to fix that problem right here and now!"

Violent Greg opened one of his palms to send a psychic wave at his counterpart, who managed to evade it in time by moving to his side as he rushed at Violent Greg in a sprint. Once he was close enough, Greg sent a flying backhand using his left fist, which was blocked before it reached Violent Greg's head.

(Even now, he still has fight in him. This could pose a problem if I let him have his way, so I have to be quick in taking care of this from now.) Violent Greg thought as he countered Greg's attack with a rising knee to his abdomen. However, before he was set to deliver another, Greg had already recovered and sent a downward punch at his counterpart, sending him crashing to the muddy ground.

Greg began to pant as he tried to stand upright, but Violent Greg didn't let him rest as he grabbed his ankle and sent him flat onto the ground before he could stop his fall. Landing on his back, Violent Greg pounced on Greg and started to use double haymaker punches on his counterpart, but Greg effectively blocked the blows using both of his arms, before managing to kick him off.

Violent Greg spat out some of the rainwater that was in his mouth as he stood up, but Greg was already on his feet and returned his attack on his counterpart with a roundhouse kick, before turning his back and used a knock-back spinning single punch on Violent Greg that sent him sliding back on the mud. Stopping midway, Violent Greg quickly dashed at Greg and sent a downward punch, before grabbing him by his chest area and pushing him into the ground.

"Damn it, this is getting nowhere…how come you can still resist to this extent?" Violent Greg asked as he kicked Greg at his abdomen area, forcing him to turn over, panting for air. "You're going to regret yourself if you keep this up, Greg. This power is yours for the taking and you are neglecting the role given to you to fulfill its role, why are you doing such a thing?"

Before Greg can answer, Violent Greg stared on in silence before he smirked as he realized something else.

(I see…it's that woman of yours, isn't it?) Violent Greg thought. (She must be the reason why he's gotten this strong mentally over the time I 'last' saw her in person. Damn it…so could that explain the Soldier X's effect on him or is it…?)

"It's not good to let your mind wander off when you're in the midst of a fight." Greg said as he lifted Violent Greg off his body as Greg managed to get himself free for the time being. The two counterparts stared at each other in another standoff as Violent Greg shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, it matters not what happens from now on. Even if you do manage to put me in my place, you won't be leaving here so easily." Violent Greg told his counterpart. "Any access to the outside world is now restricted ever since you came in here, so you're pretty much stuck here for awhile."

"Even if it seems so, my friends on the other hand would have to do something about that. I don't think they are the kind who would let a friend stay asleep like this for longer than expected once they see that something is wrong." Greg replied, almost with a confident grin. "In case you didn't know, I made sure to tell Riku and his partners about what I had to go through because of you, in the case something like this happens."

"Hmph, even so, what good would that do you anyway?" Violent Greg asked. "I've always told you that you've become too soft, too trusting to these so called friends and family of yours, Greg…you really think that I can be beaten like that? As long as you continue possessing the Soldier X gene, I will always be a part of you for the rest of your life."

"Then that just means that I'll just have to find a way to deal with it just as I did before after I get out of here, don't I?" Greg asked simply as Violent Greg growled at him.

"Enough talk! If I can't consume you right away, I'll just put you to sleep forever! So you'd better put everything into this blow, or else its light's out for you for good!"

Violent Greg charged at his counterpart as Greg started to run towards him as well.

As soon they were in contact range, the two stopped in front of each other as they simultaneously sent their clenched fists towards each other's face.

Greg's left hand connected with his counterpart's right cheek, while Violent Greg managed to land his own fist into Greg's left check, both of them feeling the severe impact of each others blows.

The two of them glared at each other in the rain, with their fists still in each others faces, as they waited for one of them to fall. Then it was Violent Greg who broke the silence first.

"You…bastard…how did you…" Violent Greg stumbled as he fell to his knees, looking stunned. "The Soldier X gene...doesn't belong to you, not to a failure like you…so how can you still beat me like this…?"

"Oh, go to sleep already, will you?" Greg said as he gave him one more punch to knock him out, as Violent Greg felt the energy drain from him from Greg's final blow.

"Impossible…it's not fair that you won. How can a weakling like you still be strong like this…?" Violent Greg muttered, trying to stand up from the mud, but fell over as did Greg, who was too weak to stand up from the beating.

"Damn it…I'm not sure if these wounds will count towards the ones I actually got today from the mission, but they still hurt like hell." Greg thought as he held his chest. "I've got to take it easy for now and assess the situation in here if I want to be clear on anything with my powers."

As he took his time and began to stand up, the rain began to ease up a little as the sun started to shine clearly through the gaps of dark grey clouds above him, though the field around him looked more desolate and in a more sorrowful state than before after all the rain.

"It seems that since he's weakened for now, the influence he has on this place has weakened some, it's never really shone so brightly here before. In any case, I've got to find a way out of this place and back to reality…but not before I start looking for some memories I may have missed, not to mention understand what my power's truly about if any of the memories can point out something useful." Greg said to himself as he wiped his mouth and started to walk away from the field. While he did, a thought hit him.

"He said something about manifestation about my powers, huh? Since this is my mind, I guess I can clearly give it a try with my appearance for now…" Greg said to himself as he stopped to close his eyes and extended his left hand while he opened its palm over his chest area, as the energy he emitted from his hand began to surround him and clean the majority of his body of the mud that stained the majority of his Suit.

"I guess this explains why the nanomachines reacted late today as well, even when I used the Ascension." Greg said to himself, although his right hand was still not there. "What the heck's going to happen to me from now on? Well, I won't find any answers by standing around here; I guess it will be okay for now to see what my powers have done by affecting this place since I had them."

After a bit of walking, Greg found himself on a dusty trail from the empty field as he stopped midways to glance over his side.

"Oh, yeah…since I'm here within my mind-space, I guess I can try and at least visit my mother and sister's graves, it is possible after what Violent Greg told me about my powers, that such things would be here, after all…" Greg said as he lowered his gaze in thought. "The most I can do for now is give them my respects since I never saw their tombstones before in real life, though it won't do much to put myself at ease when I eventually get out of here."

As he walked, he stopped again to see a tall, dark figure walking in the direction where the supposed grave markers were placed.

(Who is that, standing in front of mother's grave?) Greg thought as he knew it couldn't be his counterpart who wasn't that tall. After a few seconds of looking closely, his eyes widened in shock as he started to walk quickly to the grave markers after recognizing the person standing at his dead family's graves.

(Don't tell me…it can't be true…here of all the places…) Greg thought as he clenched his left fist, walking faster to approach the figure, who glanced over to his side and stared at Greg with a tired look through the lens of his glasses. He had dark skin, with a broad and bearded chin with sideburns and was wearing a lab coat over his casual clothing of a dress shirt and jeans.

Greg couldn't believe it at first and he didn't want to from that moment. The one who caused him all of the unnecessary misery and pain from the very beginning was standing right in front of him, trapped within the confined mind-space, was the face of the man he tried the hardest to resent, hate, and, finally, to forget all his life.

The man was none other than Greg's own father and his expression after seeing him after so long was not a happy one.

"Hello, Greg. It didn't take you long to realize that you'd be able to find your family here now, did you?" Curtis said to Greg, who shouted back at his father.

"Y-You!" Greg shouted simply, gritting his teeth. "Matthews! Dr. Curtis Matthews!"

"Is that any way to address your own father after so long?" Curtis simply said to Greg, who tried his best to curve his anger towards his father. "My, look at how you've grown."

"Why the hell are you phrasing it like that for?" Greg asked angrily. "It would be so obvious that I have to grow up and be a real man, unlike a particular bastard I know who still has the cheek to show up here at this time!"

"Now why in blue blazes are you addressing your parent as a bastard?" Curtis asked simply.

"You're not just any bastard, you're THE bastard!" Greg shouted. "If you weren't in front of my mother's and Candice's graves, I would have knocked you down long ago!"

"Judith, Candice…why did you have to die?" Curtis said solemnly as Greg continued to shout at him.

"Why, you ask? Isn't it because of shit like you!" Greg asked. "You're the one who made them go through a lot of hardship!"

"A little more time, that's all…a little more time…" Curtis said as he seemed to be drifting off to his own mindset while Greg continued to argue with him.

"Ahhh? You planned to give them more hardship in that 'a little more time'!" Greg asked him.

"I did promise you so…" Curtis stopped midway as Greg continued to shout.

"You don't even know how much work a single woman in a household had to handle!" Greg shouted at his father while his father spoke to himself as he faced the graves.

"Don't leave me alone…" Curtis cried as Greg pounded his left fist into a nearby slab of rock nearby angrily.

"You're the bastard that left her!" Greg cried out. "Argh, it's not like we're even communicating on the same frequency!"

Pointing at his father with a bruised left fist, Greg continued arguing with him. "You came back to my life too late and you have no place in here! What the hell did you even come here for?"

Curtis looked up and examined the surroundings of Greg's mindscape as he seemed to be checking for something in the environment.

"It seems that the time you spent with your new family and friends have totally changed your perspective, even being in here feels so different from what could have been predicted from those harsh times in your childhood." Curtis said.

"What the hell are you getting at, old man?" Greg said, turning to the side. "If what you're trying to say that what you're seeing has something to do with all the painful memories I've suffered because of you and this Soldier X gene, you couldn't be any more wrong. However, I've already decided long ago not to not to turn back from the path these powers have chosen for me, so it will not be wise to look away from things as they are. It's a sign of my resolve on that decision."

"No, you're the one who's wrong, Gregory." Curtis said simply as he stared at Greg. "It is because one does not want to see the remnants of his own mistakes, isn't it?"

"What do you mean by that?" Greg asked as Curtis continued.

"Is it for the sake of running away from the horrible images brought about in one's own mind?" Curtis asked. "Is it to erase the evidence of what one 's self had done?"

"No, you're wrong!" Greg shouted at his father.

"It is just like a child who wets his bed at night and then hides the sheets." Curtis said as he faced his son sternly. "Gregory…you are just running away."

"What would a bastard like you understand about that!" Greg shouted at his highest tone back at him.

"I do understand, Gregory." Curtis said with a sympathetic tone as Greg turned his head away.

"Tch! Conversing with a bastard like you gives me such a disgusting feeling." Greg said as he started to walk away from his father's position.

"Didn't you come to visit their tombs?" Curtis asked as Greg shouted back without facing him.

"Not while I'm in this foul mood!" Greg replied angrily as soon after he heard his father's footsteps right behind him. "Stop following me!"

"I'm afraid I have to, Greg." Curtis said calmly. "Since you're going to be here for awhile, I might as well accompany you for the time being. It can't be helped since your mind is still getting attuned to the true specifics of your powers along with your memories, which is why from now on; you will need to know how to confront any incoming problems in regards to them by re-experiencing those memories of your past that you tried to forget."

"Why should I have to listen to a memory that I'm trying to forget?" Greg asked as he rubbed his head. (Is this how far my powers have gotten? This seems like a nightmare that I can't wake up from than a dream to me…but for now, I've got to go along with it if I need to fill in at least some of the remainder of my memories while I'm in this dream state. I'd better be careful about it too, or else I may never wake up again …what could Mom and the others be doing now if they knew that I'm in this state?)

Thus, Greg opted to stay within his mind-space for awhile longer, with the most unlikely of people who he happens to hate the most, all the while seeking for more of the closed off memories to his past…

It was only after nine o'clock and most of the Uruha and Hokage clan members had decided to call it a night since it was obvious that the day's events had worn everyone out and many were in need of some rest and meditation over what had happened, especially for the medical team who worked extra hard on Greg's wounds. Following the advice of Kurei and Neon, the members of Team Warrior were granted temporary staying rooms and accommodations as well as protection and assistance for the time being until the situation regarding Reese eases up a bit.

Rio had just stepped out of the bathroom of her own room in the Uruha mansion which was right across to Greg's own and she was feeling almost dead tired due to worrying about her surrogate son's recovery since he was brought in. Wearing nothing but a fluffy, pink towel around her to cover her naked and wet body, she stopped near a tall mirror to examine her body as well to contemplate over the events of the day.

(Boy, a lot of crazy stuff did happen, more than even I can understand at the moment.) Rio thought to herself as she lightly touched the spot where she was stabbed by Shade earlier, now it has become nothing but a light blemish thanks to the medicine that Riku offered her during the rescue mission, along with his mother's healing and mostly of all, her own son's psychic healing ability.

(I've heard that psychics were able to heal wounds to an extent from Seishiro-san before, but I didn't think Greg would be able to do such a thing because he still doesn't fully understand the extent of his powers just yet. Not that I'm complaining about it…thanks to him, I don't have to worry about my beautiful skin being messed up because of some nasty scars.) Rio thought with a light smile before her expression saddened.

(Still, I can't help but not think about him being the center of some kind of conspiracy that the Patriots had organized long before we met; eve if it is so hard to believe. Whatever kind of project that he was involved in must really be in high regards to Reese and whoever else wants that kind of power Greg possesses that they would go through such lengths like that.) Rio thought. (And this proves the point even further that I'm still not that strong enough to protect the one person who has worked so hard throughout his life to bring us altogether like a family…what the hell can I do from now on just to ease Greg's suffering even a little?)

Rio sighed as she turned to the side of the room where the dressing table was when she then heard a ring tone of one of Shuro Tsukasa's famous songs, _**'Feel'**_ from her cell phone rang. Not wanting to be bothered and also due to her being cautious in case one of the enemy would trace her cell phone range, she was about to ignore the caller, but the blonde officer sighed heavily in relief as the caller ID on the phone revealed a very familiar name to her. She opened her cell phone, answering in a tired tone.

"Hello?" Rio asked as a female voice replied to her on the other end.

"Rio, is that you?" The voice asked. "It's me, Miyuki. I thought something happened to you, since you weren't in Police Town for some days now. You should have called in sick if you weren't going to be around."

"Hey, Miyuki, it's been a while. Sorry about that, but there were some personal issues that needed tying up." Rio replied, still tired and depressed over all what just happened. The glasses wearing, Miyuki Onodera happened to be one of her old time friend from the academy up to current in the Police Town duties. She has known of Rio's past and current participations in Team Warrior and has been keeping it as a secret since her life was saved by Rio once during a hostage situation and Rio's first mission involved rescuing her.

"Man, you sound like crap. Is everything okay with you?" Miyuki asked.

"It's just that a lot of stuff has happened recently, that's all. I'll be okay." Rio muttered, looking at her tangled hair as she began to brush it to get back its long and flowing length. She decided to put the speaker on the phone on as she spoke to Miyuki. "In any case, you sound as if something's been going on at the station."

"Yeah, a lot of crazy stuff has been going on while you were on leave." Miyuki replied. "You did hear about the mass prison breaks around the country earlier today?"

"Yeah, I was with Maki when she got the news." Rio said. "She didn't seem to at ease when she had to respond to it, too."

"I heard that some vicious criminals managed to escape, including that transvestite group you brought in awhile back after that whole incident when Nanvel and you got kidnapped." Miyuki said, causing Rio to lift her eyebrow.

"Aw, man. That's one experience I wouldn't want to go over again." Rio lamented. "Besides, there's nothing about them that's even close to vicious, so I wouldn't worry too much about them."

"Yeah, maybe they are a group of stupid, low rate criminals, but it seems that they had some accomplices from the outside who seem to have organized the incidents. If a professional is behind this, we could have problems dealing with capturing them later." Miyuki said.

"Right, in any case, what is everyone back at HQ doing now?" Rio exclaimed.

"I heard from the chief that they are planning to do a joint police investigation with the Neo Osaka, Neo Tokyo, Old Tokyo, Tokyo 2 and 3, Metro, as well the Kamakura branches on this since this may affect all areas and the criminals could be hiding in those places." Miyuki said.

"Man, this really is serious." Rio said simply.

"Yeah, and that means sooner or later, you will have to show up at work to help us, since we're stationed to investigate these kinds of things." Miyuki said. "So, are you going to come and help us with the investigation?"

Stopping her hand movements on the brush for a moment, Rio sighed as she glanced at the mirror and thought about what she should do.

(I know I should be here to help Greg, but I can't ignore my duties as an officer too. Maybe if I do go and check things out at Police Town, I may be able to find out what's been going on lately and even check up on how some of our old friends have been doing since this mess started.) Rio thought to herself.

Looking at the wall next to Greg's room, Rio sighed as she shook her head silently as she replied back to the phone.

"Sure, I might as well turn up from tomorrow and give that old chief an ulcer for showing up on the job." Rio said. "There are some things I want to confirm as well, so you should be expecting to see me then."

"Good, well, I'll be seeing you in the morning." Miyuki said to her. "Have a good night, Rio."

"You too, Miyuki and thanks for calling." Rio said as she hung up and glanced back to the direction of Greg's room.

"And just when I thought that I could concentrate on the problems revolving around Greg, but I guess that has to wait for awhile." Rio said to herself before she started to think to herself.

(Well, I'll just have to leave it all to Riku and his partners, as well the Hokage and Uruha's hands to take the best care of him, while I'll have to deal with my job. On the other hand, the stuff Seraph mentioned about more than one bioroid being around is starting to bug me a little…if Reese decided to go after another host capable of being an emulate just like Yuina is with Seraph...then this whole mess will just start all over again if he goes after another innocent person since he failed to capture the two of them…or could it be that his intentions were for different reasons?) Rio thought seriously.

Silently cursing herself at this, Rio stood up to start changing herself into some nightwear, consisting of a loose, see thru white vest and small and short, tight fitting boxer shorts. Considering that those were a set of clothing that Maki and Nanvel brought over earlier on the way here, it was something she had to make do with until she had the time to gather the stuff she will need while she and the rest of Warrior have to stay at the Uruha mansion.

"Oh, yeah, I've got to remember when the time comes to get Greg's stuff as well. I need to ask Nanvel to make something decent for him to wear around the mansion when he wakes up, though…" Rio yawned as she finished prepared herself for bed. Standing up a bit, she then stopped as she looked on the cell phone one last time after considering Reese's movements.

"Then again, Reese could be after anyone else who also has specially gained abilities or participated in secret projects in the past. Could this mean that he would target Yukari and her mother in the future as well and possibly Ruri and the others from the Underground eventually?" Rio asked herself as she sighed hesitantly and sat on the bed with the cell in hand. Looking for list of contacts, she stopped as she found the name, 'Haruko and Yukari Imada'.

"I guess for the time being, I can start with them. Rumina and Chelsea may be able to hold their own for awhile and while those two may be safe thanks to the relocation program Maki had them enlisted under, I still hope that nothing's happened to them as of yet while we were going through this mess. Please still be okay, you guys." Rio said as she pressed the call button.

Unknown to her, her surrogate son, their friends and comrades and those associated with them thus far, although the hard fight with Mantis is over for now, a whole new world of problems are soon to be heading their way…

Meanwhile, in another part of the mansion, Riku was having a brief discussion with Nagi and Tot regarding what they had just learned that day before turning in to get some sleep.

"Well, this sure has been one heck of a day, especially considering two things." Riku said as he leaned against the wall of the hallway outside their rooms. "First we have this series of big prison break outs and now it looks like our old 'friends' are involved in this somehow."

Both Nagi and Tot nodded in agreement as they knew Riku was referring to when Seraph had described how she had met Greg and co. while being pursued by Farfarello, the knife wielding assassin of Schwartz, and one of their long time enemies. That had definitely gotten a reaction from them, but Rio and the rest of Warrior had apparently not noticed it since they were more focused on the explanations on the mission.

"I had a feeling we'd run into those guys sooner or later, after considering how big the operation in Tokyo-3 has gotten, but I wasn't expecting we'd have to deal with Crawford, Schuldich, and Farfarello so soon." Nagi's tone was a weary one due to the fact that he realized he may have to face his former teacher and comrades soon.

"Well, maybe they'll be taking another job that doesn't have to do with this, maybe it will be outside of Japan." Tot said in an attempt to cheer her boyfriend up as she was aware of how the subject of dealing with his former teammates tended to lower Nagi's spirits greatly.

"Thanks, Nanami…" Nagi gave a light smile of appreciation to her in reply. "…unfortunately, that probably isn't going to happen. Because Greg used his powers when he fought Farfarello, then I'm sure Crawford knows by now that he's a psychic and that alone is enough to catch his interests."

"And once something catches that guy's interests, he won't drop the matter until he's satisfied." Riku said, and Nagi nodded in agreement.

"I know we talked a bit about this with your family and all after dinner when Rio and everyone else went to bed, but what do you guys think we should do about this?" Tot asked.

"For now, the only we can do is keep an eye out for any move Crawford could make." Nagi answered. "I know Crawford well enough to know that he won't make any sudden moves, at least not when things have gotten so chaotic. He'll bide his time, and do things at his own pace."

"That sure isn't very reassuring…" Riku noted with a sigh. "Well, I guess we'll have to deal with it when it comes. Now about those prison breaks…"

"We'll definitely have to contact Shinichi about that." Tot said. "Since he's gotten so many bad guys arrested by solving the crimes they committed, if any of them are the escapees, they might come after him."

"Actually, Tot, it isn't really Shinichi we need to worry about in that case." Riku said. "Remember, the cases aren't officially solved by him…"

"Then you mean…" Tot asked. "It's Mori-san, Sonoko, and Professor Agasa that we need to be worried about."

"Considering Shinichi solves the cases through them, it's kind of obvious." Nagi admitted. "Still, to focus only on those three alone may not be the best of ideas. A really vengeful criminal would probably target the families and friends of their intended victim first."

"It looks like we may have to have some of our clan members' shadow quite a few people until this dies down, then." Riku said, thinking of the friends he, Nagi, and Tot had made through Shinichi Kudo. "The only problem is that the only ones who know who we really are and how we're connected to Shinichi aside from our friends in the FBI, are Haibara-san, Heiji, Professor Agasa, Yusaku-san, and Yukiko-san, so the ones assigned to shadow Ran and everyone else would have to be careful that they're not discovered."

"Hey, wait a second, you left out some people who the escaped criminals could be after as their target for revenge, and that goes for Shinichi too." Tot pointed out to Riku.

"Now hold on, didn't…" Riku then stopped as he realized something. "Oh yeah, that's right, man I really do need to get some rest…even though the Detective Boys haven't solved as many cases as the first three, they still have managed to put a few dangerous criminals away thanks to their investigations."

"Even though three of them are only elementary school kids and the other two just look that way." Nagi commented with a light smile.

"So that adds Ai-san, Ayumi-chan, Genta, and Mitsuhiko to our list of people to be worried about." Tot said, and her head drooped slightly from worry. "I hope this prison break thing is taken care of quickly, I don't want any bad things to happen to our friends."

"Which is why first thing tomorrow, we'll talk with our buddies from Weiss about this, as I'm sure they know of the mass prison breaks by now and plan to do something about this." Riku said reassuringly.

(Though once those guys get involved in dealing with the criminals, I wonder which kind will be taken back into custody more. The ones who get recaptured or the ones that will be coming back in body bags?) Riku thought to himself, and then remembered something.

"Oh yeah, considering this prison break thing has happened throughout the country, I bet Inspector Megure and everyone at their station will be pretty busy with this." Riku commented.

"Yeah, you're probably right about that, Riku." Nagi said in agreement.

"And the same probably goes for both of the Yokomizu brothers, Heiji's dad, Commissioner Toyama, Inspector Otaki, and probably even Yamamura-san too." Tot added. "By the way, do you think Maki might meet any of them when she gets to Police Town?"

"Well, since Inspector Megure will probably be accompanying Matsumoto-san, there's a chance Sato-san and maybe even Takagi-san or Shiratori-san will be there." Riku replied after pausing to think about it.

"I'm hoping that it's Takagi-san." Tot said brightly.

"The only problem is even if you're right; those two will probably be too busy for anything to happen between them." Riku commented, causing Tot's head to droop slightly.

"Aww, that's no fun at all." Tot puffed her cheeks some in disappointment.

"Well, I guess if that's it we should turn in now." Nagi then paused and then turned to Riku. "Oh by the way, Riku, one thing…do you think I should tell Rio and everyone else about who I used to be?"

"I think that should wait until Greg's recovered…actually, on second thought, we should probably wait a little bit after that too considering what's been going on." Riku answered. "Between all these revelations Greg has gone through and the fact that he'll have to deal with Mantis' death, and who knows what else, after he wakes up, I think we should give Greg and the rest some time to settle down a bit first."

"Do you really think that's a good idea, Riku?" Tot asked. "Rio-san did say we shouldn't keep secrets from each other after what we've been through."

"Nanami, I don't think…" Nagi began.

"No, she has a point." Riku said. "I'm about as comfortable keeping secrets from good friends as you two are, but still…I just don't want to put Greg, Rio, or any of our other friends from Warrior under anymore stress than they're already dealing with right now…I know this kind of sounds like a coward's excuse, but…"

"Well, if we're only waiting until things have gotten a bit more relaxed, then I guess it's alright for now." Nagi interrupted Riku. "I mean it's not like we're keeping this secret indefinitely, right?"

"Yeah, though…" Riku began.

"Sheesh, now it's you who needs to be honest about things, leader." Tot commented. "If you're trying to be nice then you're trying to be nice, so don't be ashamed about it."

Riku was a bit surprised at Tot's statement, but then smiled a bit as he couldn't argue with her on that.

"Alright…and thanks, both of you." Riku said gratefully.

"Well, I guess we should get some sleep now." Nagi turned to head for his room and Tot was about to follow him, almost as if she were oblivious to the fact that she had her own room, when both of them stopped when they noticed Riku wasn't heading for his room. "What is it? Usually you're the first one to sleep before us."

"Oh, I'll be going to sleep in a little while, I'm just waiting for Yu Lan and Yu Fan to get back as they volunteered to inspect the area we'd left in case the enemy left anything behind and also since in their last call they said they'd be arriving here in a few minutes from now." Riku then gave a light smile. "I figured that since they're usually the ones who say 'welcome back' to us whenever we come here, I should return the favor at least once."

Almost as soon as Riku had said that, he saw that Nagi and Tot had obviously changed their minds.

"Next time tell us about something like that, Riku." Nagi said to his friend. "Those two are our nakama too, you know."

"Yeah, and I said I was going to thank Yu Lan-chan and Yu Fan-chan in case they didn't hear me from before, so I'm going to do just that." Tot said firmly.

With that the three friends then proceeded to wait for the arrival of two of their teammates, temporarily forgetting the fact that they now faced a very good possibility of having to face three of their most dangerous foes in the near future, though it still hung in the back of their minds.

Meanwhile, on the opposite side of the country, inside a spacious and expensive looking condo suite overlooking the city of Neo Tokyo…

RING!

"I'll get it, Akashi." A woman's voice said in response as she ran out from the kitchen area in a hurry to pick up the receiver. She had short cut brown hair and was dressed in casual long jeans and a t-shirt. She also happened to be one of Japan's current J-pop idols and former host of the Juno tennyo, Shuro Tsukasa.

"Moshi, moshi (hello)?" Shuro asked as the other end replied.

"Hey, Shuro, how are things?" Another female voice at least younger than Shuro's age replied cheerfully from the other end as Shuro smiled when she recognized the speaker.

"Oh, hi, Athena, it's you." Shuro replied happily to her accomplice in entertainment. "Well, I was just entertaining Akashi and some of the recording staff for dinner at my place, you know, just hanging out and preparing before the final recordings of that CD we've been working on for months now."

"Yeah, I wanted to know if you're still on for tomorrow, since that's the day we get to wrap things up." Athena replied. "I've got to say, it was really fun working with you through this project, it was a blast. It's too bad we couldn't get Yoko to work with us too since she was working on another project at the time, especially since she was interested."

"I agree, but on the plus side, Momoko gets to hang out with me most of the time, since I just adore cute kids like her." Shuro said. Momoko is a bubbly twelve year old girl who is another new recent addition to the Psycho Soldier Team who practices the fighting style of Capoeira. Her Japanese name translates to 'Peach child'. "So, I can expect to see her and Kensou with you guys as usual tomorrow at the recording?"

"Yeah, as usual, Kensou will have to serve as bodyguard, but I don't think he's complaining about it." Athena said. "Oh, yeah…I've got a kind of a favor to ask you, but I'm not sure if you would accept it."

"Hey, you don't have to worry about me, Athena. We've gotten really tight as buddies and we'd said that we would help each other in times of crisis when the time comes." Shuro said to her friend. "So what was it that you wanted to ask me?"

"Well, it's something involving the next upcoming King of Fighters tournament for this year." Athena said. "I'm not sure about the details of it yet, since whoever is holding it is always pulling some dark scheme from the background as usual and since anything substantial about it has yet to be publicly announced, I'm growing skeptical about it these days since I don't know the details yet."

"Yeah, I've been hearing some rumors about it for awhile now myself." Shuro replied simply. She had heard some of the bad rumors about KOF not just from Athena's tales, but also from what was spoken about it since its start and it had to deal with conspiracies regarding Orochi and his Heralds, the reformed NESTS cartel, as well as Kusiel and Mesphistopheles, sub syndicates belonging to ADDIS. Even though none of it so far had involved her, or her friends who formerly were C-Genomes like herself, Aya Mikage, Suzumi Aogiri, Maya Hirobe and Chidori Kuruma in the time that had passed since the downfall of the Mikage conglomerate, but she was still worried that the enemy groups who ran the KOF for years would eventually start targeting them sooner or later.

"Look, it's nothing you should be worried about; I don't think any of those guys would be coming after you because of your little secret. Kensou's worried too, since the Heralds have been targeting his 'Power of the Dragon' ability for a long time now." Athena said in a worried tone.

"I know what you mean, but we can't be too careful around those guys who seem to be behind the tournaments these days." Shuro said seriously. "If it's not too much trouble, I can always ask the Aogiri's to provide extra security for tomorrow."

"You don't have to go through the trouble, but thanks for the consideration, Shuro." Athena said. "In any case, Bao and Kensou have started something with Chin-sensei over here, so I've got to go and break it up before they destroy something valuable."

From the background, Shuro can overhear Sie Kensou and Bao's shouts as sounds of crashing can be followed soon afterwards, while Momoko's voice can also be heard yelling at the background.

"It seems like you're having quite the party, Athena." Shuro said as Athena sighed.

"They can so get out of hand sometimes…" Athena said. "In any case, I guess I'll see you tomorrow, Shuro-san. Have a good night."

"You too, Athena. Tell Momoko I said hi." Shuro said as she hung up with a smile on her face, before she contemplated over what she and Athena were just discussing about the conspiracies regarding KOF.

"Should I really be worried?" Shuro asked herself as she shook her head. (Ah, I'm sure Riku and his partners would be able to take care of such things if we ever need help from them again in case this thing turns serious. Well, it's time to go back to the get together and finish prep for tomorrow.)

Shuro shrugged her shoulders as she left and went back to the other room to meet with her manager and fellow staff to arrange for the morning….

Shardclaw: Thus ends this revised chapter, hope everyone liked it as much as the rest of the ones before it, although it was different than usual since I intended it that way to give chances for the other canon and original characters that have appeared so far to interact with each other and get a break from the action while revealing new intriguing hints for the story later on, especially on Greg's side.

In any case, I'm only midways through the next chapter that is already be filled with plenty of crossover surprises that I'm sure you all will like though as for who is appearing will be my little secret till the next revision posting update, so sorry to those if I'm being cruel to the readers who are wanting to find out what I have planned, but you will be getting some hints of who to be expecting in the omake for this chapter coming up.

Okay, its time for more notable Easter Eggs used in this chapter, one of them was being the conversation between Greg and his father which was a reference from the Full Metal Alchemist manga, (which still is one of my current favorite manga reads at the moment until Elfen Lied and Gantz are updated periodically and those two are my two top personal faves that don't get updated THAT often like Bleach, Naruto and One Piece, because of the scanlation delays and artists' problems, considering the current story arcs…I know how frustrating that could be for those who really want to know what happens afterwards very soon if you've been reading EL up to chapter 78 recently for the first time like I have.) when Ed faced Van Hohenheim in chapter 42. If most of you hadn't guessed by now, Greg's relationship with his father is about the same with Ed's, which was partly the inspiration for his revamped character.

And while on the manga topic, a big thanks to Dark-san for providing the link to the translated, short, yet very delightful _Giri Giri Sisters_ h-manga that Yuji mentioned as a reference in this chapter a while back, I really enjoyed that one a lot that so I thought I'd mention it for others who missed a recommended title like that.

Another thing to note is that I was hoping to get this chapter out by the time KOF XI finally came over to Stateside by this month on the PS2, as you can see I've also included the characters and its canon arc story line from that game into this story as well. Hopefully, the interesting endings for the teams this time around should provide more than enough inspiration for the KOF related events ahead in the story…

Now, to close off this chapter, here's another omake starring myself and Greg as well along with the other co-hosts already famous for chapter introductions and closings for Soldier X: the team of Weiss from Weiss Kreuz!

Ran: Ah, it's good to be back, Shardclaw-san, we really missed having you let us host this fic which is getting better than it used to thanks to the revised chapters you put up so far.

Shardclaw: Well, what can I say? I got to do what I can to keep the COE/SX story saga on its peak of 'best MGS/Evangelion' crossover around. And pretty soon, I'm making this story's one of the best multicrossover fic ever created once I get to the later chapters, I got a lot of big plans in store that will keep the fans happy and wanting for more.

Omi: It's good to hear you say all of that, especially after the set of positive reviews from the last revised chapter which closed off the Mantis arc.

Ken: Yeah, you really pulled off some uber stuff there, Shardclaw-san. Everybody liked the references you've thrown in.

Greg: I personally liked the battle themes used as well, especially for the first Mantis fight. With you being a fan of Hitoshi Sakimoto's work since Vagrant Story and on the Boss Battle theme for FF12 must have gave you the idea to put such an epic sounding theme for an epic battle.

Shardclaw: Well, it's going to keep on happening until I run dry of ideas, but that is unlikely. If I run into any trouble coming up with any ideas to help me with my revisions as well as updating, I can always summon a group of either anime or game girls to keep me company, that's one sure way of keeping writer's block off for a time.

Greg: Hey, boss…surely this time around; you won't let that harem of yours get in the way of these omakes, right?

Ran: Yeah, you said that you won't be messing around with the unnecessary omakes this time around.

Shardclaw: What makes you say that?

Greg: Well, after what the girls in your harem saw all the positive and good stuff that the readers sent in their reviews from the last chapter, they started to behave rather…erratically for some reason.

Ran: I don't like where this is going…

Greg: And to top it off, some of those girls include the ones that Dark-san sent over before ranging from the Dead or Alive games and Rumble Roses, as well as all the females from the Tenjho Tenge manga which you like so much better than the anime because of all the fan service and ongoing story line…

Shardclaw: Hey, you didn't have to go on and say all of that, now it will just make the fanboys of those series extremely jealous that I of all people have those girls!

Greg: Hey, I was just being honest and forward with the facts. And besides, they managed to sneak inside the stage-room without Legretta-san to stop them, I should have told you before.

Shardclaw: What?

As on cue, Dark-san's previous shipments of the DOA, Rumble Roses and Tenjho Tenge girls stepped in, and also accompanying them was this year Tempest's birthday shipments of all the hawt and cute schoolgirls of one of my recent favorite anime for the year, My-Hime along with their alternate doubles and the series exclusive girls of the pseudo sequel, My-Otome (finally on DVD as well now and I can't wait for more volumes) appeared, all of them wearing various skimpy, cosplay material of police miniskirts, school team swimsuits, tank tops accompanied with extra short and skin tight P.E bloomers, micro minis and scandalous nightwear.

Aya Natsume, wearing one of the nightwear: Look, girls…Shardclaw-sama looks like he's in the mood.

Kasumi, wearing the P.E uniform: Yes, we haven't seen him this worried since we all ganged up on him just to sway him to include us into this fic, as well after seeing the responses he got from all the postings of the revision for this story so far. I say we should 'pressure' him some more so he can be persuaded.

Chie Harada, wearing the skin tight and wet, school team swimsuit: That doesn't matter…allow us to relieve you of some of that stress and then some years of your life expectancy, by using our newly learned technique…the Flatliner.

Shardclaw: What is that now?

Erstin Ho, wearing police miniskirt: Imagine yourself being a piece of meat, dropped into a tank of starving piranhas. That's only a short preview of Flatliner.

Makiko Nagi, wearing night wear herself: Want to be that meat? We can be the piranhas.

Shardclaw: Legretta-san was supposed to stop cases like these from happening…what did you do to her?

Reiko, wearing the tight fitting micro mini: Right here with us. But don't worry; we didn't hurt her…too much.

Legretta is then shown, wearing a tight and tiny, pink nurse's outfit with extra short mini skirt.

Legretta: I'm sorry, Shardclaw-sama…even I couldn't hold them back in their numbers. And besides…I thought you did an exceptional job yourself last chapter, so I willingly joined them on the condition that I seduce you as well, either wearing this or the see-through negligee or the micro mini, sling shot, one piece, extra skimpy swim suit.

Shardclaw: Legretta-san…how could you…? You know I just can't help myself to your hawtness every time I see you do your Mystic Artes, so you went and did this, knowing fully well what may happen?

Greg: Oh, what's to cry about, boss? You should be used to these sort of things now, although what you got planned for the Gendou bashing omakes in the COE revisions to come soon is only going to get these girls even more out of hand than ever and even now that you've read the Evangelion manga...

With fire in my eyes, I stood up with my fist shaking after hearing that comment.

Shardclaw: I don't need to be reminded! I'll make him suffer for what he did to my most favorite Evangelion character of all time up to ten, no, a hundred, no a thousand times more than when I started the story the first time! Come, girls…I will need assistance from all of you to start giving me ideas on everything that could make every Gendou hater out there clamor for more pain that he will be receiving soon! And maybe, just maybe…I may consider including you guys into this fic or at least throw in a reference or two once I'm convinced enough…

Youji: Wait just one minute! Didn't you say you won't let these girls get in the way of the revisions, or was all of that you said before a lie?

Shardclaw: Hey, they let themselves in and they too have supported me throughout the progress of the revisions, so I had to convince the fans just how appreciative of their assistance up to this point, isn't that right, girls?

Ayane in tank top and short shorts: It is true, so why worry about details?

Shardclaw: Just as she says. Now, ladies, I got tons of work to get done for the sake of the fans, let's get the party rolling in the usual master bedroom.

Maya Natsume: Yes, now that you say it…'Let's fight!'

As I get carried off by the dozen of by uber hawt anime and game girls, Greg and the Weiss boys stare on with dark clouds over their heads.

Greg: That guy is treating the revisions as if it's one of his updates…

Ran: I think it's the revisions themselves that has made him more powerful as a crossover writer, it's so scary to know that it's true.

Ken: You got that right there, leader. And since Greg here should know what we should expect next, he's going to share some hints, right?

Greg: That's right, for the next chapter, we'll see some of Riku and his partner's allies make their appearances, as well as a few others including the long awaited characters from Elfen Lied and more KOF character appearances to boot will be showing up too. As for who and how they will affect this story, you will have to read on the next chapter to see what's in store for the story.

Omi: Sounds like the fans already can't wait to see who else will be appearing, judging from what went on in this update; we can expect the same thing in the next chapter, even though it didn't have too much content.

Greg: Well, while the boss is not trying to shoot for the Gantz effect, but he has set a special crossover sparring match between one of the KOF characters along with one from Real Bout High School along with some more of its characters for the next chapter as well, so the fanboys will be really hyped about that one.

Just then from the back of the stage, Ryoko Mitsurugi along with all the girls from Real High school manga enter, wearing nothing but towels around their dripping, wet bodies as they were just taking baths from the hot spring.

Ryoko: Is that true? Are we really going to start appearing from the next revised chapter too as well?

Greg: Oh yeah, it's true. You can ask him yourself in there, already probably getting eaten alive by the other brawler girls in the harem.

Azumi: And he didn't even tell us? We hardly have had the time to prepare for our appearances, but no matter. We shall join in and give him a piece of our minds by ganging up on him as well, shall we girls?

All the Real Bout girls started to nod their head and said, 'Oh, yeah!' in unison as they entered the room as well while Greg tilted his head.

Ran: Aw, man…he will do just about anything to drive fanboys nuts, will he?

Greg: That's not the worst of it…unless the room is sound-proof; you can hear Natsumi-chan emceeing who is doing what to the guy from the other side clearly. I don't need to go into details about it…

Youji: I'd say we stop the chapter here and let's wait until the next revised chapter that will be worth looking out for.

Ran: Indeed. So, until the next revised posting, let your comments be pleasing and inspiring to Shardclaw-san who is working very hard to keep the story's appreciative status as always and to post as many revised chapters and material as quickly as he can. And also, until the next revised update is up, be sure to read the accompanying COE/SX stories written by DarkFusion-san, GreyWolf4, TempestDynasty and RuneKnight Pictures and review them as well.

Youji: See you all in the next X.


	13. A Brief Respite, Part 1

ShardclawK: It's been quite awhile, but here I am again, still alive and kicking enough to finally bring about a revised update for this story. Why it took so long, you ask? Well, aside from the massive recreations and stuff I had to handle in my personal life, as well continuing revisions for this and COE, especially with MGS 4 now come and gone as I got some changes planned later, I still have lots of work cut out for me ahead, as well as some incoming surprises in the time to come for both COE and this one.

But back to this side-story, which is why you are here for the update. Just so you know that even though a lot of things were recorded during the Mantis arc during the previous revised chapter of SX, what about the other places in the COE and this story's universe?

This chapter and the next ones to come are going to answer most of that, as well to give readers an idea that this is when the real crossover story takes off in terms of seeing those long awaited anime and game characters that have been listed and mentioned so far in the story and how they are and will be involved later with the original characters for COE/SX and two, mostly to cover most of what's been happening before and during the final events of the Psycho Mantis arc, which the first portion of this chapter will be covering, events which should prove even more than interesting since one of them is a hint to more future arcs which won't happen for some time (but assuredly will, I can assure you.)

Okay, folks, I think I rambled enough for now. Enjoy the long awaited update as always and brace yourselves for a lot of surprises to come.

* * *

_Previously in Soldier X:_

_Various members of the Uruha and Hokage clan along with the remainder of Team Warrior and Nastasha Romanenko had gathered at Kurei's mansion to learn from Riku and his partners about their recent mission to assist in the retrieval of Lilica Ebbett, Yuina Hattori, and Seraph with their FOXHOUND comrade, Greg Kinezono and his surrogate mother, Rio, Maya Jingu and the Shinsengumi trio. During this, they learned of the details and the circumstances surrounding their mission which pointed to Reese's doing and were able to share with them Seraph. _

_While in the meantime they discuss his possible motives and they await the progress of Greg's recovery by the hands of the ninja clan's medical team, they also discussed arrangements of Mantis' burial, the gathering of the remainder of their clan, allies and team members to prepare for the fight ahead and the recent development of a series of prison break outs around the country. _

_However, as the medical team had finished working on Greg's wounds, it was revealed that the mental and physical wounds he endured has caused him to slip into a comatose state, however, not all hope was lost with Riku and his partner's assurance when the remainder of the Uruha Ryu arrives, Greg has a chance to get past his current hardships with his powers._

_On the outside of these events, Shade is invited to a meeting with two other ninja masters, one of them a former Iga ninja, named Tenzen Yakushiji as they prepare to discuss their plans of gaining the power of Orochi before one from the Heralds gets to it first, while the enemy Soldier X unit, dubbed the Hunters lead by Dixon, a former colleague of Greg's late father, prepare themselves to train two of their newest recruits, Triple B a captured Humaritt and Anna Kakuzawa, a diclonius, both of them infused with the variant of the SX gene._

_And as all of this was happening, within Greg's consciousness during his current state, he went face to face with his counterpart, Violent Greg, in order to learn more about the past he's forgotten, as well fully understand more about his mysterious powers, but in order to accomplish this, he has to also face the memory of his late father who served as a guide. _

_Meanwhile, before the day ended, back at both FOXHOUND and NERV headquarters, things were slowly unfolding for the remnants of the FOXHOUND unit that was stationed Japan, as well for the people around them while even more other developments on the outside take place…_

* * *

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_**Even if the glimmer of hope has faded, life must go on. The new phase of Soldier X begins with new challenges and mysteries!**_

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Metal Gear: Soldier X

Chapter 12: A Brief Respite, Part 1

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In the United States, several miles from the nearest settled area of the Navajo desert…

Inside a well lit hall that was decked with rows of congregation seats, many of them stacked with candles and books, a ghastly, painted rural depicting the events of Second Impact and its aftermath, decorated the walls and the upper ceilings of the cathedral like building as figures of men and women, dressed in red and white hoods that covered their heads were seated, were listening to an elderly male talking in a stern tone on a podium.

Event theme: _**Limestone Quarry**_ from _Vagrant Story_.

(Author's note: This is possibly one of the greatest pieces of videogame themes that you'll ever listen to if you've never played the game and my most personal piece of inspiration and resting song time and again. Tracks like this can be heard on YouTube if you can't find it around.)

"My fellow devoted brethren, with the revelation of the end of humankind at hand and closing in upon us, we must now gather our faith more than ever if we're to save this already wretched world from its own destruction." The man spoke boldly as he was giving them a sermon for that time, while two other figures, a female figure whose face was well hidden from the view of the rest of the people in the hall, sat close by at a distance and a tall male with dark straight cut hair and a light goatee stood firmly at her side.

From the look of this man's clothing, which was different from those of the hooded group of people in the hall, it consisted of armor like clothing of an open brown and dark sleeveless shirt, both of the arm areas being netted around with meshed net wire and iron clad greaves. In addition to that, a rifle could be seen hanging from a strap around his chest area, and the man always kept a free hand on it so as to be ready to use his weapon whenever the situation called for it.

"We've seen what this world's science has done to anger the law and order of things for this world…the heavens will not tolerate man's arrogance for trying to play and even become God." The man spoke, raising an arm. "The price for that arrogance was paid fifteen years ago on the day of the Second Impact. Yet still, they keep degrading themselves and their fellow man by ignoring the undeveloped countries where the famines and diseases that ravage so many innocents become worse, countries where wars break out continuously causing any sort of system that could bring about some form of peace to become reduced to nothingness. Meanwhile, those who care nothing save for their own greed pocket a seemingly endless flow of wealth made from the sufferings of these innocents in the great exchange of blood money that is known as the war economy."

"Many of you who have come here, seeking refuge and safe haven from these harsh times, know greatly of what I speak from experience. From the loss of family and loved ones, to the rise of financial crisis and the abuse of the political system…we have suffered a great deal not just from the instability caused from the Impact, but also because of the outside world's ignorance." The man continued.

"As we reflect upon these things, let us not forget why this church, the Devil's Hand organization, was formed…to restore order and peace to an already decaying world through a different means. The answers to solving the world's problems today lies within these halls. There is no need to fear the wrath of the heavens as long as you all continue to keep on following the teachings that I bring to you…for I too desire the same resolution for this world that will make everyone be as one."

"Yes, Minister Enrich Welker. We all have placed our faith in you since the beginning several years ago when you first formed this organization. We will keep on supporting your dream on unifying humankind before they destroy each other." One of the followers said, bowing to the man named Welker.

"All praise Minister Welker and his vision for our world, which is not too far from realization!" Another one of the robed followers spoke as the others followed in praising him.

As Enrich Welker smiled at his followers, he heard the man standing behind him clear his throat loudly, signaling him as a reminder of a schedule at hand. Welker nodded his head and turned back to the audience.

"It appears that my time to start the campaign of my vision has come at last, my brethren. I shall now impart on a journey across the forsaken lands of this world, and recruit new believers for our cause." Welker spoke. "May your blessings and prayers guide me through my trials, granting me a safe and successful passage in this decaying planet. In my stead, Lady Samantha will be taking care of your needs until my return to you all."

"Minister Welker, we pray for only success on your holy mission." One of the followers said as Welker faced the robed figure who was seated behind him.

"Samantha, a closing hymn to end today's sermon, if you will, please." Enrich said as the woman stood up and stood at the podium as the Minister walked off it. Placing an arm on her shoulder, she nodded as she took the robe off her head, revealing a beautiful, young woman with long flowing, bleached blonde hair and blue eyes. Looking high at the glare of light above her, she took a deep breath before she began to sing a hymn in Latin, while Welker and the person who was standing guard close-by walker out of the hall and into a passageway into the back of the church area.

"As usual, your sermons are well done, Minister Welker." The man spoke from behind, with an accent revealing his French nativity. "A fitting one, I must add, especially since this will be the declaration of the start of that campaign you've been planning for months now."

"Yes, but if it wasn't for those recent attacks, I would have gotten done on this several months beforehand." Welker said.

"Still…I can't comprehend why you would want to start from Japan of all places to begin your mission, Prime Minister." The man spoke as they walked on the widely, decorated estate gardens. It looked like property belonged to a high status owner as flowers, shrubs, and hedges that were well placed and groomed were decorating the large botanical garden that they were in.

"I know that country is essentially the most dangerous place to be in right now, Hardin. But with the political status of both NERV and SEELE teetering on the balance at the moment with their leaders in turmoil, the uncertainty of the country's safety is now in question and it's not just the Angel attacks that are affecting that country either." Welker said to the man named Hardin. "You did read the news about the recent terrorist actions in that country, am I right?"

"Why, yes, especially about the recent kidnapping of NERV's own Commander and the coup-de-tat at SEELE." Hardin said. "The enemy groups that I read about are getting busy with these recent events, I wouldn't be surprised if that Army of God makes another attempt to control things at a time like this."

"Hmph, their methods are certainly barbaric compared to my teachings, brute force won't gain them anything beneficial at the end." Welker said to this simply as he fixed his robe.

He and Hardin stepped to the outer compounds of the estate, where a black limousine was parked in front of the driveway. An assortment of suitcases was also there along with two males dressed in black suits, packing the suitcases into the car's trunk.

"Still, Minister Welker, as much as I understand that your original starting point for this holy mission has to begin from that country, you need to remember that there are dangers in that country we haven't accounted for. Are you sure you don't need me to come with you?" Hardin asked.

"I really appreciate your sense of duty, Hardin, but I already said before that your mission is to see to Samantha's safety while I'm gone." Welker said. "If anything does come up, I'll be sure to request your aid, but I'm certain that things will run smoothly during my absence."

"Then, I will ask no more of the matter, Minister." Hardin said as Welker looked at him sternly.

"Please, take care of things here until my return. I'll be entrusting Samantha's life to you till then, Hardin." Enrich spoke as he sat down into the car seat with two other men dressed in the same garb as he was in front of them.

"She will be tended to when needed, Minister, I can assure you of that. Have a safe journey in Japan, sir." Hardin said seriously as Enrich smiled at his subordinate before signaling the driver to depart.

The French native named John Hardin could only look on in silence with a concerned look on his face as he began to ponder to himself while the private car drove off.

(Minister Enrich, I'll see to it that your vision comes through without fail. Mankind is already on the brink and near its end…please do what you can to bring a much needed preservation for the generations to come.) Hardin thought as he took out a hand sized photograph of a toddler, a young four year old boy holding hands with a tall, woman with long flowing, dark hair and began to look at it intently.

(So that way at last they can have a hopeful future to look forward to when you realize your dreams.) Hardin said as one of the robed figures approached Hardin from behind and called out to him.

"Sir Hardin, you've received summons from high priestess Samantha." The figure spoke. "She wishes to speak to you privately about this evening's service meetings without her father, as well as the events to take place in a matter of days."

Hardin sighed to himself as he placed the photo back into his breast pocket and turned around. "Alright, I'll be on my way, then. Please return to your duties and keep me informed of anything out of the ordinary."

The figure returned his acknowledgement of the order by nodding silently to Hardin as he made his way back into the estate.

As Welker looked through the tinted glass while his car left the compound, he was dwelling over his plan in order to make his mission come to fruition.

(One of the first things I should focus on during my recruitment of the newest members into the society is look into how I can also revive the Sapientes Gladio sect. I'm certain their cause following the times of the first World War would see eye to eye with mine, not to mention that during those times, from what I have been told, they had access to powers imaginable.) Welker thought to himself as he seated himself in his limousine. (After I make my stop in Japan, then I should start making plans to return to Europe for a while to oversee this.)

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At the same time, in the suburb areas of Greg's apartment building home…

"Well, if you whipper-snappers want to slice it, this looks like some kind of warning of sorts to Greg, but since you guys say that this is not one of Spinoza's men's doings, then the kid's got more enemies than I thought." An elderly male's voice spoke as a tall, elderly male in his late fifties, wearing a baseball cap, long overalls and a plaid shirt said this as he was using a cane to keep his balance while looking around Greg's ransacked apartment with two other of its occupants, Trey Johnson and Clair Harold.

"That's what I've been trying to say, Mr. Tanning. Some serious shit is going down that we don't know about and this neighborhood's probably going to get involved soon if it keeps up." Trey said as Clair spoke.

"Which was why I wonder if it's okay to call the police and let them investigate this?" She said as Trey replied in an objective tone.

"Nuh-uh, Claire. What do you suppose we'll do if they are still under Spinoza's payroll like the last time we tried to trust them?" Trey said. "You know I sure as hell am not going to trust those guys when it comes to times like this."

"So, do you have any better ideas, then?" Clair asked, almost as if she was arguing with him. "Without having to go around shooting up the place, I mean?"

"She's right, Trey, no sense getting extreme and using violence to resolve something we don't understand just yet." Tanning said as he sighed. "Look, for all we know, those guys that you claimed to have seen earlier are way out of anyone's league, we'd be better off not knowing about what kind of trouble Greg's gotten himself into and just help him out by fixing up this place by the time he gets back from his job."

"Yeah, but…" Trey was cut off as Tanning spoke on.

"I know the guy's like part of the family in this building, but no need to get worked up for something you can't handle, Trey. Besides, we have much a bigger problem with Spinoza himself, getting out of the pen a couple of days back." Tanning said. "That guy definitely be looking for a shot of getting revenge at Greg and even you too, for putting him in there at the first chance."

"Trey, you sure you're okay with this?" Clair asked as Trey looked around Greg's room one last time.

"To tell the truth, Clair, I'm not sure if Spinoza will let us off easy this time around." Trey said as he couldn't help but wonder to himself, if this was just a sign of serious trouble on Greg's side or more importantly, of impending trouble that would be soon to come around their neighborhood block by the looks of things.

(Damn. What did you get yourself into just when I need to round up our posse for a time like this, Greg?) Trey thought.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Thirty minutes had passed since NERV lost its contact with the outside group of FOXHOUND recruits that were aiding one of their own comrades during a rescue mission around the old sunken areas of old Tokyo. Life and activities went on as usual for both defense factions as each had their own task to perform, yet everyone were still on edge over hearing what had happened before at FOXHOUND's side.

At one location inside the headquarters, inside the conference room, there was an important meeting going on with the high ranking members of NERV, Philanthropy and FOXHOUND. The new Commander of NERV, Kouzou Fuyutski, stood on one side of the table along with the Vice Commander, Misato Katsuragi, Ritsuko Akagi and Ryoji Kaji.

On the other side of the table, the new field commander for FOXHOUND, Meryl Silverburgh and Philanthropy's top agent, Solid Snake were on the next. They were speaking to Colonel Roy Campbell and Mei-Ling through video and audio feeds as they were discussing about the recent developments.

"And that's about the gist of what's happened so far. We have yet to re-establish a contact with the group after their last contact with us." Meryl said seriously. Though it was emotionally hard on her, she managed to keep a calm face as she briefed her father about what happened and she was told by Michael earlier.

"This is a very grave concern, Meryl. As much as it worries me about our recruits on the outside in a situation such as this, we'd also have to look at a much more important detail at hand that we need to deal with…Matthew Reese." Campbell said seriously. "I do regret now more than ever that I haven't been more focused in putting my foot down when it came to placing discipline before, but…"

"Roy, don't beat yourself up over it. What's happened has already happened, there was no way you guys could have prevented this if he was acting on his own and was plotting from the start." The aging Snake said, causing Misato to stare at him in silence from the distance.

Misato took a second to remind herself that slowly, but surely, things were starting to look up aside from the fact that Shinji was still trapped in a liquefied form inside Evangelion Unit 01's cockpit. Yet this new revelation was not doing very much to help that.

As if to make matters worse, Asuka was been becoming more emotionally unstable and unbalanced since her loss against the 14th Angel recently with her Eva now under severe repairs while Rei's Evangelion Unit 00 was moderately damaged during the fight as well, along with a portion of the headquarters now under reconstruction after the last Angel had managed to penetrate its way through all the base's defenses and into Central Dogma and the Command Centre.

Funding for the compensation from these events were depleting the organization's already nearly defunct budget since Gendou Ikari's death a while back and SEELE had stopped backing NERV since they were being held captive by Solidus Snake and the newly reformed Dead Cell group. There was also the matter of SEELE still being in enemy captivity and the high risk of NERV being targeted, not by Solidus' organization alone, but possibly by other potential enemy groups that she had been hearing about from the past conversations she had with some of the FOXHOUND recruits before.

In short, this had been nothing but a hellish week for the newly appointed Vice Commander of NERV and she could only hope that it didn't get any more worse than it currently was, especially if another Angel chose to attack around this time.

"Snake is right, sir. Normally, we wouldn't involve ourselves in affairs that don't relate to NERV, but from what I can assume based on this Reese's actions, it's likely that what he did today was just a prelude of things we could be expecting for this organization later." Misato said seriously.

"Yes, Vice Commander Katsuragi, now that he has access to some confidential secrets concerning our recruits, he can very well use them as a weapon against us, which in turn gives him access to move about in his own plans. The fact that he also has information regarding innocent civilians and the abilities they possess also disturbs me." Campbell said as he had heard everything from the voiced conversation that Greg Kinezono sent over the Codec prior their mission regarding the death of Yuina Hattori's aunt.

"Meaning, the risk of the Eva pilots and those who are associated with them has heightened. For instance, people like their schoolmates and family members could be targeted by him as well, adding more to our threat list." Ritsuko added.

"With most of NERV's Section 2 security and staff have already been assigned to retrain under Venom's, Eagle's, and Berserker's drill training in CQC and weaponry, as well as with Scorpion, Jaguar, and Hawk's assignment of looking after the Children in addition to assisting in the training of NERV's staff, there won't be enough time for them to muster up just enough experience when they will need it in case the enemy strikes this base." Kaji inputted. "Solidus and whoever else wants to have the Children or this base won't wait for us to prepare ourselves, that's for sure."

"So in short, we should start preparing for the worst from now. The Angels aren't our only enemy anymore, now that we have got enemy spies on the watch of this organization, not just SEELE's anymore." Fuyutski said as Kaji lowered his gaze as he heard this.

(This means that I've got to step up things ahead of schedule before those old men eventually find out and things start to get really hairy.) Kaji thought to himself as Snake watched him in silence from a distance, having a strong feeling what he was thinking about.

"If need be, I'll have Meryl assign a few more of our available recruits to come over to Japan to assist the current team at NERV, since at the moment we're short of four of them due to the current situation caused by Reese." Campbell said as Meryl said.

"So, Dark Eden's going to have to be reassigned over here after all?" Meryl asked.

"Yes, you'll probably need her assistance since Venom and Demon work with her the best as a unit in certain missions. Also, her powers as a necromancer can work as a substitute for a psychic until Panther and/or Crow returns from their mission for the time being." Campbell said.

"Understood, please make the arrangements while I get things prepared here for their arrival, and also, I have to deliver the news to Venom and Demon. I'm sure they will be glad to have her, along with the remaining recruits who didn't come with us before, all gathered in Japan." Meryl said as her tone got serious once more. "Still, even with the added reinforcements from FOXHOUND…"

"We're still under watch by the Sons of Liberty and Matthew Reese; it won't be easy to predict how they will make their move before the next Angel arrives." Misato said.

"We'll have that looked into, Vice Commander Katsuragi, since Reese has already been placed as the main suspect for these recent crimes against FOXHOUND." Meryl said. "As for the terrorists in Japan, they will use this recent disturbance within our group to their advantage, and our current forces alone won't suffice. If anything, I'll request Venom's and Demon's suggestions on this matter, since they both used to operate with mercenary forces before on the outside that can help NERV, for the right price that is."

"Then, see to it that you talk to them later about what we discussed, Meryl." Campbell said.

"So, is that all to adjourn this meeting, Commander?" Snake asked.

"For the time being, Snake. We're still awaiting word from Panther's group on their status of what happened on their side, but for now, I doubt there's a need to worry yourselves further with what has happened since he has reliable reinforcements with him from what I was told. We're all tired over these developments too, you know." Fuyutski said.

"Then if you'll excuse us, we're heading back to the Command Centre to join the others." Meryl said as she and Snake left the room while the Commander and Vice Commanders along with Ritsuko and Kaji were left with Campbell still on the video feed.

"Well, what do you guys make of it?" Misato asked. "SEELE's under the grasp of the terrorists while one of FOXHOUND's own betrays them in only a week after the Commander's death."

"Yes, it's almost as if these things are happening by some coincidence of some kind. The Patriots certainly planned these events out, piece by piece." Fuyutski said. "But I wonder just what is it that they are trying to gain with SEELE's capture?"

"Certainly with all that has happened recently, you'd think the Japanese Government would lift a finger to look into these matters." Misato said seriously. "The Patriots must have them under a gridlock since every matter regarding the Commander's involvement with them started."

"Yes, it's possible that your Government has possible Patriots spies making things harder for us or some of them may even be acting under Liquid Ocelot's orders." Campbell said.

"If that's the situation, I'll just have to get someone who could investigate for us on these matters, but this guy won't be high profile enough so as to make him too suspicious for the enemy to spot out." Kaji suggested.

"Anyone you have in mind?" Misato asked.

"I know him personally, rest assured. He's a pretty old fashioned private detective, the kind you don't see around much these days, but manages to get the work done efficiently. The guy even owns his agency and was famed for putting a stop to a serial murder drug related case some years back." Kaji explained, taking out a card to show the group in the room. Ritsuko was the first to announce the name embedded on the card.

"Takeshi Shinonome Detective Agency…" Ritsuko said. "Are you sure we can have this guy work for us in our current situation, Kaji?"

"I'll make sure to make the arrangements when I meet him. The guy's a professional who takes his work seriously; I'll believe he will give us the vital reports when he uncovers something useful." Kaji said as Fuyutski spoke.

"See that you do that then." Fuyutski replied. "Actually, we've been planning on hiring another detective as well, except his job will be to investigate something quite different. I believe many of you have heard of the detective Kogoro Mori, right?"

"You mean the famous 'Sleeping Kogoro' whose managed to solve several murder cases throughout Japan?" Misato asked.

"None other." Fuyutsuki answered.

"Hmm…I've heard quite bit about the guy's record myself, sounds like he's quite the celebrity, but how did he ever get a nickname like 'sleeping'?" Snake asked.

"Apparently when he solves a murder or any sort of case he takes, Mori-san is supposed to fall into a position like he's sleeping just before he solves the mystery." Misato explained. "So, what exactly is this guy supposed to do?"

"What we're going to ask him to do is try to solve the mysteries behind the late Commander Ikari's death." Fuyutsuki answered.

There was a moment of silence at that announcement before finally Meryl broke it.

"Well, I can guess why you'd want to do that considering we still haven't figured out whether or not it was Dead Cell that caused the guy's death to happen." She said.

"Exactly, and I also intend to have him investigate the whole entirety of the day in which Commander Ikari was captured as there are some things I feel need to be answered about what happened that day." Fuyutsuki added.

"That's true, and considering the late commander's activities, he may have done something that day that can give us a clue about this new Dead Cell, Liquid Ocelot, or maybe even the Patriots themselves." Kaji spoke.

"We also need to find out how that Solidus guy managed to get in and out of here without being seen by anyone." Misato added. "Even considering that he does have skills on par with Snake…"

"She has a point there." Snake agreed. "Even though this base would be easy for someone like me to infiltrate, getting out while bringing along a captive would still be challenging, especially considering that Solidus had to make it out of the Geofront and to the surface somehow."

"That also brings up the possibility that there may be a very serious weakness in this base's defenses that we don't know about yet." Meryl said. "If this Mori guy can help us find that, then I'm definitely for hiring him."

"Very well then, while Ryoji-san makes contact with the detective he just mentioned I'll make arrangements to hire Mori-san." Fuyutsuki said as he then heard an incoming Codec signal from Campbell's side. As the signal was opened, the image of Riku Hanabishi appeared on screen.

"This is Drakken, reporting in." Riku said as Campbell's face lit up.

"Drakken! We were beginning to fear for the worst ever since we lost contact with you over half an hour ago, but it seems you are doing well." Campbell said, relieved to see the young shinobi. "Tell us, how is everything where you are?"

"Well, the worst seems to be over for now over here, everyone who is important is accounted for and doing well too, except..." Riku then stopped as he noticed his link was open to other channels as well." Wait, did I come in at a bad time?"

"No, your timing couldn't be any better, now that it seems that you've brought us some good news." Campbell said. "I was just having a discussion with a few of the top officials of NERV over what has happened."

"That's right, I remember now, you guys were there when you heard the news too." Riku said as Fuyutski nodded.

"Yes, we haven't greeted ourselves properly. I'm the new Commander of NERV headquarters, Kouzou Fuyutski." He introduced himself as he did the same with Misato, Ritsuko and Kaji. "With me are Vice Commander Misato Katsuragi, Dr. Ritsuko Akagi, and Ryoji Kaji."

"Well, it's an honor to meet my soon-to-be-fellow employers, Commander. I must also thank your group as well for being the ones to safely relay the message to FOXHOUND that my comrade, Panther, had recorded before our encounter with the enemy earlier." Riku said as Ritsuko spoke.

"It was my own assistant, Lt. Maya Ibuki who undertook that task as she told me what had happened herself. You should thank her when you get the chance." Ritsuko said. "But, tell us, what's happened since you broke contact awhile ago? How did the mission go for your friend and more importantly your group?"

"That's right; he was the one more or less in charge of what has happening over there. Did something happen to Panther that he isn't able to report in as well, Drakken?" Campbell asked as Riku's face showed a hint of discontent as he sighed in preparation to give his report.

"Well, there isn't any easy way to say this, but to begin with, the mission did start off smoothly enough as Panther and the rest of our group were able to accomplish the mission objectives of rescuing the captured Lilica Ebbett and Yuina Hattori, so they're both safe." Riku said as Campbell sighed with relief at hearing that.

"However, I'm afraid that the rest of what I have to say from here on is going to be some pretty bad news for the Commander and the rest of FOXHOUND, sir. Upon our retrieval of Mantis after Panther was able to bring him around from his brainwashing, the two of them stayed behind as Panther apparently needed to hear some vital information from Mantis, which he said that he had to give him privately. The rest of us went on ahead to clear a path for them and then that's when things took a turn for the worse as the underground base started to self destruct by the time the remainder of the group along with me and my two partners got out ahead of them."

"Wait, are you saying that…?" Campbell said as Riku stopped him from speaking more.

"It's okay, sir. Panther managed to make his way out of the base despite its collapse…but…as for Mantis…when we got to them he was dead for sure this time. It looks as if something had been detonated from within his skull by the time we'd found them. No doubt Panther must have seen everything that happened to him while they were down there." Riku said with a hint of bitterness in his voice as the people in the conference room gasped.

(That's sounds just like the way Gendou was killed…what could this possibly mean? Are the Patriots trying to send some sort of warning?) Fuyutski thought to himself as Riku continued.

"Even though he managed to make it out, Panther was still heavily wounded and has lost consciousness since then, so he and anyone else who was injured during the mission was airlifted to the Uruha mansion, which is where we're located right now and are still gathering allies and fellow clan members due to the recent happenings discuss what we should be doing next." Drakken said.

"I see…so after everything that has happened, Reese has succeeded against us once more." Campbell said in a bitter tone. "It is a terrible shame for this to have happened, especially to Panther who must have fought valiantly to free Mantis from the cruel curse that the Patriots and Reese placed on him…seeing him die in front of him must have been quite the emotional shock to him after all that he did to save him."

"I know, sir, that's very true. Both of his surrogate family and the rest of us are trying the best to cope with all that's happened." Riku said.

"Drakken, I'm certain you did your part well in assisting him through this, so don't blame yourself and think that you could have prevented this." Campbell said. "The most important part is that you all managed to make it out of this alive, that's the only thing that matters now."

"I know, sir. But, before Mantis died, he left us some important information that the rest of you guys should know, especially with all the recent revelations that we also uncovered regarding Panther himself." Riku said seriously before asking. "Would it be alright that I request Commander Silverburgh's presence, so I can give a full detail of what we discovered today to everyone?"

"Yes, I'll have her called over at once, Drakken. Just give us a minute." Misato asked as Riku also inputted another question.

"Also, I'd like the remainder of FOXHOUND including Silver Eagle to be there when they hear the report, there's some important questions that I need to ask her personally." Riku said as the recent revelations regarding Greg's powers have certainly brought about concerns, which was why he thought that by asking Linn for information privately on what she fully knew about Greg's situation, he could start finding some temporary solutions to the problem Team Warrior was facing.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Meanwhile, in another part of NERV headquarters inside the VR simulation room for the FOXHOUND recruits and NERV personnel in training, five men from Section 2 were on the training mat holding onto several of their aching limbs as Michael Hansen, Linn Aramaki, Garland Durev, James Masterson, Mana Kirishima, and Kari Mondeau were busy training a group of the bodyguards and security detail for NERV in CQC.

Today, Rei Ayanami was also with them, along with Asuka Langley Sohyru who had just recently come back to headquarters. Despite still having a foul mood from her recent loss, she made an attempt to come anyway to try and get her mind off things by staying close to her guardian, Garland Durev. Silent Scorpion was there to keep a close, yet quiet, watch on her.

Also today with the First and Second Children was the Fourth, Touji Suzahara, who was interested in seeing how good the FOXHOUNDers could fight since he had heard stories from Shinji before that these people were more than capable fighters, and so he had come on his own. Since Touji knew that he would probably be coming to NERV regularly now, he was already making arrangements to balance this with his visits to his younger sister. The one problem that he had yet to find a solution to, however, was to somehow lose Kensuke before coming as the military nut had been constantly chasing him ever since he had found out that Touji had connections to NERV being the pilot for Unit 03, even though he was on an indefinite standby until it was repaired.

Aside from getting to meet attractive Linn again since his rescue from the 13th Angel incident, Touji was impressed that these foreigners, especially a woman could fight so well. He could tell already from the way that these people were working that it had been a good idea on his part that he had come to this since he could learn a thing or two about actual fighting from the experts.

Despite all this, Touji was still unaware of the current situation regarding Shinji being trapped inside Unit-01 and had assumed that the reason for his friend's absence was that he was in the hospital somewhere in the GeoFront as Touji had seen the results of the last Angel attack and knew just how devastating it had been.

He had just finished watching Linn and Garland take down the group of Section 2 personnel in a sparring match which was held to demonstrate to the Evangelion pilots about CQC training in a likely situation of fighting a group of enemies. Garland was the first to speak as he helped one of the disabled men stand up.

"In the end, it's all about working together, teamwork is essential in efficiently handling being outnumbered in an enemy encounter." Garland spoke sternly to the pilots. "As you have just seen, it's not possible for just one of us alone to be able to hold our own against all five of these guys under normal circumstances. Remember that regardless of how much training and experience you may have, if your enemy has the advantage in numbers they can still overwhelm you. If you're with a well trained and coordinated team, however, you have a better chance of preventing that from happening."

"That should also apply to your handling to the Evangelions as well." Linn inputted, glancing over at Rei sometimes while she spoke. "As you should know well by now from the results of the previous battle, all of you definitely consider learning to team up so as to work as an actual unit against these Angels from now on, especially since it's now an obvious fact to even those of us from FOXHOUND that those things are definitely becoming stronger with each defeat."

"Eagle's right on both assumptions, Rei and Asuka got away with their lives, but we still received disastrous results in terms of handling the battle before the Angel was finally defeated." Venom said sternly as he looked at Asuka. "Particularly from you, Second Child, who charged in at the enemy even after seeing that it damaged your Evangelion to an extent that it couldn't have fought back anyway."

Asuka simply turned her head to the side, gritting her teeth and mumbling in German as Scorpion, who was at a standing distance beside her, spoke.

"Don't interrupt the training. A soldier has to decide for himself when to retreat." Scorpion said coolly as the redhead folded her arms even firmer.

"Yeah, yeah, I got it. No need for everyone else to rub it in." Asuka said as Garland came up to her.

"Asuka, I know you're still feeling down after that loss, but you should be thankful that you're still alive to take up today's lessons. That's why we're all here to help you and the First Child so we can start preparing you guys for any other Angel attacks. Whatever the next Angel is going to be like, I'd bet you my life that it will probably be a nastier case than this last one, and that one's defeat could very well have just been a fluke." Garland said to her. "I'm sure you know even better than I do that we can't rely on luck alone against these things. So don't let it get to you."

"Heh, so how does it feel like to have yer pride shot down like that?" Touji asked. "Maybe that will teach ya to start learning some proper manners."

"Shut up, you ape! You're the last person I want to hear from about how I pilot Eva!" Asuka shouted, raising a fist above Touji, as Garland held her back before she caused a fight. From a distance, Venom could only sigh and shake his head before holding his forehead in frustration seeing this.

"If they keep going at each other throats like this, I doubt we'll be seeing them make any worthy progress in the training before another Angel shows up or the terrorists strike again." Venom said seriously.

"You're right about that, we've got to find a way to eliminate the sense of competition among these pilots if they're ever going to get along as a team, just like we do. Asuka's hurt sense of pride is somehow the root of that." Linn said seriously as Michael looked at her.

"You know, Linn, you seem to be holding up well if you've been able to observe the problems that these pilots are having." Venom said as Linn shook her head.

"Maybe that is so, but I'm actually still a bit worried, despite putting up this brave face in front of these people who we're supposed to be training." Linn said solemnly.

"I know what you mean, especially since it's been awhile since we've gotten any word from any of them and Commander Silverburgh is still in conference with the new Commander and Vice Commanders for NERV." Venom said. "I hope that we got some news soon…"

Just as he said that, Meryl Silverburgh, Misato Katsuragi, and Solid Snake entered the training room from the side entrance. The FOXHOUND recruits that were in the room and saw the trio saluted to Meryl as she gave them the 'at ease' hand signal.

"Everyone at ease, I'm just here to deliver some news for you that you've all probably been eager to hear for some time." Meryl said as she sternly looked at Venom. "On our way out of the meeting with the Commander Fuyutski, we've just received a Codec message from Drakken to Colonel Campbell. It seems that his group managed to complete their mission on their end."

"Is that true, Commander? Greg-san and the rest of our friends got through successfully?" Kari looked up with a bright expression on her face, hoping to hear that her friends are okay while Mana did the same. Scorpion looked tense, expecting to hear that his close friend, Gregory Kinezono, and those with him to have made it out of the base safely.

Meanwhile, Linn clenched her fist in anticipation, as unexpectedly, Rei Ayanami came close enough to place a hand on her side and nodding to her silently, causing her to recall what they spoke about before.

"Yes, they were able to accomplish their mission objectives. The said captives were rescued and are now safe and sound under Drakken's watch according to his report at the time he contacted us." Meryl said, causing most of the FOXHOUND recruits in the room to sigh in relief.

"Well, that's certainly good news." Venom said with a smile. "Even though we couldn't directly assist them when they could have used our help, I trusted Greg and the rest of our friends would make the right judgment calls which get them through their mission successfully."

"Yeah, he didn't look it, but he sounded confident enough to have made it happen. Guess I should take him a bit more seriously from now on after he gets back, since I could tell that he's not the same guy from before he left us a couple of days ago." Garland said as he rested a hand on Linn's shoulder. "You can relax now; I'm sure that he must have done real well."

"I know, Garland. I knew all along, somehow, he would have made it happen." With a soft smile on her face, Linn nodded as she spoke to Meryl now. "So, how is Greg? Can we speak to him?"

Meryl approached her with a near sad expression on her face, giving signs to Linn and those around to prepare for the worst.

"Linn, I know you of all people in this room wouldn't want to hear this, but…" Meryl stopped before continuing. "…near the end of their mission, Greg stayed behind with Mantis to get some information while everyone else went ahead. That's when things started to go wrong."

"What are you saying, Commander?" Linn asked as her eyebrows lowered while Meryl sighed. "Something bad happened to him, didn't it?"

Before Meryl can respond, Venom cut in time as he can see Linn was getting unsettled as she was hearing the news from Meryl. "Commander, you said that Drakken sent the message, is he still online?"

"Uh, yes, actually, he wanted to see all of you personally to deliver his report. Then you'll know the truth of what happened." Meryl said as Linn sighed to catch her breath before speaking once more.

"Then, what are we waiting for? Let's go hear what he has to say, since I already have a bad feeling about this." Linn said as she went ahead of everyone else out of the VR room, with a rather distressed look in her eyes.

"She looked more upset than emotional this time." Misato asked. "Will she be okay?"

"Unless she has a good guess as to what has happened to Greg, we can't think of anything else that would bother her." Michael replied. "Well, let's just go and listen in on what Drakken has to say about it and then we'll see for ourselves."

As the group made their way behind Linn towards the hallways of NERV after a brief five minute walk, they were gathered in the conference room, where Riku had been waiting patiently for them to arrive over the Codec line. As he had also seen that Naomi Hunter was also in presence of the remainder of the FOXHOUND and NERV group, he started to explain to them most of the relevant details of the mission to Venom and Meryl.

After a good deal of time had passed, Riku had already detailed to the group about their discoveries in the underground facility as well as on what had happened afterwards during heir escape. Most of the younger recruits were pretty much in shock to find out how much has happened and tried to keep their emotions in check while Linn and Scorpion in particular tried their best to emotionally bear the brunt of the news regarding Greg.

"And that's pretty much what happened, everyone, I only wish I had something better to end this on." Riku sighed as Venom shook his head after hearing the report, especially the news on Greg's current condition.

"It really is unfortunate that something like this happened, from the Hattori girl to Mantis and to Greg. I'm sure seeing Mantis die like that in front of him after all the hard effort he put out today to try to save him must have emotionally drained Greg." Venom said as he looked at Linn. "Linn, are you sure that you're okay with this, even after all that has happened?"

"Well, after hearing that this little rescue mission Greg was in charge of was bigger than it appeared, I'm still trying to comprehend most of it happening because of Reese pulling the strings." Linn said, as she folded her arms. "But for Greg to be the center of one of the Patriots former projects for breeding and creating psychics…it always bothered me why his powers would cause problems in the past, and now I have a good guess why, especially if Riku says that he's slipped into a coma."

"So, you know something about what happened to Greg in relation to his powers?" Riku asked as Linn answered.

"Actually, to tell you the truth, yes. I know of some detail that we've kept from the rest of you." Linn replied. "I have some idea about how Greg's powers can be problematic at times if not checked often."

"So, you do have an idea of what's happening to an extent." Venom said sternly as he looked at her. "Alright then, why not start slowly and tell us more of what you know of these conditions Greg has?"

Linn stayed quiet as she thought to herself about the spot she's been put in.

(Really, you can be quite the handful sometimes, Greg. This is what you get for trying to act cool; I suppose...well, it had to happen sooner or later. I might as well start helping out in my own way, but will everyone here be able to accept the facts that I have to tell them?) Linn thought as she sighed to herself tell her comrades about the truth that she knew…

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Meanwhile, inside the Hunter's secret base and laboratory…

Inside a specially built quarantined room, the Japanese woman named Shirakawa was the one in charge of a specialist team that was busy unlocking the electronic security codes in the suitcases that was recovered from Greg Kinezono's apartment from the Hunter unit.

After more than an hour had passed, they were able to bypass the locks and managed to get the suitcase open, causing a cold steam of air escape from inside with a sharp hissing noise.

"Be careful when examining the contents." Shirakawa told the assistants as one of them nodded, reaching inside it with gloved hands. One of them contained a canister of frozen nanomachines in liquid form that were lined up on horizontal metallic lines.

The other suitcase was more unusual than the last one, as it seemed to contain a small assortment of weapons. One of them was a small rifle like gun with an extended suppressor, while the other was a rod that looked like it could be split into three with a circle in the middle. Shirakawa raised an eyebrow as she saw these and almost thought they were similar to the ones the Hunters use.

"Take those into the examination room for testing; we need to know their origins so as to pinpoint how he had access to them." Shirakawa said as she turned around to meet Robert Thorn entering the room.

"So, what's the final verdict, Shirakawa?" Thorn asked sternly as Shirakawa gave her report.

"It appears that the subject, Gregory Kinezono, may have already established contact with the Underground colony, sir, judging by the weapons we confiscated." Shirakawa said.

"Yes, it seems that by some coincidence he's gotten access to their secrets before we can set out to do that." Thorn said. "In any case, it doesn't change the original plan, in fact this little revelation only helps to push things ahead of schedule."

"Then…does that mean that you're going to have to contact Pairon about the advancement of your plan, sir?" Shirakawa asked. "Are you certain that we can trust him?"

"He was the one that showed the most ambition for this project, and covering his tracks for the first time when he went to infiltrate the Underground was simple." Thorn replied. "He just got a little too careless in completing his task, that's all."

"And how do you think that Kinezono is involved with this?"

"It was all in the details, and the description matched him perfectly at the time." Thorn replied. "Which means that Gregory Matthews Kinezono has got a lot more riding on him than just an involvement with being a host for the Soldier X gene."

"As much as I understand your motives for the plan, Mokuren and Shiju both are still in preparations, as for the B.O.W army that's also under the same status…" Before Shirakawa can finish, the lights in the room suddenly turned dark red as a loud alarm rang throughout the facility, indicating an emergency.

"Is it an enemy attack?" Shirakawa asked as Thorn replied coolly.

"No…it's from within our base itself." Thorn said as he walked out of the room with Shirakawa following him at a quick pace.

Moments before, in a training room not so far from Shirakawa's lab…

"Kendall-oniichan?" A young Japanese girl's voice was heard as the Number 2 placed Hunter turned around to see Anna Kakuzawa, wearing a body fitting suit that had metallic coverings on various parts of her body. Two bone-like protrusions that stuck out through her long black hair like horns could be seen as her blood red pupils stared innocently at her tutor.

"What is it, Anna?" Kendall Martin replied seriously holding onto his energy sword. They were in a room that had a series of indentations in the walls and the floor they were standing on. There were also several other marks of violence decorating the room such as large streaks of blood, broken metallic parts of combat machines, and the torn limbs and corpses of chained prison cell clothed inmates.

"I can tell if something's bothering you, onii-chan. Are you remembering something?" Anna asked as Kendall smirked.

"Ah, I was just thinking about the past." Kendall said as Anna looked on curiously.

"Was it about your family, Kendall-oniichan?" Anna asked as he nodded.

"That's right. I was just recalling the times I had with them, even though they were vague." Kendall muttered as he stared at Anna. "I had a younger sister, you know. If she were alive, she would be around your age."

"You miss them, don't you?" Anna asked as Kendall's hair covered his eyes." Like how I miss my daddy too."

"That's right, your old man was killed by the enemy, am I right?" Kendall asked her as she nodded. "I think I know the full details. It was all due to the queen diclonius and her friends that made you all alone, wasn't it?"

"Yes…Lucy was the one who killed papa." Anna said as several vectors, lengthy, invisible hands appeared from her back. "She is my mortal enemy and any one who sides with her is also my enemy, for I remember clearly the one who killed my father and the ones who let him die."

"I understand, Anna. You and I are alike; we both lost loved ones to an enemy of ours. While you lost your father to the queen of diclonius, I lost my family to a failure like Gregory Matthews." Kendall said. "That is why we must get stronger and show the Overboss that we're more than capable of taking those enemies of ours out. The two of us will show them no mercy and no remorse we're finished, got it?"

"Hai!" Anna said as the vectors flew past Kendall and struck a chained man who was trying desperately to escape the room behind them, but he met his end as the vectors cut through his stomach and tore his torso apart, killing him instantly.

"Well, you seem to be getting better at controlling those things. I'm sure I still have the touch as well." Kendall said as he reached out his hand in the direction of a nearby steel cage and clenched his fist, activating his powers and causing the cage itself to crumple into a spiked ball and sent it to crush the bisected man's head into the concrete wall. "Can't let that worthless fodder off without giving them a taste of true suffering first now, can we?"

"Are you two done having your fun yet?" A man's voice called into the intercom system as Kendall looked into the tinted glass in the training room.

"What is it now, Overboss?" Kendall asked himself as Dixon's voice called from the other room. "Did we get another mission already?"

"Kendall, Anna, I'm afraid we've got a situation in one of the experiment rooms where the captured Humaritt is being held." Dixon said through the speakers. "Cease the training for now and come to block D-3 where you'll meet us."

As the communications ended, Kendall looked on at Anna in silence as he opened the door, thinking to himself on what he just heard.

"Something must have happened." Kendall said to himself as he and Anna made their way to the laboratory block where the red emergency lights flashed around on the ceiling. Shirakawa along with Dixon, and Thorn were in front of the glass windows, which was being cracked and splattered with blood.

"What the hell's going on in there?" Kendall asked as Dixon spoke calmly.

"Our team of medical specialists was tending to the captured Humaritt, applying the SX gene that was replicated for her into her system." Dixon said as he looked inside as he can see a berserk Triple B dressed in a hospital gown, attacking a few of the helpless scientists. "Don't worry about the glass, it's been reinforced enough to withstand the powerful blows that this Humaritt can crate, as well as anything that can equal the weight of the human body if anything were thrown against it."

Just then, a female surgeon was thrown at their direction, slamming into the glass instead, and slid off as blood seeped out of her blood soaked hair. Shirakawa stood on in shock as she was watching the carnage happen in front of her eyes.

"See, nothing to worry about." Dixon said as Thorn spoke now.

"Is that all you have to say about this, Dixon?" Thorn said. "Those are members of our precious staff that are being thrashed around like ragged dolls while nothing's being done to stop that humarritt. Or were you just drawing a scientific conclusion about this effect that your SX gene is having on her?"

"It's an opportunity that can be used, wouldn't you agree?" Dixon said simply as Shirakawa gasped at the sight before her. "This was expected for the Humaritt specimen anyway. The SX gene can't be brought fully under control inside the host of an artificial life-form upon first contact."

"Wait, what happened to Joshua-san? Wasn't he in there to supervise the operation?" Shirakawa asked as she heard his voice spoke.

"I'm still in here, trying my best not to let this thing get close to Melissa." Joshua's voice spoke as an unconscious Melissa lay behind him as Joshua was in a fighting pose in front of her and the Tripe B humarritt, which was on a stand off with him. "And don't even ask me to leave my position, Melissa got lucky just getting a brush of this thing's hit, but it looks like it doesn't want to leave any survivors."

"Do you think you can take it down without damaging it?" Dixon asked.

"I think I can arrange that. I've got more than enough ammunition inside this room to help me now." Joshua said as he raised his hand, suddenly the blood pouring out from the corpses that laid and strewn about in the room started to rise into the air, surrounding him.

"Martin-san, aren't you going to help him?" Shirakawa asked as Martin folded his arms, watching through the protective glass with a wry smirk on his face.

"Why should I? It seems to me that he's got things handled for the time being." Kendall replied. "Just watch closely on how he uses his powers, Shirakawa."

Shirakawa stayed silent as she paid close attention to what was unfolding inside the room where Joshua was trapped with the berserk and powerful Humaritt, already drenched in blood, of both her slain victim's and her own artificial.

(I don't want to resort using this, but I'm sure the Overboss wants this thing less damaged than it already is.) Joshua thought as a wave of blood formed around his waist in a barrier like position, as he lowered his hand into the stream of crimson liquid as it soon solidified into a whip like weapon. (Thankfully, she's not one hundred percent repaired just yet, but I've still got to be careful around her...)

Triple B soon dashed at Joshua, mowing down the surgical tables and instruments in front of her, some of them were even sent flying in his direction, but the Hunter reacted as he lifted up a wall of blood from the ground before turning it into a large net, throwing it at Triple B.

"Incredible..." Shirakawa said, as she looked on.

"He's just getting warmed up." Martin said as Joshua then charged at the restrained Triple B and swung the whip at her body, making sure to weaken her enough while she can't move. After hitting her for a number of times, he spilt his blood whip in two and had them solidify into dual batons, as he was going to use these to strike at her next.

"Sorry if this hurts." Joshua said empathically as he raised an arm over her head, but before his weapon even made contact, she suddenly broke through the hardened form of blood and caught the descending baton with her right hand. "What?!"

Triple B snarled at him as she attempted to grab him with her free hand, but Joshua dashed out of her way in time as she started to tear at the net she was captive in and was soon free again. She then threw the net's remnants at Joshua, but he simply put his hand up and the remains of the net suddenly dissolved into liquid blood once more.

Unfortunately for him, doing so created an opening for her, as she made a dash at him, ready to deliver a flying roundhouse kick to his face. Before the blow could land, however, he put his arm up in time to create a small barrier consisting of his psychic powers combined with the blood from his wound, which absorbed the brunt of the blow and cutting the damage he took in half.

Joshua panted for air as Triple B relentlessly pressed on her punches and kicks, hitting Joshua each time with powerful force that no normal human being could withstand. Each time she did, Joshua reacted defensively and put up a barrier of blood around the area to decrease the damage he received.

"Isn't it about time he counterattacked?" Anna asked as Dixon replied calmly.

"Hmph, he's letting the Humaritt get the best of him… if this fight continues at this rate...Martin, Anna, I think its time you step in and help deal with this before it gets even serious." Dixon said.

"Aw, do we have to now?" Kendall groaned as he fixed his weapon. "Alright, then, Anna. Let's go and give Joshua...wait a minute."

As Joshua leaped back from Triple B after she stopped delivering her attack, he opened his palms as large blood drops floated over his hands and started to form themselves into a set of arrows floating in mid air which he then took with one hand while using the other to draw out the bow he was carrying on his back. However, as he took aim at the Humaritt, Triple B's body started to convulse as pink fluids suddenly sprayed out from various parts of her body as she fell onto her knees and held her legs in pain, the same fluid then began leaking out of her eyes as if she was crying.

Joshua eased his aim as he saw that Triple B had reached her limit physically and then remembered that the SX gene implanted in her would reactivate the pain receptors' data in her body if she does this so as to act as a warning guide to her, since her original receptors had been previously destroyed when she was first captured.

(I see, so it looks like she has reached her limit now. At least I'm sure the damage done to her isn't as bad as the first time, so a second check-up to her systems should get her back as good as new.) Joshua thought as he saw how Triple B looked more like a frightened child than a berserker combat machine. In some ways, while he was looking at her trembling, frightened face, it reminded him of Melissa at a younger age.

Sighing a bit, he dissolved the arrows back into blood and returned the bow to its place as he slowly approached the cowering Triple B as she looked around the damaged room and huddled to a corner to stay away from him.

"It's okay now; no one's going to hurt you ever again. Not while I'm around." Joshua said as he knelt down and faced the frightened Humaritt, holding his hand out to her despite fighting back the pain from his own wounds. "I'll take care of you from now on, you did well."

Triple B soon stopped her shivering as she held out her injured arm for Joshua to hold onto as she started to cry out in pain. Joshua then managed to use his other hand to pull out a tranquilizer gun and pressed it against her neck, putting her sleep as she began to snore gently against his shoulder.

"I don't believe it...he managed to tame it and make it listen to his words?" Shirakawa asked, still in shock to see how a powerful and savage battle android like Triple B was subdued like this. Looking at Dixon, she saw him signal Kendall and Anna to enter with a med team as they went to survey the damage done.

"That was quite a performance, Dixon, your psychic managed to put that thing under control before it could do any further damage to my base." Thorn said with almost a hint of sarcasm.

"Sorry if the damages have bothered you, I'll make sure that you'll be well compensated for the trouble. What I really wanted was to make sure that the rumors of Triple B's physical limits were true. It appears that even with her own SX gene incorporated into her system, she still has her limits, though her battle capabilities were impressive." Dixon said.

"Meaning that you have a use for her now, don't you?" Thorn asked.

"With some more testing, as well as an immediate effect of teaching her common and advanced knowledge for battle, she will be set in due time." Dixon said. "Also, she seems to have taken a liking to Joshua who has managed to get through her, even if he didn't have to use his psychic powers to manipulate her mind. I think I will have him and Melissa be the ones to instruct her for the group."

"Hmph, you never really failed to surprise me before, Dixon. At least I can say that the results worked in my favor as well." Thorn said.

"Something we both agree on." Dixon said as he looked at Kendall approaching the exhausted Joshua who was holding onto a sleeping Triple B and his younger sister, Melissa.

"Didn't I tell you that he would get things under control? There was no need for you to get yourself stressed out, Shirakawa." Martin said simply as he walked over to his comrade and patted his back.

"Looks like you've gotten yourself a new pet, Joshua." Martin grinned as Joshua shook his head.

"Whatever, man." Joshua simply replied in an annoyed tone, as he gasped for air. "So, are you two gonna help me clean up this mess?"

"This girl's your responsibility now, so that should be part of your job to look after her. But since you cut out more than you usually do in missions, today I'll make an exception." Martin said as he signaled Anna. "Come on, Anna; let's help Joshua this one time."

"Okay, Kendall-oniichan." Anna replied simply while from a distance, Shirakawa shook with fear as she watched the three psychics conversing normally like this.

(These psychics…aren't normal…could this the real curse of the Solder X gene?) Shirakawa thought as Dixon smiled to himself behind her.

(Things are certainly looking good so far.) Dixon thought to himself as he checked his watch. "Ah, sorry to run off so soon after everything that's happened, but I have a meeting in Kamakura to attend to. I should be on my way."

"Going to check on Aiko, your next Soldier X prodigy?" Thorn asked him. "You've done quite the good job as an actor with her and her mother, but how soon will she be ready?"

"She should be ready given the right amount of time and training. Besides, I don't want either of them growing curious about what plans I have for her, especially if it means using her to get to Lucy later."

"Guess there's no need to rush things yet, we'll give them some more time indeed." Thorn said as Dixon lit a cigar and walked off, leaving the Hunters to tend to their newly joined member, the humaritt, Triple B.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Meanwhile, in the confines of Gregory Kinezono's mind-space…

"Hey, old man…" Greg stopped in the midst of his tracks as he looked in the direction where his father was heading. They had been walking on the dirt track within the un-accessed areas of Greg's mindscape for some time now in silence before Greg made an attempt to speak since the space around them was tense. "Just where are you taking me to anyway?"

"To where it all began…how things came to be when you were first born, Greg." Curtis said simply as they stopped in front of the only building before them, a large house, one fit for a person living of high standards as it had two floors and glass panes surrounding most of its walls, making the insides rooms visible.

"This used to be our home, Greg. You, your sister, and your mother lived in this place that I brought with my income as a researcher. You had a comfortable life at this place." Curtis said as Greg stepped inside the yard with him. "Do you remember some trace of being here?"

"I didn't even think I was living at a place like this to start with." Greg replied as he stopped to hold his temple as a throbbing rang through his head. "Guhh…what the…"

As soon as he said that, Greg felt something being pounded into his mind, as a memory of when he was a young child flashed in front of his eyes. He saw himself playing with his younger sister in the grass yard as their mother looked on before coming back to focus with his father.

"It's coming back to you now, isn't it?" Curtis asked as Greg looked at him in shock. "You saw only a fragment of your childhood past just by coming here, but we're not even close to going deeper into your locked memories since most of what happened in your past are separated from each other, meaning we'd have to go various places within your innermost mind to uncover what you're seeking."

"You mean we've barely touched anything major, huh?" Greg asked. "Was that an effect of my sealing my memories because of my psychic powers?"

"Certainly you should recall what Violent Greg told you before about your unique abilities, but then again, you of all people should know that even as a child, a lot must have happened to make your mind like this." Curtis said as Greg lowered his gaze at his father.

"Don't annoy me anymore than you have to. I wouldn't know about those kinds of things, I wasn't raised to be a scientific genius like you." Greg replied simply to his father as his response. "But from what I can tell with what you just told me, is that there's more than one place containing remainders of my memories and that we've got to visit each of them in order to connect them, am I right?"

"Yes, that seems to be the case in here, since most if it is dominated by Violent Greg's personality." Curtis said as Greg sighed.

(Well then, at least I've got something to keep my consciousness occupied with till help from the outside arrives or when its time to leave this depressing place, I guess.) Greg thought as he started to walk towards the house before them. "Well, shall we get moving again?"

"Of course, we're pressed against time as it is; I suppose I should show you why I had to get the Soldier X project started and its circumstances surrounding it." Curtis said as he stepped into the house ahead of Greg as he followed after him.

Greg stayed silent at first as soon after the younger version of himself and his sister entered the room that they were in as they all heard voices coming from upstairs.

"Curtis, just how much longer are you going to keep ignoring us?" A young woman's voice was heard as two figures walked downstairs, one of them carrying a suitcase. The current Greg's eyes widened as he saw his mother's distressed face.

"O…Okaa-san…" Greg muttered the word 'mother' in Japanese, wanting to shout towards her to let her know that he was there, but the Curtis that was guiding him suddenly spoke to him in a warning tone.

"Don't do it, Greg. Remember that these are only fragments of your memories that we're watching. Besides, none of these people in this room or wherever else we'll visit can see or hear us." Curtis said as Greg shut his eyes.

"Dammit…" Greg muttered in a low tone as he watched the feud go on in front of him.

"You said that the project would be done about a month ago, yet why are you still leaving for days on end to oversee it." Judith Richard Matthews said as the younger version of Greg shut his younger sister's ears and hugged her closely so that she couldn't see and listen to what was happening.

"Judith, you have to understand that the officials of our government are expecting perfect results out of this project, there still some flaws that needed ironing out." The past Curtis said as Judith grabbed his jacket.

"Then, let Dr. Clark and Dixon take care of it. You can trust them to take care of this." Judith said. "How long has it been since you've really stayed with us for one week as a family? We barely see you anymore, and you're spending all of your time now on your work…"

"So, you'd rather that I let this family lose their home and live on the streets instead?" Curtis asked harshly. "If no one else is going to take the responsibility of taking care of you three, how are we going to make it in this world?"

"But, that's not what I meant, Curtis!" Judith said. "If you want me to, I can start working again, so please…"

"No, in your condition, you know as well as I do that you can't do that." Curtis said as he started to walk off. "I'm sorry, Judith, but I'm behind time as it is. I'll call you within a week to let you know how things are progressing."

"Curtis…" Judith cried as the younger Greg suddenly stood in the way of his father's path, trying to put up a brave face.

"What's your problem now, Gregory?" Curtis asked. "Do you have something to tell me as well?"

"Stop…" Greg muttered as he looked at his father sternly, despite his short stature at the time. "Stop making Mommy cry!"

Curtis looked at his son with a stern look before he fixed his hat and spoke. "I see that you've become quite defensive of your mother and sister lately, Greg, keep that up. I'd like to see what happens when I'm prepared for you."

"What is that supposed to mean at the time…?" The current Greg asked as he heard a loud crash of a vase near his father's feet, only to see the younger Greg holding his breath, still trying to bar his father from leaving. It seemed that he was the one who caused the tantrum after seeing his father be so smug to him.

"Please, I beg you…don't make Mommy cry anymore." The younger Greg said once more as Judith cried out to him.

"That's enough, Gregory! You behave yourself right this minute!" Judith said as before the younger Greg knew it, he saw his father turn suddenly at his mother and slapped her, causing her to fall over and hitting her forehead on the coffee table close-by.

"Mommy!" Candice cried out to help her up as the younger Greg grabbed hold of his father's coat and pulled at it as an attempt to stop his father, but before he tried to fight back, he felt a sudden shock near his right eye area as he felt something like glass hit against his head. The next moment, he saw something red and warm run over his right eye as he fell over due to the shock.

Looking up, he saw his father dropping a broken vase before picking up his younger sister from his mother, as he started to walk away from the room in silence, leaving a younger Greg to move slowly to his sobbing mother.

"That's…enough…" The current Greg muttered, at the Curtis with him as the people they were looking at disappeared before them into thin air. "Why did you...?"

"At the time, I wanted you to start growing your feelings of hatred towards me because the project required that a form of hostility was needed within the host to be formed as one of the basis for the Soldier X project." Curtis said.

"You mean…all that you did to us was for me to start…" Greg couldn't believe what he just heard. "That's just ludicrous; you intentionally did all of that for some stupid experiment? It's no wonder that I hated your guts! Even then, you had the gall to hurt my mother and Candice like you did, all because you only cared for your stupid work!"

"All I wanted was for you to understand that I was seeking everyone's best interests, and it meant having sacrifices along the way, as you've just seen." Curtis said as he suddenly found Greg's left hand grabbing hold of the collar area of his shirt as Greg was bearing his teeth at his father with tears in his eyes.

"How can you be calm about showing me what you did, you hypocrite?!" Greg shouted as he tightened his grip. "'Seeking everyone's best interests'…what a load of crock! What kind of family man does that sort of thing in the name of science, huh?"

"Didn't you know? There are more people like myself in this world than you think who would to the same thing to their own kin." Curtis said as Greg lowered his eyes as what Curtis just said reminded him very much of Yukari Imada's father and what he could remember of him from Rio's story, which only ticked him off further.

"Now that you say it, you're just like Yuka-chan's father, it really sickens me to know that I had to be the one to suffer from other people's misfortunes because of you." Greg said. "I just hope you're ready for a serious beating now I'm if I wasn't angry about everything that's happened up to this point because of Reese, I'm certainly am now because of you!"

"Go ahead; you said you wanted to hit me since we're clear of your mother's and sister's presence in their graves, why not take your best shot since you want to so badly?" Curtis asked. "Just know that if you do so, nothing about what you've seen today changes the fact that you still couldn't understand yourself fully enough to have even saved the ones who were involved in the SX project because of both your enemies on the outside world and your own weaknesses. Whether you want to accept it or not, that is part of your responsibility now, Greg."

Greg gritted his teeth as he realized that Curtis was right and released his grip. Anything he did at this point wouldn't change anything concerning the situation regarding the deaths of Yuina Hattori's aunt and Psycho Mantis as he only cursed himself.

"D…Dammit all!" Greg shouted as he slammed his left fist into the wall. (Mother, Candice… and now Tokimi Hattori and Mantis…how could I have failed them when all I ever did was tried to understand who I really am?) Greg thought sadly as he held onto the family portrait closer to his chest and cried silently to himself while his father looked on, wanting to say something to his son, but couldn't and looked away from him instead.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

At another area of the mind-space in the desolate field, Violent Greg started to rise from the muddied ground that he was lying on as he felt the swelling on his cheek from the punch his counterpart landed on him earlier.

"Damn, you have no idea just how much you've crossed me, Greg. Now, you'll really have to pay for getting me this ticked off." Violent Greg said as he rubbed his face as he stood up. "Now where could he have gone off to? It's not possible even for him to leave this place at the moment, so the only other option left for him is…"

Stopping to think for a moment, Violent Greg lifted his head and sneered as a thought hit him.

"Hmm, maybe the battle he had with Mantis DID brought about those kinds of results within his mental barriers that even the adverse effects I predicted would be countered. But for how long, I wonder?" Violent Greg said to himself.

"Well, if that's the way he wants to do things, so be it, at least it will make this little game more fun. Now, I know he's got to start looking for his memories by now, let's make this little trip down memory lane more thrilling, shall we?" Violent Greg smiled as he reached for his chest area and tore off the top clothing he had on to reveal a red, body painted symbol resembling an 'X' covering his entire back area with glyph-like markings sewn around them.

"I'd never thought that I would have to resort using the SX's powers like this, I should have tried it on earlier." Violent Greg spoke as he raised his hand over his face. "Now, Greg….lets see just how you're able to fare in the most unlikely of situations with only two thirds of your current abilities as a psychic combatant cut away from your access…when I turn your worst nightmares into your new enemies."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Back inside the former home of Curtis Matthews inside Greg's memory, Greg was musing over and examining the old family photos that consisted of himself, his late mother, and his sister mostly that were placed on the dresser table in the room while his father looked on. They were in silence until Curtis broke it as if he sensed something before his son did.

"Hmmm? This presence…it can only mean…" Curtis turned his gaze behind him as Greg noticed the change in his tone. "So, it's already begun."

"What is it now?" Greg simply asked as Curtis stood more firmly next to his son.

"It's your counter part. He's started to make his move, trying to stop us from advancing further into your memories." Curtis said as Greg looked behind his father's position and into the darkness before them that suddenly appeared in the room.

"What the hell…?" Greg muttered in shock as from the area of darkness, a trail of a dark red-like substances seeped out from it, forming into a large puddle in front of them, covering their exit. The puddle suddenly began to boil in front of them as it started to float upwards, taking form of three, large wolves covered in streaks of black and red fur that built up into a hairy and petrified mane; their jaws were covered and seeped in blood.

"He actually went that far as to summon the Blood-banes, huh?" Curtis replied coolly as Greg stepped back, bouncing the wall behind him. "He really doesn't want you to get out of here so easily."

"Is that what you call them?" Greg asked, trying not to panic. "Just what are they really?"

"They're phantoms, if you want to call them that…created by the negative recess of your sealed memories, from the essence of your powers from Violent Greg's process, no less." Curtis said as one of the wolf-like creatures howled a blood curdled cry.

Battle theme: Nero's battle theme of _**The Time Has Come**_ from _Devil May Cry 4_.

(Author's note: As an added bonus, I'm including the lyrics of this hugely infamous and likable song for the DMC4 fans out there who haven't memorized it fully as yet.)

"Damn…just how more bizarre can this day get?" Greg asked himself as he stared at the creatures in front of him intently before he raised his left arm in a defensive posture as he stood near his father.

"I don't know about you, but you'd better stay behind me while I'll try and draw these things away from here." Greg said as Curtis noticed the changed reaction in Greg's face.

"Gregory, are you saying that you'll…?" Curtis asked before Greg replied seriously without looking at him.

"Don't get the wrong idea, old man. This changes nothing on how I look at you, not just yet anyway." Greg said. "I'll need you around some more to help me fully understand on what's going on here, so I can't afford to have anything wrong happening to you till then, even if you're just a memory to guide me around."

Curtis smiled lightly at his son's response as he placed a hand on Greg's left shoulder.

"Even so, in your current condition, you're willing to fight against the odds. You're still like that after all these years when it came to your mother and sister." Curtis said as Greg flustered angrily.

"Damn it, this is so not the time to get sentimental!" Greg shouted as he saw one of the monsters leap at him from the left side, alerting him to react in time by executing a standing roundhouse kick that met with the monster's jaw on impact and sent him flying a distance away. The creature landed on its feet and bared its bleeding jaw at Greg.

(Even if this is still all in my mind, any of my own powers won't do much against these things, now that I don't have the use of nanomachines anymore since I used them all up to get out of that underground base earlier, not to mention that Violent Greg's still in control of things at the moment.) Greg thought. (All that's left is to rely on whatever useful combat skills I can still dish out on these things…and try to outlast them.)

_The time has come and so have I, _

_I'll laugh last cause you came to die._

_The damage done, the pain subside,_

_And I can see the fear clear when I look in your eye._

"Try to get somewhere where they can't get to you, I'll draw their attention." Greg said as he suddenly leaped back through the door next to his side and found himself in the kitchen area of his home which his father behind him as he locked himself into a closet nearby. Finding a chair, Greg propped it at an angle to it can act as a barricade as he looked around the room, thinking of a proper strategy to combat these beings.

(Now this is the kitchen that I definitely remember from the days of my past, but even in this cramped space, there's a big disadvantage between myself and those monsters. To begin with, there's not enough room to control the fighting either above or at my sides, so I've got to limit my movements to the most suitable scenario. Adding to the fact I've only got one arm to work with here only complicates things even more for me.) Greg thought to himself. (I just have to resort to using plain attacks and whatever I can use in here. Now, I need a weapon of sorts, anything that I can use to bludgeon or cut with will suffice.)

As Greg had already made up a plan to defend himself, he found a wooden broom and took hold of it with his available left hand.

"Will this work?" Greg asked himself before he heard the door being broken behind him.

CRASH!

"Here they come!" Greg exclaimed to himself.

The Blood-banes, as his father called them, busted through the wooden door of the kitchen as Greg took a full swing at one of them at the side area, immediately breaking the wooden pole on impact into two. The Blood-bane that was struck yelped as it was thrown violently to the wall behind him, but it didn't slow it down even though it took the full brunt of the blow.

Greg cursed silently as he spun one of the broken pieces to build momentum and then stabbed the splintered end into the fallen Blood-Bane's stomach, a heavy spray of crimson gushing out and ending up on his face and his partially destroyed Sneaking Suit.

As one of the phantoms created by Violent Greg was slain, Greg noticed the other two charging at him, as he threw the other end of the broken broom to stun one of them as he made a quick retreat.

(Not through yet, huh?) Greg thought as he bit his lower lip, looking for the next available object that he could use as a weapon. Luckily for him, he saw a rack of arranged cutting knives near the kitchen sink.

(Well, it's nowhere close to a sword or a staff, but there's no use complaining about preferences at a time like this. This is a now or never situation.) Greg thought as he grabbed the biggest one out of them it had before one of the creatures locked its jaw at Greg's left fist, sinking its teeth into it.

"Guuhhh!" Greg grunted as he felt the pain surged through his body, even though he was still sleeping. It felt so surreal that he thought he was in either a living nightmare or a horror movie.

"Get off!" He shouted as he managed to lift the arm high enough to throw the knife into the air upwards, before slamming the creature down, crashing it into the tiled ground before catching the knife as it fell and started to repeatedly stab the stunned Blood-Bane until it stopped breathing.

_I'll never kneel and I'll never rest,_

_You can tear the heart from my chest._

_I'll make you see what I do best,_

_I'll succeed as you breathe your very last breath._

Panting more heavily than ever now, Greg saw the heavy wound he had on his left arm.

(This is still just a dream, right? Come on, man, this is just another one of 'his' mind games, I can't afford to let him get to me like this out of fear!) Greg thought as he shook his head, trying to remind himself that this was all just something in his head. Doing this made him almost forget about the remaining phantom that was still in the kitchen area, but he remembered it just in time.

Still gripping on the knife he had, he looked around and saw a leather strap on the wall that was used for sharpening blades. It gave him an idea.

Reaching for it, he started to bind his left knuckles layer by layer until they were firm and tight with the knife still clenched in it. Leaving just about three inches of the strap out, Greg saw the last of the Blood-banes charge at him.

"Alright then, how about trying this one for size!?" Greg shouted, as he swung the leather strap upwards, stunning the creature upon hit while the knife cut into him during the strike. Then Greg leaped onto the kitchen table to get himself airborne as he spun his body with the strap at his side, lashing the injured creature with a revolving strike.

"Hyah!" Greg shouted as he landed a hit, then before the Blood-bane landed, Greg was able to land his feet on the phantom's body to deliver a second hit of the same attack.

"Hyah! Hyah! Hyah!" Greg shouted, executing three of the same attacks in succession before rising higher over the creature once more and using his left fist to punch into the Blood-bane's jaw and smashing it downwards into the table below them.

_Now I know how the angel fell, (just kneel)_

_I know the tale and I know it too well, (just bow)_

_I'll make you wish you had a soul to sell, (soul to sell)_

_When I strike you down and send you straight to hell._

Falling unto his feet after managing to fell the creature, Greg panted heavily as he rested his back against the wall, trying to catch his breath.

(Just what's the deal with these things? Even my Jump Canceling Swing attempt in this state was hard enough to stop just one of them! Am I going to be facing more of them later?) Greg thought as he suddenly heard more growling from nearby. As he looked, three more Blood-banes appeared as they now surrounded his escape in the already confided kitchen.

"Dammit, I spoke too soon!" Greg spoke said as he mustered whatever strength he had remaining to defend himself, but before he can see that the situation was hopeless, he saw something like a dart being injected into one of the beasts, causing him to suddenly grow bigger in mass before exploding in blue, light energy into a cloud of dust.

"What the…" Greg muttered as he saw his father holding onto an arm strapped bow-gun, almost as large as his body itself and covering the entirely of his right shoulder and arm, shooting out penetrating type arrows that was aimed at the monsters in front of Greg that was soon being destroyed into nothingness in front of him.

"Hmph, those were such awkward creatures indeed." Curtis simply said with a straight face as Greg looked on with his mouth gaping.

(Amazing…he manages to take out three of those things with only one shot from that weapon of his, and I have to go through a nightmare just to slay one!) Greg thought in shock. (To add to the fact that he can sense them before they can arrive…what kind of person was my father anyway?)

"Greg, even within the depths of your own mind, you shouldn't let yourself be so open." Curtis advised as Greg caught himself to what just happened and Greg stared at Curtis.

"Hey, don't go doing things like that if you're trying to win any favors from me!" Greg replied, looking around for more foes that would ambush them.

_My army comes from deep within,_

_Beneath my soul, beneath my skin._

_As you're ending, I'm about to begin,_

_My strength, His bane and I will never give in._

"He's being very relentless today, so be on your guard. There could be others." Curtis said, unloading one of the spent shells of the arrows and loading another into his battle accessory.

"Is he trying to turn whatever is left of my old home into a sort of battlefield for his amusement?" Greg asked as the two saw three other Blood-banes crashed through the window in front of them.

_I'll tell you now I'm the one to survive,_

_You never break my faith or my stride._

_I'll have you choke on your own demise,_

_I'll make the angel scream and the devil cry._

"We'll look into it after we deal with this mess." Curtis said as he simply took aim and fired at the phantom creature which was able to evade the shot, but was met by Greg's right foot as he kicked its face when his attention was averted.

WHAM!

The Blood-bane was sent spiraling away into the wall nearby as Curtis stood closer to his son, their backs facing each other.

"Tell me one thing…just since when you were able to get a hold of something like that, old man?" Greg asked without looking at his father while he spoke, referring to his weapon.

"Ah, if you meant this…I have not studied science for just genetics, but I've also had dealings with constructing weapons in order to protect myself and the family." Curtis said. "My assistant, Richard Dixon…he was the one who introduced me to this field during my early days of the Soldier X project."

"Richard…Dixon?" Greg muttered, as if he heard of the name somewhere before, but before he could continue in trying to recall the owner of that name, the phantoms continued their assault as Greg took one of the chairs and swung it with brute force, breaking it into pieces on one of the Blood-banes.

"If that's the case, why didn't you have something like that when we were attacked by the enemy and I nearly died?" Greg asked sternly as he got no reply from Curtis at first before the man continued.

"I'm afraid that you will have to discover that for yourself when you leave this accursed place." Curtis said as he fired two shots from the bow gun weapon and killed the remaining Blood-banes, leaving quite a bloody scene in the memory of the former home of Gregory Matthews.

"Fine, then. Whatever you say, old man." Greg said in a low tone.

"Okay, that seems to be all of them…for now." Curtis said as Greg sighed, taking a wet towel from the kitchen sink and started to clean off some of the blood from his stained Suit before wrapping it around the wound he'd gotten earlier to stop the bleeding as he sat on one of the remaining chairs to catch his breath.

"Alright, do you mind you start explaining what the hell's going on around here, old man!?" Greg muttered, looking at the slain corpses in shock as his father calmly explained the details as his battle accessory folded back.

"Violent Greg has started to utilize the effect of the SX gene within you and I won't be surprised if he was only experimenting with his new power by testing us just now." Curtis said. "By accessing your recent past experiences and encounters with the negative effects, it was easy for him to be able to create what you see and encountered here."

"So, in simple terms, my Soldier X genes that are currently under Violent Greg's control at the moment are the cause of the appearance of these so-called minions since he's begun accessing my bad memories, huh?" Greg asked. "Why would he do that?"

"As a security measure, to keep possible outsiders at bay in case they tried to interfere with the flow of things since he knows he won't be able to keep you in this state for a longer period than anticipated." Curtis said. "It's as if he's allowing us to proceed with looking back into your memories, but at the same time, reminding us that he's still the one in control. Besides, you of all people should be fully aware of what possibilities that can arise since he can implement the SX gene at least as well as you do."

"Hmph, I don't need the very person responsible for putting me in this predicament in the first place to point out the obvious." Greg snapped in response. "Besides, it's not like it's my fault that I didn't know beforehand, I just found out about this stuff from him. I'm still in the dark when it comes to knowing what happened in my past, in case you didn't know?"

"Well, I'm certain once you fully regain a sense of what's happening, you'll just have to come to terms with it." Curtis said calmly. "After all, you still have the personality of a child, so naïve to accept the things that have happened to you."

"Heh, things always got to be complicated." Greg said with a wry smile as he shook his head while Curtis grinned lightly at him. "As if the situation weren't bad enough before, now I've got these to deal with too."

Greg looked at his father in silence as he simply sighed as he faced the other door in front of them.

"I'd like to get a move on if you're done with the analyzing, please." Greg replied calmly as his father responded. "Not to mention that we both aren't safe here anymore now that Violent Greg's aware of my motives."

"Yes, we've lingered enough at this particular place; we should get a move on since you have a lot to catch up on and less time to do so." Curtis said sternly while he started to walk as Greg looked at the bloody animal's corpses before looking back at his father.

(It looks like I've definitely got some serious catching up to do around here like he said before I can get back to everyone…I hope when I get out of here eventually that they would understand I made the choice to stay like this if I ever have to get a grasp of what happened in my past.) Greg thought to himself, holding onto his new weapons even firmer for safe keeping as he continued walking behind his father's steps out of the house, while unknown to him, he was being watched the entire time…

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"My, even since he was brought into this mindscape in his current state, his tenacity hasn't shrunk one bit. To think he'd find a way to fend for himself against the phantoms of his past using only a kitchen knife to get by." Violent Greg said as he looked through a reflection of a broken glass that was in the room that acted liked a camera into the former home of Greg Matthews. "Though it was a shabby, yet effective effort on his part, at least he knows now that this just turned into something that he will have to prove himself for, but will that be enough for the memories that are awaiting him ahead?"

Turning around, Violent Greg clicked his teeth and cracked his knuckles as he started to walk away. "In any case, this means I can proceed with my plans before he catches on with what's really going on, with him being able to freely communicate with the memory of his father and all thus far. I'll be seeing you around very soon, my defiant counterpart."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

_**What kind of plans does this counterpart to Greg's light has in store?! **_

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

ShardclawK: Thus ends this newly added, yet shortened chapter of crossover goodness that everyone's been waiting on and things are starting to heat up in terms of story development as we start to see some unique happenings that will soon herald the start of a new arc for this story any time soon, especially with what's going to happen within the halls of the Uruha mansion as the next chapter will reveal. And if most of you hadn't guessed by now from the tragic notions given in the last and this chapter, it looks like Greg won't be around this time in terms of presence to aid his friends until his own problems are resolved for the time being in that little adventure he's having within his mind so far.

Greg: You need to stop pulling mean tricks on the fans on stuff like this…and whatever gave you the notion that I'm enjoying this part of the story?

Shardclaw: Aw, come on, cut me some slack. It's all for the good of increasing this story's popularity, even if it meant taking one of the main reasons that everyone has started to like this story even more, the new you, of course, from the focus for a while. This is all part of my master plan for the revision of the story anyway while still developing your revamped character even further.

Greg: Well, I got to admit that mind scene was intriguing in its own self, especially since Shardclaw-san used that theme straight from his all time favorite game, Devil May Cry 4 on the PS3.

Shardclaw: Man, that song is just balls-to-the-wall awesome. I go nuts every time I hear _**'The Time Has Come'**_ which have become my new personal anthem whenever I work on my fiction as well watch the gameplay videos and amvs based with that song as well!

Ran: Then, I suppose this is part of your master plan must mean gaining more girls from various anime and games.

Shardclaw: Well, there's that too, but I wouldn't be among the most powerful and greatest of crossover writers in fiction if I don't have the remainder of the number of girls from the Negima! manga, the girls of Girls Bravo, the .hack series chicks and even most of all, Bleach among my harem, this will be a good time for me to gather my powers to surprise the fans and convince them of my hard work thus far. But if only I didn't have that setback awhile back after posting the last SX chapter, I wouldn't have had to let everyone worry about my status…

Omi: What happened, Shardclaw-san?

Shardclaw: Well, after I posted the last SX update and was in preparations for this chapter and COE's revision which was several months back at the end of '07, my PC monitor of two years died out on me and I was unable to work or do anything on my computer for a good while, so I had to get a replacement for the Christmas season. So, for those who were wondering why I wasn't able to get this chapter in any sooner aside from work, gaming and anime/manga viewing, that's what had happened to me among other things.

Youji: Well, that must really blow, Shardclaw-san.

Shardclaw: Yeah, that really sucked for a while since I was in the middle of enjoying Detective Conan and other anime for fiction purposes and what not…but at least it gave me a chance to catch up on some really decent free and current anime and manga whenever I'm online to browse for stuff. Not to mention having to cut this chapter into two parts since a lot has happened during the Mantis arc, even though I promised the appearance of a few Real Bout characters before, but it will really have to wait until the next update for sure. Sorry to those who were waiting to see the characters from that one to show up, but I promise I will make up for it during the next revised update.

Greg: The boss has so much time on his hands…

Shardclaw: Also over the hiatus, I'm now getting myself involved in playing the .hack series, which I couldn't get to play before because the first four games in the series were not available down here, but thanks to Dark-san's help, I'm getting the chance to enjoy the series. As a matter of fact, I'm planning a surprise for fans of the series that will certainly please many, once I'm ready to play the G. U series soon that is.

Ken: In other words, you've been busy as always during the break, huh?

Shardclaw: You can say that, Ken-san. And the best part of it, since anime has fully established itself down here in Trinidad with more unique titles, I've gotten the chance to finally see the classic Saber Marionette J and Slayers series over the hiatus after having the girls from it for so long while preparing for the new Slayers Revolution series. Hurray for me!

As I said that, Lime, Cherry, Blood-berry, Tiger, Panther, Luchs, Marine and Lorelai, along with Lina Inverse, Amelia Wil Tesla Saillune, Sylphiel Nels Lahda, Filia ul Copt, Martina Zoana Mel Navratilova, and Naga the White Serpent entered the stage, all of them wearing nothing but tight fitting, frilly pink, heart shaped aprons and string thong underwear.

Lime: Shardclaw-sama, how come it took you so long to start looking our show to watch?

Shardclaw: For one thing, I was not able to actually find the series on DVD just yet until recently, but luckily for me, free anime access sites like pisoga and crunchyroll have given me chances to look at most anime for free, so I had a bit of trouble sticking to just one anime at a time since there were so many others to choose from, especially with some of the others that will also be crossing into this story later on, meaning that there's going to be another update in the casting list in time to come.

Lina: Either that, or you were too fatigued to let us play with you after getting ganged up by that large group of girls alone in your recent COE revisions.

Shardclaw: In any case, until the time comes that I can announce whether you fanboys out there will be seeing those two later on in SX, you'll girls will have to keep up your best in giving me the support I will need to make this year even uber for this revised story and COE as well, so I'm counting on each and every one of you to give it your best it your best, Lime-chan, Cherry-chan, Lina-chan, Amelia-chan Sylphiel-chan and Naga-chan.

Naga, pressing her ample chest against Shardclaw's right cheek: Heh, leave it to us, Shardclaw-sama.

Tiger, pressing her own chest against Shardclaw's face as well from the left: Yes, the pleasure is all ours. Do whatever you can to keep on pleasing the fans as well, punishing the wanker-men on your list.

Panther: And you know what? That just happens to be our biggest turn-on.

Sylphiel: I know it may be out of character for someone like myself to use sex appeal to inspire one as great as you, Shardclaw dear, but I'll do my utmost best to pleasure you since you've grown to be quite an awesome writer through these revisions.

Shardclaw, swallowing hard as he hears this: Now, now ladies, don't let simple acts from one such that be your weakness. I still have to think of what to include in terms of crossover interactivity for the next set of chapters ahead, along with what I can do to COE as well…

Lime: Well, I guess we'll just have to convince you some more on how serious we are on helping you as well as making that choice for those requests happening to make the fans happy, then, Shardclaw-sama.

Cherry: I guess I'll help myself as well, I hope you're prepared for our 'special service' now that you've gotten a good idea of our hyperactivity.

Lina: Not to mention, ours, as well my ravenous appetite! Besides, since you made Celica-san and her closest friends your personal dessert plates in the omake of the first revised chapter for COE, its only fair that we return the favor and treat ourselves to you, ne?

Shardclaw: Wait, Lime-chan, Lina-chan, Cherry-chan…what's that supposed to mean?!

Amelia: No complaints! You can use us as practice until the next update of either this story or COE. Besides, with the recent birthday shipment Dark-san sent, who knows that if he has already considered the girls from one of your recently completed current favorite eroge games, _Bazooka Café, _that you've been playing during the revision hiatusas future shipment incentives, that's if you behave well like you used to.

Shardclaw swallows at the thought of getting ganged up by the female cast of large and ample bosomed girls of that game eventually, and recalls what he went through during the Valentine Special bonus of the game, thus weakening his guard for the Saber Dolls and Slayers girls to attack him.

Shardclaw: Ikou. (Gulp.) I might as well take the offer while Lina's in the good mood, or else my base will fall victim to one of her powerful spells if she and her friends don't get to satisfy their appetite soon...after seeing Lina's capabilities as a socresess, I don't want to be caught up in a Dragon Slave blast from her...its either this or the other for me.

Cherry: Take….that!

GLOMP!

Shardclaw: You overly energetic chicks…it's not fair you tempt me like this…auugh…

With that, the author passes out from getting double teamed from Lime and Cherry's passionate love-tackles; there was a mini catfight amongst the group of girls.

Lime: Now, now, girls…I'm sure Shardclaw-sama won't let a thing like that make him pass out completely. Now, let's just wake him back up in the bedroom, so each and every one of us can all have our turns with him.

As the writer gets carried off by the group of girls, Greg and the Weiss males sigh as this was a common routine to them now.

Ken: I suppose it's the right way to keep him under control while he hosts these chapters, right?

Greg: Anything to prevent any more ecchiness in these omakes from getting even crazier than it is, I guess. That's is if he hasn't started to watch the next best classic anime series around, The Slayers, by now, since those girls from that series are planning some ambushes on their own in an omake one of these days, especially when you consider Lina, Amelia's and Naga's appetite for 'meat'.

Ken: Let's just hope Shardclaw-san will still be alive at the time to give us that update since he seems to be having so much fun getting ganged up by so much lovely girls during these revisions…who knows who would attack him in the next revised chapter.

Greg: Feel free to leave any suggestions and comments, as well as notices for corrections that you may have for this story and COE as well since there's plenty of room for ideas this time around now that the Metal Gear Solid series has come to an end.

Ran: We'll see you readers again in the next X.


	14. A Brief Respite, Part 2

Shardclaw: First off, I'm glad to know that they are still people out there who stuck around to support me, thanks to those who took the time to send the reviews for the last revised chapter and to those who were pleased with the updated and renewed casting list, but more on that at the end of this chapter...

Just to let everyone who read it and noticed it was a bit shorter than my usual offerings in the past, that's because I had planned to post it as a whole chapter, but somehow I've been encountering problems uploading it a while back, so I decided to cut it in half for the time being, meaning this chapter is basically still part of what happened in the last one. (Anyone else out there whose experienced this similar problem, let me know if there's a remedy around it or else I may have to start shortening updates from now on until FFnet recognizes and fixes this.)

Yeah, I know it sounds a bit confusing at first, but it's not like much has happened yet story-wise aside from all the character appearances and references that will start popping up from this chapter, not to mention I can get the updates cracking again on a more frequent pace as before. Also, now that the Elfen Lied manga has at last come to a close, I'd want to welcome two special guests from that series who will occasionally assist me in the hosting of these revised chapters as a little test of service towards the fans.

As I said that, none other than Lucy and Nana appeared onstage with big smiles on their faces and sat next to me.

Lucy: Greetings, Shardclaw-san, judging from the comments the readers gave about to our long awaited appearance in the previous chapter and how everyone in the series were portrayed, we felt we should repay you for the good job he's done by doing this.

Shardclaw: Ah, think nothing of it, Lucy-san. You and Nana are welcome anytime to help me and the other guys out, after all the things you two went through in the manga, it's the least I can do until the next set of SX chapters with you guys start up soon following this one. But really, I'm going to miss getting to know more of the Elfen Lied universe from now on, and not only it was my second most favorite manga read for the year, but that means I got to look for something else to start reading by the time and I doubt no other manga or anime out there other than _Gantz_ can do what you guys accomplished...a big tip of the hat to the geniuses behind the whole concept, you've won my personal thank you for making EL happen.

Nana: As much as we'd feel honored by hearing you say that, Shardclaw-san, you don't look sad at all. As a matter of fact, you've already made reading ecchi manga one of your priorities, now that you've started to read the manga version of _Sekirei_ being one of them...

Shardclaw: Ikou. Thanks very much for pointing that out to the fans out there, Nana-chan. Now, I'm in an even bigger risk in the case one of them is generous to send the hawt girls from that one anytime soon...but before that can happen, we got bigger fish to fry, namely the story continuation of last chapter's recent developments as to what has happened, what to expect and who we'll be seeing this time.

Nana: That's right; though it's too bad we won't be seeing a particular character who's a regular of the story up to this point in this chapter as we've read the script for this chapter earlier.

Shardclaw: Just making things more tense for the readers into what to expect soon, since the real focus is on everyone else for now, though they're in for a couple of big surprises near the end of this chapter...

Lucy: In any case, let's get things started on this chapter that's still more or less tells the continuation of the growing developments for the upcoming Soldier X chapters ahead, meaning that there's going to be a another round of surprises for the likes of the grateful fans out there to look out for and enjoy.

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_**The meeting of forces, both good and evil alike continues while challenges anew shall confront and test them. Rest will no longer be tolerated. **_

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Metal Gear: Soldier X

Chapter 13: A Brief Respite, Part 2

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BUUUZZZ! BUUUZZZ!

"Alright, already! I'm up, dammit!" Rio cursed as she shot up from her bed in response to the ringing alarm clock next to her pillow. She swore that if she had to hear the noise of the clock's alarm any longer, she'd toss it out of the nearest window. What stopped her from going through with that was the feeling in the back of her mind that it was partly her fault that she had woken up in a sour mood. "Ah, I stayed up longer than usual…no wonder I still feel like crap."

Rio knew that she had had a good reason to, as since last night she had been talking to various people over her cell phone and been trying to get information on what's been happening lately in Japan, but so far, she had had little luck in getting the really vital information that she needed on the current events that had occurred in the past couple of days.

"Geez, with everything's that happened, I thought I would have found some luck getting through to at least one of our contacts, but it seems most of those guys are hard to get through to by phone these days. I can't even get in touch with the people from the L.P.G.…I guess I'll just try again later when I get chance, that's all. I hope Maya had better luck than I did getting through to at least someone…" Rio yawned as she took her time to get up and stretch herself. "Well, I guess it's time to get back to reality and out of this slump."

Getting herself refreshed after a long night was a way to start things off, with a quick stretching exercise and then a cold shower. After she felt rejuvenated enough, Rio got herself into her trademark Police Town uniform that was brought over when Nanvel and Maki arrived at the Uruha mansion the day before. Fortunately for her, she had always held onto her badge, purse, and handgun as she knew that she would need those as soon she got back to work.

Until she could get back to her apartment to reorganize, Rio knew that she would have to make do with she had right then. After taking a look in the mirror to see that she was all set with her sexy appearance to appeal to the male eyes that would certainly be glued to her figure once they see her, Rio nodded to herself.

(Alright, I can at least check up on how Greggie's doing before I leave here, to give me some clarity for the day, I hope. I just have a feeling it's going to be another rough one.) Rio thought as she left her room to walk across to her surrogate son's room where she saw Serina now stepping out of the door.

"Oh, good morning, Rio-san. I hope you managed to sleep well." Serina bowed to Rio as she returned the greeting.

"Serina, wasn't it? I never got the chance to personally thank you for all that you did for my son, not to mention to the rest of my team when we got checked up afterwards yesterday." Rio said as Serina smiled at Rio. "You also did a great job with looking after him while he's sleeping, he can be a surprisingly restless guy at times."

"It was just part of my duty as a medic, Rio-san. I'm sure Oboro-dono felt the same when she did her part as well." Serina said as Rio took a glance at Greg's bed through the open door.

"So, have there been any changes yet?" Rio asked as Serina shook her head.

"I'm afraid not. Although he's been sleeping comfortably and peacefully since he was brought in, he hasn't shown any voluntary movement to show that he's about to wake up thus far." Serina spoke as Rio hung her head.

"I see…well, it's only been almost one day. I'm sure given enough time he will pull through, though I never really considered myself a patient person before." Rio said as Serina placed her hand on her shoulder.

"I think so as well, your son Greg will pull through. And if things do get complicated, you've got his friends to rely on as well." Serina said as she looked at her Police Town uniform. "In any case, do you have to work soon on your profession?"

"Yeah, as much as I wanted to stick around here and help out, that's got to wait until later. If it weren't for those mass prison breaks yesterday…" Rio lamented as Serina spoke.

"You needn't worry about Greg; we'll do our best in taking care of him. You just focus on your work, Rio-san; it may even get your mind of off his condition for the time being." Serina said. "Could you excuse me now, my boyfriend is supposed to be on his way back from his assignment and I need to greet him soon. Don't worry though, your son will be under our watch around the clock, but if you want to, you can check on Greg before you leave."

"I may do just that. I don't want to hold you back, so you go on ahead, and handle your thing. It sounds to me like you two have got it seriously going on." Rio smiled at Serina who walked away from Greg's room area with a blushing smile of her own.

(Thanks for the advice; I hope you're right about the part about my work getting my mind off things, Serina.) Rio thought about what Serina just said before she left. (But, who'd have ever thought that she was romantically involved with someone. Hmm, well, that's good for her, hope I get to meet the lucky guy eventually.)

Rio then walked into Greg's room to take a quick glimpse of her sleeping student/son and stood close enough that she was in smelling distance of him. Now that she thought of it, she was starting to feel a sense of understanding of what Greg was musing over when he came to see her upon hearing what had happened before their meeting with Seraph and Farfarello of Schwarz a couple of days back.

The only difference now was that the positions had been switched and the one who was gravely hurt was now in a more serious condition than she was. In a way, she felt responsible for not being able to do more than what she could have done for him to have a happier life, but she also knew that for the moment, the most that she could do is try to pick up where he left off.

"Don't you worry, Greg, we'll take care of things from here. You did a great job taking care of us these past few days, so just let us return the favor. You deserve a much needed rest. For now, just try to re-gather your mind and body until I can get some help for you, okay?" Rio whispered as she bent down over his bed to give him a light kiss on his bare forehead that left her glossy, pink, lip marks on his skin from the lipstick she was wearing. "I'll see you later, my son."

Expecting some kind of reaction from him as she did this, but didn't get any at the end, Rio sighed in disappointment for a bit as she stood straight up once more to head out of the room and shut the door quietly behind her. As she turned around to walk on the corridor, she met Maya Jingu, already dressed in her own Police Town uniform, waiting for her.

"Good morning." Maya said simply as Rio replied with a quick nod.

"Good morning yourself, Maya. You look like you had a better time sleeping than I had last night." Rio said as the two walked together to the kitchen area.

"Well, despite having being told to take things easy for now, I was actually busy prepping for today, among other things. A police officer's work is never done." Maya lamented.

"That is so true, girl." Rio sighed in a tired tone. Ever since the day before last, her mind had been full of uncertainties over everything that's been happening recently. Now, with her going back to work because she had no choice but to, it was just adding more strain to her worries.

"Hey, don't let it get to you, okay?" Maya said supportively as she patted Rio's shoulder.

"I know, I know, we'll somehow deal with this, one thing at a time." Rio said.

"So, how is he? Does it look like he's going to wake up soon?" Maya asked as Rio smiled lightly to her friend first before sighing once more.

"I'd wish that my answer was yes, but not even I know how long that guy's going to stay asleep. But then again, he's always had bad sleeping habits" Rio replied. "Despite all that he was able to do up till yesterday, it just goes to show you that Greg's just a regular human like the rest of us."

"Yeah, you're right about that." Maya said as the two made their way to the kitchen area, where to their surprise they met Yuji and Lilica there, having their style of breakfast.

"Wow, I didn't expect to see you guys about this early, especially after all that happened yesterday." Lilica said with a light brown toast in her mouth, dressed in nothing but an American, XXL sized football shirt and her hair loose. Yuji was dressed in a casual t-shirt, blue short pants and was just finishing up a plate of bacon and scrambled eggs.

"Morning, Lilica. We could say the same about you, being the one who we went through all that trouble to rescue just yesterday." Rio said, observing that Lilica was busy. She had a laptop in front of her which was playing rock music. She was able to get it courtesy of both Nanvel and Kurei's connections when she asked to get one to get her work done on.

Since Maki had permitted Lilica to stay at the mansion where she could re-gather her bearings over the time from being a captive, she hadn't been called back to work yet, even with the present crisis at hand. In other words, there was no need for her to go unless she wanted to. However, it was Lilica who decided to stay since she made up her mind that she would be needed when Yuina wakes up in order to help her cope with things.

"Well, I need to hurry and finish up things here before Yuina wakes up. That girl's got a long day ahead of her if she's going to understand all of what's happened to her and Seraph, so I'm going to stick around with her so I can help her out." Lilica said as Maya nodded.

"Oh, yeah, those two got caught up in this mess even more than we have, huh?" Maya asked solemnly as one of the maids of the mansion bowed before Rio and Maya as they entered the room.

"Good morning, Rio-sama, and Maya-sama. How would you like your breakfast, Western or Japanese style?" She asked as Maya replied.

"Japanese, I'd like potato miso soup and curry bread, please." Maya requested.

"Western style for me, thanks. Plain coffee, straight and black, and I'd like to have some croissants too." Rio said as she sat down on one of the stools near the counter in the kitchen as she waited on her breakfast.

One of the benefits of being an ally of the Uruha and Hokage clan that she had learned while she was staying here was the unlimited access to such requested meals courtesy of the culinary trained and skilled maids in the mansion. She would have requested something larger, but she didn't want her appetite to get in the way of her work and she needed to be extra alert this morning.

"So, is that why you wanted hang around here today, Lilica?" Rio asked as Lilica nodded, getting back to the topic at hand. "I understand what you mean; the kid and Seraph really never did anything to get themselves mixed up in this. That Reese must really get his kicks by picking on defenseless people, huh?"

"But yesterday, you said that Yuina's father was also targeted by the enemy for his work on biodroids and emulates, meaning that in turn those two would eventually have been targeted as well." Maya said as the maid returned with her and Rio's breakfast on a wheeled cart tray.

"Right, we just didn't see something like this coming when we were so intent on watching Greg's back all the time from the shadows when he came back to Japan for that mission in Tokyo-3 for FOXHOUND, which was two days before Yuina's aunt was killed." Rio said, as she started to sip her coffee. "By the time Seraph came to us for help, it was too late to know or do anything about it since it was only just after Nastasha gave us the news about Reese."

"Speaking of that creep, what do you think he's up to now?" Yuji asked as Rio sighed with a serious look on her face.

"Well, since we do know for now that Greg's psychic abilities were something that Reese knew of and wanted to get his grubby hands on, along with the biodroid and emulate technology, but couldn't attain either of them, he obviously won't stop there." Rio said. "Chances are he's going to move onto bigger things in order to win back his favor with the enemy until he gets a second chance since he lost his shot with both of them. For the time being, I'll bet he's probably gone into hiding to start devising another plan. That, I can be sure of."

"Meaning that there could be other people that could be targeted by him and his supporters?" Lilica asked.

"Yeah, people like Yuka-chan to start with, which was why I was thinking all of this over just last night. She was essentially the core of a project involving warfare not too long ago, after all and considering what happened to her old man after that whole MD incident, I won't be surprised if Reese has already learned about that by now." Rio said seriously.

"Let's not forget the civilizations from the Underground too. Basically, they were forgotten by their own government at the time Second Impact took place, so records of all the scientific experiments that took place since then, as well as the ancient dragons that are still sleeping beneath the Earth and how they progressed over the years would eventually reach the enemy." Yuji said.

"Including the ones for Ruri's powers and the others with special elemental abilities, as well as the mutants like Rayon-chan, I bet." Rio said as she rubbed her head as Maya spoke up now.

"Hey, I just thought of something now that you mention it. Do you think it's possible that Ruri's powers of resurrection could work on Greg's comatose state?" Maya asked as Lilica and Yuji looked at Rio, expecting a good answer.

"It's possible, but then again, her powers are way beyond Yanagi's in terms of effectiveness for someone her age but when I took a look at it, their powers are still similar enough and even Yanagi's power couldn't wake him up as we found that out yesterday when we got here. It'd be kind of pointless to ask Ruri or else we'd be just risking her own life, since that power of hers is not something to be used so frequently or to be tapped into for one's own convenience." Rio inputted.

"I guess you're right. The people of the Underground are powerful, but if they use their powers too often, they tire themselves out and risk going into a coma themselves, but only for a short period of days." Lilica said.

"I don't like to say it, but I'm sure we wouldn't want to trouble Chelsea and Kashin when they find out what had happened to Greg by asking Ruri for help." Rio said. "I'm sure even Greg would want to respect their wishes, especially since he's played a vital part in that whole Underground incident."

"Still, it wouldn't hurt to find out how things are going with everyone so far. I mean, it's been a month or so since we last visited the Asagi dojo, right?" Lilica asked. "I think one of us should pay them a surprise visit to inform then on what's been going on these past couple of days."

"Agreed, but without Greg around this time, its going to be rather difficult to find out just where that lecherous old man keeps his booby traps for the guest that comes every time to visit." Maya muttered. "Anyone else you can think of?"

"We could always contact Nagase and tell her to spread the word on what's happened to Rumina and the others. She did help us too during that adventure after all, and Greg said if something were to happen to him that they needed to know, we should contact her about it." Rio said.

"Sounds like a plan. I'll ask Nanvel for Greg's Codec later and dig around for his contact list, her frequency should be in it." Lilica nodded as she heard this from Rio.

"Well, that takes care of contacting our buddies as a head start, but what else should we do from here?" Rio asked. "Man, I knew a day like this would come somehow, but I didn't expect it would hit us this hard or so suddenly."

"Maki said there would be times like this, but it's kind of hard to accept that so much has happened in such a short space of time. We haven't been hit this hard since the MD incident." Yuji said as Rio tapped his head with her back fist lightly.

"Yuji, you'd better fix that sorrowful look, it's starting to bug my appetite now." Rio complained to the perverted male officer, who had a bit of a sour look on his face as he looked down on his empty plate. "Besides, I thought you had enough free time to look over all those dirty downloads last night, aren't you supposed to have a satisfied look on your face after dirtying your conscience?"

"It just wasn't the same with Greg like this, you know that, Rio." Yuji replied as Rio got his point and sat back down.

"Y-yeah, I guess you're right about that. Sorry if I implied otherwise." Rio lamented as Yuji thought to himself.

(Even though I 'enjoyed' that very satisfying harem ending of the _Giri Giri Sisters_ hentai manga that I got to read last night as one of my downloads, I still feel down over everything that happened yesterday, especially with Greg. He was so looking forward to the latest _Gantz_ manga chapters this week too, just when things are starting to pick up story wise now that he's reached the end of the Osaka arc and from the looks of things following Kei Kurono's long awaited revival for the start of the 'Catastrophe' arc, it looks like something quite big and nasty is bound to happen soon.) Yuji thought as he sighed with a small smile. (At least that's one thing I know he'll be excited about for sure, given that if he ever wakes up…)

"From the looks of things, we won't be able to keep everyone of our friends and allies that we've made over the years safe from the enemy much longer if Reese has already known about Seraph and Yuina." Lilica said. "And to top it off, with Greggie's current condition…"

"Damn, this just messes things up for us, huh?" Maya asked as the group looked on in silence at each other before they heard voices coming in from the other room. It happened to be Riku, Nagi and Tot, all dressed in casual clothing, and accompanied by two, tall Chinese girls, both of them appearing to be twin sisters; one of them with long, black, streaking hair that was tied back and the other with short black hair.

"Ah Rio, Yuji, Lilica, and Maya, good morning; I hope that you all slept well." Riku said as he noted the mood in the room among the Team Warrior members before stopping and then making a light gesture with his right hand so as to tell Nagi that he needed the three of them to talk courtesy of Nagi's telepathy.

(Okay, I'm ready.) Nagi said.

(Well, as you can see, this is one serious atmosphere brewing inside here, huh, guys?) Riku began.

(Well, you can't blame them for that, Riku. All of them have been having a rough time lately with all that's happening. I know I would be upset too like everyone else if I were in their position and it was one ours.) Nagi replied in thought.

(That's true; in fact I almost feel the same way they do right now, even if it's somebody like Greg-san since we've only known him for two days.) Tot replied. (Let's do whatever we can to keep cheering Rio-san and our new friends up, okay?)

Nagi and Riku replied by giving each other silent nods before they saw Rio force a smile as she greeted herself to Riku and his partners, as well as to the newcomers that she was now seeing for the first time.

"Hey, good morning to you guys, too. We had a good night's rest, thanks for asking." Rio said as she looked at the twins. "And may I ask who your other two friends are?"

"Yeah, we didn't see them at all yesterday when we got here." Lilica asked as Nagi spoke and introduced them to the Warrior group.

"These are two of our members of the Uruha Ryu, Xia Yu Lan and Xia Yu Fan. They arrived here a while after you guys went in for the night." Nagi said as the twin girls bowed to Rio and her group with light smiles on their faces.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet the members of the famed Team Warrior. Riku-sama is the one who briefed us on all that has been happening and we managed to arrive to the mansion to assist Gennosuke-dono and the rest of his group in time when you left the underground base yesterday in your helicopter." The long haired twin, Yu Lan, spoke as a puzzled look came on Rio's face.

"You helped us yesterday?" Rio asked. "Then, that means, while we were making our getaway, you were the ones who took down those Death Squad's army jeeps?"

"That is correct, Rio-san, that was all our doing, though it was mostly Nee-san's." The shorter haired twin, Yu Fan, replied while Maya exclaimed.

"You guys have got to show me how you made that possible; it must have taken real firepower to put those guys in their places." Maya said.

"It wasn't totally possible to do by ourselves, we just had happened to have our Arm Slave with us for time like that." Yu Fan explained. "Nee-san is its pilot."

"An Arm Slave, huh? That's a new one to me." Yuji said. "Still, we pretty much owe you guys one for covering our backs back there, I doubt it would have been easy for me to evade those guys, especially with the load the copter was carrying on the way here."

"Yeah, thanks a lot for the back-up, you two. It came in at just the right time when we needed it." Rio said as Riku talked now.

"Oh, you guys will pretty much get to see what an Arm Slave does and how these two are so good at using it in battle, eventually anyway. As a matter of fact, Nanvel got the chance to meet these two earlier before we came here and she's looking over at it right now." Riku said.

"Whoa, I don't think that's such a good idea, Riku." Rio cut in. "Nanvel's the last person you'd trust involving anything mechanical, especially when she sees something new to her interests."

"How could you say that, Rio-san, even though she helped us out during our mission yesterday?" Nagi asked as Rio shook her head.

"I didn't mean it in that sense, Nagi. It's true that she always is a big help, but when it comes to gadgets and anything involving robots and stuff like that…well, let's just say that she can become a little eccentric when it comes to them. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if she'll start dismantling that Arm Slave Yu Lan and Yu Fan talked about, just to see how they work." Rio said and stopped as she saw signs of worry appearing on the Chinese twins faces before she smiled. "Hey, now, it was just a joke, no need to get frightened."

A sigh of relief came from Riku nervously as the twins looked at each other before turning back to Rio.

"Actually, Rio-san, when your friend spoke to us about our Arm Slave we asked her if she could analyze it as best as she could and if possible see if she could find out what's inside its black box." Yu Lan said.

"Really, but why would you need her to do that?" Rio asked, blinking a little in confusion.

The twins, their faces now serious, looked over at Riku.

"Is it alright if they know, Riku-sama, Nagi-sama?" Yu Fan asked.

"Well, we told Nanvel when she asked, so it's alright by us, right Nagi?" Riku turned to his partner who nodded in reply.

"Very well." Yu Lan nodded and then returned her attention to Rio, Maya, Lilica, and Yuji. "The reason that we asked her to do this is because it may help us find our lost memories."

"Lost memories, do you mean you guys have amnesia or something?" Rio asked.

"Possibly…" Yu Lan lowered her eyes a bit as she thought more on the matter.

"Just what do you mean by 'possibly'?" Yuji spoke. "I mean if you're missing a lot of your memories, that's amnesia, right?"

"Yes, but not if those memories were erased by someone." Yu Fan said.

"Erased?" Lilica asked. "But why and by who?"

"That part we're still trying to figure out." Yu Fan answered.

"But as for the second part of your question, it seems that it is likeliest that the ones responsible are the ones who you call the Patriots, or one of their agents anyway." Yu Lan added.

"I think it would be best that I explain things a little first, you two." Riku spoke before turning to Rio, Maya, Lilica, and Yuji. "To sum things up, Nagi, Tot, and I came across these two a couple of years ago when we were doing an investigation type of mission for FOXHOUND concerning smuggling and the like. To make a long story short, we ended up finding both Yu Lan and Yu Fan among the cargo, along with the Arm Slave that they currently use."

"After that, we found that neither of them could recall anything about themselves except for their names and the fact that they were twin sisters." Nagi explained. "We couldn't get anything out of the smugglers themselves after we brought them in and no one in FOXHOUND could find anything about them."

"And to make things even more complicated, not too long after the smugglers were taken to the proper authorities, every single one of them died in what was ruled to be either an accident or a suicide, and each death wasn't that far apart from the other." Riku added. "Even now we're still trying to find something that could shed some light on this mystery, but we haven't found anything yet, and neither have any of our allies or informants."

"Sheesh, sounds like that must be pretty frustrating." Maya commented. "But then again, we've kind of been in a similar situation with Greg ever since we took him in…Anyway, what happened after that?"

"We decided to let Yu Fan-chan and Yu Lan-chan stay with us until they could get their memories back." Tot then paused as she remembered something. "It was actually harder than we thought it would be because even though everyone else at FOXHOUND was fine with that, Reese didn't like the idea at all for some reason."

"Now that you mention it, I do remember how the guy seemed to throw a real fit over it, I wonder why…" Riku said as he paused to think about it a little.

Meanwhile, Nagi spoke as he saw Rio and Maya were wearing their work uniforms.

"So, Rio, it looks like you and Maya are off to work, huh?" Nagi asked.

"Yeah, I was called over by Miyuki last night to lend a hand in yesterday's recent investigations into those mass prison break outs and possibly, whatever recent criminal happenings that may have had happened over the course of this mess. Hopefully, Maki's got things under control for now, but we'll see for ourselves when we get there in regards to the situation." Rio said seriously. "I know that it sounds a bit unfair that I'm thinking of work instead of taking care of my son at a time like this, but…"

"I don't think so, if anything it looks to me that in doing so you're just proving yourself just how strong you are in dealing with times like this, Rio. I don't think anyone else in here disagrees with your choice." Riku said while Nagi, Tot, and the others in the room nodded in agreement. "As you can see, everyone here knows that it's been rough on you the most since you and Greg have been brought closer because of this whole thing, and if you ask me, I don't think that he'd wanted you to sit around and do nothing about this situation."

"Just be sure not to bury yourself in your work, even though Greg's asleep now, it wouldn't hurt to spend some time with him. You should do so whenever you get the time until we get some help for him." Nagi said.

"I know, thanks you guys again for everything. I appreciate what you're all doing for us so far." Rio said. "I just hope this thing doesn't get even crazier than it already is with so much happening. I can tell already that it's going to be hard to keep up with all of this later on."

"What about you guys, you're going places yourselves today, right?" Lilica asked as Nagi nodded.

"That's pretty much the case, Lilica. We have got some very important friends to meet with, namely some more remainders of our Uruha Ryu team to pick up, plus we also have some things to check out when we get to the city." Riku replied as Rio looked at him silently.

(Ehhh? So it's not just Nagi and Tot, as well as those twins we just met, but Riku's got more people in his team to gather here soon?) Rio thought to herself. (Just how large is Riku's group alone compared to Warrior's, not to mention how did Riku manage to get so many allies in the time I've known him?)

"Rio, you're staring into space again." Lilica said as Rio chuckled nervously.

"Oh, was I? Sorry about that, I was just thinking of things." Rio rubbed her head as she heard some music from Lilica's laptop, which started with a woman singing a hymn before hard rock started to play afterwards which caught Rio's attention. The rock band was named '_Kamelot_' that was singing, '_**Karma**_'. "Ohh, this is…?"

"Yeah, this just happens to be Greg's all time favorite of Devil May Cry gameplay videos aside from the famous 'The Stupid Files' series by Blackmamba from over the web which always cracks him up." Lilica said while eating her ramen noodles. "I heard this player is now a declared DMC 3 as well as 4 god among players worldwide who goes by the name of 'Kail' and two of his most famous DMC 3 videos are _'The Elysuim' _and '_The Elohim' _which we're watching right now and Greg watches most of his vids to help him with his own style whenever it came to playing Vergil as he was more used to playing him, sort of like an advanced gameplay tutorial since he's gotten better last time I saw him play."

"Oh, yeah, that's true, Lilica. He would spend almost every hour when he had time in the past just training with Vergil just to master the Aerial Rave canceling while spamming Summon and Spiral techniques using a custom setting he made up and sometimes, I wonder if we had raised a little Kail on our own." Maya nodded. "He even named his play style, _'Kinezono Style: Silent Eclipse Slayer'_ for the fun of it."

"I take it that Greg must be a pro at this, I bet?" Riku asked with a smile as Lilica replied with a contemplating look before answering.

"Hmm, not on a master level as yet although he completed all of the Heaven or Hell mode recently, but he can still make battles entertaining for other people like ourselves whose not so used to the series as he is to watch while still getting SS rankings for almost all the missions except for the Vergil Must Die mode, in which it is really hard to accomplish since you need to beat those missions on that level without even getting hit once, but with enough practice and strategy, its possible. His Total Ranking screen for Vergil is almost full of just 'S' about now." Lilica said while Nagi and Riku whistled as they heard this.

"I think you guys must have created a gaming monster out of Greg when he was growing up, which is almost a good thing." Riku said as he thought to himself as Lilica tilted her head. (Okay, now I know if Alec meets and hears about Greg's skills after things calm down later, he'd want answers to all the secrets the pros have for this particular series from him if Lilica says he's that good, I'm sure he'll be willing to share what he knows with him too, as well as with Aki, Yuuhi and Toya, not to mention Kyoko Kirisaki, since she's into the gaming scene as much as the rest of us guys are.)

"Hey, was that supposed to be a compliment, Riku?" Lilica asked with a smile while Rio thought to herself with a small smile of her own while hearing the group talk as she was thinking about herself as an average gamer time to time again, especially whenever she has the time to play the ever popular The World online game that was still the rage all over. She also recalled having Greg meet one of its players through a pen pal program by the time he went to start living in the States, a young Japanese girl who went by the name of An Shouji, who played as a Wavemaster in the World as Tsukasa.

(Now that I think of it, they used to write to each other often soon after he found out about An's problems. He would often find some sort of solace from reading her letters, too, one of the few things I personally know of that would give him peace of mind at times.) Rio thought after hearing some of the details of what Greg told her about he read of An's childhood and present life which was almost similar to his as well, which made him pursue to find out more about An and keep her hopes up with his letters. Through the fact that they had harsh childhoods, they managed to communicate on a frequent basis.

As Rio wanted to dwell some more on the thought, she suddenly snapped her senses back to normal as she didn't want the others notice that she was still seriously worried about her surrogate son's condition as she heard Nagi speak while he watched the video.

"I have to say that all this is truly impressive." Nagi said. "I hardly ever knew there people who can play the game that way."

"Only this guy on the entire planet does, and I think no other person can pull off such sick looking and impossible combos thus far since he's better at the canceling techniques than most others not unless they studied under him personally." Lilica said.

"I have to say this is pretty impressive." Nagi said. "There aren't very many people I can think of who can play the game that way."

"As far as I know, this guy is the only person on the entire planet who does, and I think no other person can pull off such sick looking and impossible combos thus far since he's better at the canceling techniques than most others not unless they studied under him personally." Lilica said.

"Well, while you guys get introduced to something only game fanatics like Greg can be interested, its time for me to go and do my thing as well." Yuji said, getting up suddenly as Rio looked at him.

"Already prepared to go and handle your side of business, Yuji?" Rio asked as Yuji nodded at her silently as she already had an idea what Yuji has planned for today. Before breakfast, he already made arrangements to meet with certain members of his family to discuss what has happened recently and give them a heads up on any possible danger of them being targeted by any of the enemy groups later.

Before doing so, he had to run an errand for Nanvel to pick up some pre Second Impact spare mechanical parts from the shopping district of Akibahara, which specializes in junk and useful material that still has its uses by inventors and the like for current standards, (not to mention, his one stop for the classic to the latest hentai material ranging from DVD's to Bishoujo games) and before making a stop to the Roppongi district to meet up with two of the people they mentioned to the Hokage and Uruha members last night.

(Hopefully, that store should have the hentai material that I listed from yesterday ready by now and some new ones to boot. If I'm lucky, I should be getting the really good ones like the classic _Words Worth_, _Body Transfer, Black Gate, Maple Colors, _andall six episodes for_ Discipline_!) Yuji thought with a big grin on his face. (Also, I should consider getting _Consenting Adultery_ as well, since it was done by the same artistic genius who did both volumes for _Milk Junkies_, so I hope there's a copy of that one at least and it's bound to be good.)

As Yuji thought of this, the people in the room, including Rio the most looked at him with a puzzled look on her face.

"Uh-oh, step away from the pervert." Maya muttered as Rio spoke.

"Just keep whatever perverted notions going on in your head right now in there, Yuji. You've got to keep a focus on everything around you when you go on the outside; chances are that the enemy could be watching our every move, so you shouldn't act too conspicuous." Rio warned him.

"Now what would make you think that since I'm only going to that area known as the 'best known pleasure zone' of the country to handle my affairs and to contact Misaki about what's happening recently like that?" Yuji asked as Rio shook her head.

"That's what I was afraid of hearing you say. You make things look so obvious sometimes." Rio lamented. "I'm just telling you to watch your ass out there, okay?"

"I understand that, Rio, I'll be sure to keep a low profile on the way to the city." Yuji said seriously. Despite the fact that he's the biggest pervert Rio has ever known, she knew that at least she could trust him to act rationally in situations like this.

"You're heading out to the city now, Yuji? How about I offer you a ride of instead letting you go through the trouble of traveling there by yourself?" Riku asked him.

"I'd like that a lot, but are you sure that's okay with you, Riku?" Yuji asked him back.

"That's really fine with me, Yuji. I've got no problems acting as an escort; we may even be heading to the same direction anyway." Riku said as Nagi spoke.

"Knowing him, Riku's probably got something there of the same nature that Yuji's after. My best guess is it's something Tsubaki recommended to you." Nagi said as Riku blushed hearing this while Tot prepared her harisen just in case.

"Hey, for your information, it's just business, okay?" Riku asked, trying to save some face as some of the people in the room chuckled at Riku's reaction, even though most of them weren't entirely sure what Nagi had just meant.

(They're certainly at it again. Greg would certainly get a kick from these three whenever he's feeling down later after he wakes up, I bet. He's going to need it.) Rio smirked.

"Rio, we're going to get chewed up by the Chief if we don't hurry and get to Police Town on time." Maya called out to her, which made the blonde return her thoughts to reality.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I get you, Maya." Rio lamented as she drank up the remaining coffee. "Lilica, you and Nanvel take care of things here till we get back. Call me if any change on Greggie's condition occurs, just in case it does happen, okay?"

"Don't worry, we've got it covered." Lilica replied with a simple wave to her friend as Rio, Yuji, and Maya left the kitchen with Riku, Nagi and Tot to enter the living room area; Yu Lan and Yu Fan, meanwhile, had excused themselves and left for another part of the mansion. Before the group exited the room, however, they ran into Kenshin Mori, who was talking to three people that seemed to be close acquaintances with him.

(I didn't know we would get some more newcomers between last night and this morning. They must have come here after Maki got dropped off at Police Town last night since Kenshin-san is back.) Rio thought to herself as he noted the appearances of the trio of strangers. Two of them were of Japanese descent, a tall Japanese adult male with short straight black hair and brown eyes and a sullen looking girl with short black hair and brown eyes who looked to be of the same nationality, but was slightly younger in age; both of them were wearing casual clothing. Next to them was an American girl with long, curly blonde hair tied back in a ponytail and green eyes, wearing a red and black motorcycle suit.

"Good morning, Aniki. I see you've come back with Reiji-san, Elen-san, and Cal-san." Riku remarked, as the group from Kenshin's side noticed his younger cousin, his group, and Rio's group.

"Ah, good morning to you too, Riku and the same for Rio-san, Maya-san, and Yuji-san as well." Kenshin replied as Riku greeted the trio that was with Kenshin.

"Cal-san, Reiji-san, and Elen-san, it's good to see that you three are doing well, even though it's been a month since I heard from you guys before you left for a vacation after a tiring mission I heard from my uncle that you guys had." Riku said. "Sorry if this matter cut short of any free time you were enjoying, especially for you both, Reiji-san and Elen-san…"

"Our vacation time was almost up, so it was no problem that we were called back earlier than scheduled." The male known as Reiji said.

"Well, our vacation would have been longer for one more week if we didn't have to come back due to Kenshin's request, since it was very urgent." The blonde girl said to Riku in a clear, American accent as she noticed Rio, May and Yuji. "Kenshin's been telling us what's been happening here, so you're the Warrior group that's going to be staying here?"

"Yeah, we're part of Team Warrior alright. I'm the point leader, Rio Kinezono and these two are Maya Jingu, the gun nut marksman and Yuji Naruo, the pervy pilot." Rio introduced herself and her friends. "And you are…?"

"We're a part of Kenshin-san's Hokage Ryu group. I'm Reiji Azuma." The male introduced himself as he bowed to Rio. "This is my wife, Elen, and this is our partner, Cal Devens."

"Nice to meet you, we were told on how you aided Riku and his partners throughout their mission yesterday." Elen said courteously.

"Yeah, Kenshin gave us the details on everything that's been happening these past couple of days." Cal added.

"At least you guys were brought up to date." Rio lamented. "I hope we can get to work together soon under better circumstances from now on."

"You can very much rely on these three, Rio-san. They are very efficient and reliable in the field of combat and they are among my most trusted of friends." Kenshin said as Riku spoke.

"Now that you guys are back, I take it that Madlax and Limelda were also been contacted about this, including Margaret, Elenore, and Vanessa as well?" Riku asked.

"Yes, just last night after I returned here from dropping off Maki-san to Police Town and I filled them in on what's been happening. They're relieved over that you and your partners, as well the people involved in your mission along with Greg-san, made it out alright." Kenshin said. "Chances are that they will also be dropping in due to the urgency of the situation soon enough since they also have things on their end they'd liked to speak with us about."

"It looks like we'll be seeing them and almost everyone in the ninja clan and teams again soon, which is almost a good thing, Aniki." Riku said. "It's too bad it had to be under a condition like this…"

"I can take it you guys must have a large number of groups allied to you, huh?" Maya asked. "I'm willing to bet they're pretty strong, right?"

"I always told Greg that you guys will get to meet them eventually, but it looks like you guys are getting to do that before him." Riku said. "And if you all thought that this isn't great enough, the variety of people we've got who are going to lend a hand goes even wider than you can imagine."

"Whoa, you'd better stop while you're ahead, Riku. We'll make friends of your allies soon enough once they get here, no matter how strange they may be." Rio lamented. "It's not like having our group associated with a spirit medium who works part time as a dominatrix time and again is weird enough, so I wonder what else out of the paranormal we'd be getting mixed up into next since we'll be hanging with you guys for awhile now?"

(Actually Rio, aside from the other psychics, the spirit mediums, the Sweepers, the Lotus Masters, the descendants of an ancient alien race, a harmonixer, living dolls, Non-Humans, vampire hunters, and even quite a few vampires we were able to make allies out of in the time we're around, you'll be in for some serious surprises later. In fact, I kind of wonder what your reaction will be when I introduce you to Jun and the Rozen Maidens.) Riku thought with a nervous grin, as he tried to imagine just how Rio and the rest of Warrior would react later on if they were to meet them.

"Oh, yeah, that reminds me of something, since you brought it up, Rio-san." Tot asked as Rio looked at her.

"Oh, yeah, Tot? Was there something you needed to ask?" Rio asked as Tot nodded.

"Yeah, up till now, I really don't understand it since I heard it for the first time last night, but just what does a dominatrix do anyway?" Tot asked all of a sudden as the people in the room suddenly reddened around their face areas at that question.

"Whoa, now that's bold! Out of the blue, just like that!" Maya exclaimed as Tot looked on at her with a confused expression on her face at Maya's reaction. (Does this mean she doesn't even know the actual meaning of that word?)

"Do you know, Maya-san?" Tot asked as Maya replied nervously.

"Uhh…you asked Rio first, let her answer it." Maya said nervously as Rio exclaimed.

"Huh?! Why do I have to do it?" Rio asked as he pointed to Riku. "Riku's the leader for his team; he should take the responsibility of answering!"

"Okay, Riku, can you answer my question?" Tot asked as Riku tried his best as well to dodge answering the question.

"Hey, I'd like to help, but her boyfriend's the one who should be able to tell you these kinds of things." Riku said as Nagi reacted nervously to this, but not before shooting his friend a really nasty glare that promised some form of retribution in the future. "So, Nagi, you do the honors of answering Tot's question."

"You're kidding, right, Riku?" Nagi asked as Riku mentally pleaded with him.

(Please, man, at least do it in your best description so she can understand.) Riku thought.

(But you know how Tot is when it comes to these things, why do you think she asked anyway?) Nagi said. (Even Rio and the others knew answering her right away wouldn't be healthy for her personality.)

(I know what you mean, but if no one tells her about it, she'll only keep on asking us anyway until someone answers her question.) Riku replied. (Besides, you're the one who usually informs her about things, like when we have homework from school.)

(That has absolutely nothing to do with this.) Nagi then gave a mental sigh. (But, I guess I don't have any choice. I'll try to explain things as best I can.)

(Would you rather have Mayu explain it to her when she, Mana, Shizuru, and the rest of our vampire friends show up? Knowing her, I think she'd be more than happy to explain.) Riku asked before lapsing into his own thoughts. (_Though from what I remember hearing, this is more something Mana's more experienced with_…_wait, why am I even thinking about that?_)

(…You have a good point.) Nagi conceded, not wanting to think of what Tot's reaction would be considering how that particular half of the Sonohara twins could be on the more 'intimate' subject matter. It wasn't that either of them had anything against Mayu or Mana, as they considered them, and the rest of the 'family' they had formed with Shizuru and the other girls after that incident at Chisakura Island, to be very good and reliable friends. It was just that they both knew that from the last outcome of the 'girl talk' that had occurred between Mayu and Tot, the blue haired former assassin's curiosity would not lead to a very good outcome.

Unfortunately, before Nagi could say something to Tot, whether vocally or through speech, it was Yuji who broke the nervous silence among the group as he started to explain to Tot.

"Well, you see, Tot, there are these kinds of people who…" Before Yuji could finish, Rio and Maya were already on him and in front of Riku and Kenshin's groups. Soon a cloud of dust could be seen as loud punches and kicks were heard from the position Yuji had been standing on. Soon afterwards, Rio and Maya were seen, panting heavily holding onto their tonfars and standing over a bruised and swelling Yuji Naruo.

"What was that for, you two?" Yuji asked as his cheeks swelled up. "All I was going to do was answer Tot's question."

"Yeah, leave it up to you to try totally and disrupt Tot's innocent personality. Like we'd let that happen." Maya said, fixing her tie. "You've got no shame whatsoever."

"Sorry about that everyone, just keeping a certain someone from going beyond just coming close to saying something very repulsive this early in the morning." Rio chuckled nervously as she held the beaten Yuji up. "You think he deserves anymore?"

"Well, no ah, I think he's had quite enough." Kenshin said as he and his group nervously sweat-dropped. (Looks pretty bad…)

"Really, Tot, in all honesty, we'd best leave the question for when after Greg wakes up, he can explain these kinds of things to you with a straight face. Or better yet, when you meet Misaki Saiki soon, I'm sure she will answer all of your questions for you." Rio said. "She's the spirit medium I mentioned last night, though I hope she does something about that attitude of hers once she lands a better job."

"Well, it's not like the L.P.G. has been getting big jobs lately since last we heard from them." Maya said.

"The L.P.G.?" Elen asked.

"Short for the Livelihood Preservation Group, a small group of people including Team Warrior and Greg himself who gets things done for a certain price, whether it being investigating paranormal cases or just giving somebody in trouble a helping hand." Rio said as she looked at Yuji. "Yuji, don't forget to stop by Soichiro's office when you do get your business fixed to let him know what's been happening, okay?"

"Understood, Rio." Yuji mumbled through his swelling mouth as Rio sighed to herself with a small smile.

(That was a close one back there. Now when I consider Tot's innocent personality from the short time I've known her, I don't want to give her any twisted notions about what kind of job a dominatrix does or else it could possibly corrupt that poor girl.) Rio sighed, as Tot looked on with a confused look in her eyes, not fully understanding what had just happened.

"Alright, Rio-san, whatever you say. I think it's probably a better idea to wait till Greg-san wakes up as well for my questions to be asked. I hope we get to meet this Misaki and the people of the L.P.G. soon as well." Tot said as Riku spoke now.

"I'm going to get the car warmed up, as well as get some other things ready, but before that… Nagi, Tot, I want you guys to come with me as I've got something important to discuss with you before we leave the mansion. It's about that thing we talked about yesterday…" Riku said as the two nodded at him in understanding at what he meant before they began to follow him out of the room, but not before Riku stopped and called out to Rio before they left.

"Rio, I'll call you when we're ready to leave. Why don't you guys hang around with Aniki and get to know him and the recent arrivals a bit, you guys seem to be getting along fine." Riku said as Maya nodded to him.

"Yeah, we'll do just that, we still have some time to spare." Maya said as Rio pondered to herself.

(Hmm, now what could it be that would have Riku and his buddies bothered enough at a time like this that they need some privacy by themselves? Must be pretty urgent, I guess.) Rio thought as she looked at Kenshin and his small group of friends. (Well, I guess I can hang around till it's time to move and get to know Yu Lan and Yu Fan, as well as Kenshin-san, Reiji-san, Elen-san and Cal-san some more.)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"What's up, Riku?" Nagi asked his friend as the trio went out to the patio area of the mansion where they made sure that they were the only ones there. "Was there something important you wanted to talk with us about?"

"Yeah, that is why I wanted to talk about it privately, so Rio and the rest of Warrior won't find out about Kohta and Lucy just yet." Riku replied. "I was thinking about asking about how things are going over there for the moment."

"I bet you're worried about them at a time like this like the rest of us, huh?" Tot asked.

"That pretty much sums it up, especially when Reese was using Mantis to look for psychics or other people with paranormal abilities like it was with Yuina." Riku said and looked over at Nagi. "You've got your laptop with you, right?"

"I always do." Nagi replied with a knowing smile. "Thinking about giving our friends at the Kaede Inn a call, I suppose?"

"I thought it was high time that we gave them a surprise call, just to check up on them." Riku said as he used his cell phone and have Nagi hook it up to his laptop to check to see that it's clean and not bugged.

"How's it looking, Nagi?" Riku asked as Nagi replied to him.

"Okay, the coast is clear through the lines, leader." Nagi said to him with his back turned, gesturing to Riku a thumbs up. "You're good to go."

"Alright, I'm going to make the call to Kohta and the others now. Hopefully, they should still be home at this time." Riku said as he used a speed dial on his cell phone to call a specific location known as the Kaede Inn. While he was waiting for the call to connect he looked over at his two friends. "Would you guys like to talk with anyone?"

"Thanks, but we probably shouldn't keep your friend Yuji waiting anymore than we should." Nagi said.

"Yeah, and aren't we probably going to visit Kohta and everyone else soon anyway?" Tot asked.

"Probably, though we'll need to see first." Riku said. "Anyway, I hope someone's home…"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Near an antique grandfather clock at another location, a phone's ring tone echoed through the small hallways of the Kaede Inn as a young woman with short chestnut brown hair in the midst of getting herself prepared and dressed for morning classes, hurried to get the receiver in time.

"Don't worry, Kohta, I'll get it." She yelled as she picked up the receiver after the second ring. "Hello, this is Yuka, of the Kaede Inn residence."

"Ah, good morning, Yuka. It sounds like I managed to get to you before you guys left for campus." Riku said from his end as a surprised, yet delighted look appeared on her face.

"Wait, is that you, Riku?" Yuka asked as she recognized his voice. "Wow, how long has it been since we last talked?"

"Almost too long, I'd say." Riku said sheepishly.

"Since you haven't called in a while, I guess you and your friends have been on another business trip for the company you work for." Yuka assumed.

"Yeah, actually we just got back some days ago." Riku replied. "The trip was to Australia this time, and boy did we have a tight schedule to keep..."

"You know, I'm actually kind of jealous of you guys, always traveling all over the place." Yuka said with a sigh. "And Kohta and I are still stuck in college while you somehow manage to get a glamorous sounding job like that. Actually, we've been up since late last night cramming for some tests today and Kohta's still getting himself dressed, the lazy bum…"

"There is quite a bit of hard work involved in the job you know, Yuka, not to mention the fact that the job benefits don't always outweigh some of what we have to work with." Riku admitted. "Trust me; I seriously doubt it would be your kind of job, or Kohta's for that matter."

"Maybe...but still, I bet you guys must have really enjoyed Australia when you had your off time." Yuka then sighed. "From what I've seen of the place, I'd like to go there some day..."

"Let me guess, so you and Kohta can hang out by the beach, just the two of you, and then have a nice and romantic stroll as you watch the sunset over the horizon." Riku said with a chuckle, causing Yuka's cheeks to redden. "And then after that..."

"That is none of your business!!" Yuka half shouted into the phone, blushing furiously.

"Gomen, gomen (sorry)." Riku said with a light laugh. "I just couldn't resist."

"Well, at least you're still sounding as high spirited as usual if you're still going to joke around like that, Riku." Yuka said. "Anyway, how are Nagi, Tot, and everyone else doing?"

"Oh, they're all just fine, it's just that we all could use some sort of slack considering how stressing the jobs we do are getting these days, but they can manage." Riku said with a tired sigh. "Nagi and Tot wanted to tell you hi, but let's just say they've got some 'private time' to catch up on, if you know what I mean…"

Before Riku can finish, a sound of something hard being hit against another object was heard in the background as Yuka swore she heard Riku cry out in a bit of pain as Tot already passed her harisen on Riku's head from his end.

"Is everything okay, Riku?" Yuka asked as Riku shrugged it off.

"Ah, I'm fine, Yuka. It's probably how these cell phones work these days with the reception and everything." Riku replied as he held his smarting head. "Not to mention how these past couple of days were quite taxing on all of us."

"You know, now that I think about it, you do sound a little tired." Yuka commented. "I guess you were telling the truth about your job being tough."

"This last one was mostly during when we were beginning to wrap things up with the assignment." Riku replied. "Nagi, Tot, and I were so busy we practically had to pull all nighters to finish things up, and even after we finished, I spent most of the flight home working on the report for the assignment itself."

"I know what you mean; I've pulled quite a few of those myself with the projects given to me for most of my classes." Yuka said.

"It gets worse, no sooner do I submit the report and try to get some shut eye, my boss calls me up for another job." Riku said in reply. "Don't get me wrong, my boss is generally a pretty nice guy, but he can be a real slave driver sometimes." There was a brief pause before Riku continued. "Still, this new assignment is local and hopefully should be finished soon, unfortunately that would mean..."

"That would mean what?" Yuka asked, curious at Riku's sudden silence.

"Well..." Riku began, mentally kicking himself for nearly talking about actual FOXHOUND business.

(Nearly let things slip there, I really must be tired.) Riku thought to himself. (Oh well, guess I'll have to improvise...)

"Oh, it's nothing really..." Riku replied to Yuka. "It's just that we recently found out that one of our company's higher-ups was actually an industrial spy who'd been going out of his way to screw things up for everyone all along. Actually, his most recent action really messed stuff up for a colleague of mine and his foster family."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that." Yuka said sincerely.

"Thanks, but it's alright, I'm sure we'll be able to deal with it somehow." Riku replied. "Actually, I'm kind of embarrassed to admit it, but it was sort of obvious about that particular higher-up. The guy was a total jerk to everyone."

"What was it that this guy could have done to have gotten your fellow workmates and even you to hate him so much?" Yuka asked.

"Believe me, it's best that I don't get started on him after finding out what that guy was guilty of. Let's just say that the guy has quite a list of felonies that I don't think I should even be mentioning over the phone to you." Riku said with a hint of bitterness in his voice.

"Okay, then. I won't ask you further about the guy, but I do hope things turn out well for that colleague of yours and his family soon." Yuka said.

"Thanks, I'm sure he will be pleased to hear that someone outside of his family and friend's circle is concerned for his welfare." Riku said before stopping a bit as he remembered why he called Yuka in the first place.

"Anyway, that really wasn't the reason I was calling." Riku said. "Actually, I was calling to check up on how everyone's been doing lately."

"I understand, it has been a while since you guys were over to visit, after all." Yuka admitted. "In any case, Mayu and Nana have both been doing well at school and are making a lot of friends, Kohta is still trying to catch up to his studies since we've both got exams coming in a couple of weeks, but with Nozomi staying around, she's helping in making things easier for us and Nyu's also helping out in the Inn and keeping it in order."

"So, in a nutshell, things have been pretty calm since we last got together. I'm really glad for you guys." Riku said with a smile.

"Yeah, but we still miss you guys as well. We had a pretty fun time the last time we all managed to get together, especially when Nana cooked for you guys along with Tot." Yuka said.

"Ah, please don't remind me of that one, Yuka." Riku said nervously, his whole entire body almost quivering at the memory of the ordeal of having to eat, and digest, what those two had prepared, as Yuka chuckled. "Well, if that's the case, I guess I really shouldn't be worried for now."

"What's that supposed to mean, Riku?" Yuka asked. "Are you implying something about me and Kohta again?"

"No nothing like that, not yet anyway." Riku said with a smiled as he sensed Yuka was starting to blush once more. He then gave a small sigh as he realized he had to get back onto the subject as to why he was really calling and his tone suddenly went back to being serious when he spoke to her again.

"Anyway, there's one last thing I need to talk to you about, Yuka." Riku said. "I've read in the newspapers lately about some major terrorist activity going on in Tokyo-3. Has anything...out of sorts been happening in the area lately?"

"Riku, you do realize we live in Kamakura and not Tokyo-3, right?" Yuka asked in reply. "Actually, why are you even asking about that?"

"Well...I'm just concerned, that's all." Riku answered her. "Can you blame a friend for that?"

"No, I guess not." Yuka replied. "And I guess you have a point in being concerned, Kamakura is in the Kanagawa prefecture, so we are pretty close to Tokyo-3 if you think about it."

"Yeah, that's about right." Riku said.

"Well, aside from the very close shaves we've had since those stupid Angels started attacking Tokyo-3, especially that one just the other day, we really aren't in much danger from the battles that take place in that city, but other than that, nothing out of the sorts has happened in this district. It's pretty much boring and quiet around here as always." Yuka said.

"I see…well, that definitely is a relief to hear." Riku said with a sigh of relief before his tone of voice became serious again. "Anyway Yuka…I know this might sound strange, but if you, Kohta, Mayu, or Nana see or hear anything out of the ordinary, then please call me and tell me about it."

"May I ask why?" Yuka asked, a little surprised at Riku's sudden seriousness since just a moment ago he had seemed more relaxed.

"I...well, let's just say I happen to know some people investigating what's going on in Tokyo-3 and any information should help them." Riku answered, carefully choosing his words. "That and like I said before, I'm a bit worried about you all. Let's just leave it at that..."

"Well, if that's confidential business matters that you need to uphold just like the matter about the boss you and your colleagues hate, I won't press on any further as well." Yuka said as she looked at the old grandfather clock down the hallway. "Oh, Riku, I'm sorry that I have to cut this conversation short, but I've got to hurry and join Kohta for class soon. We've got another report to hand in this morning."

"I see, well, I've got errands to run myself on my end, so we'll keep in touch, alright?" Riku asked. "It was nice talking to you again, Yuka. And tell everyone I said hi."

"I'll make sure to pass the message, Riku. Take care then." Yuka said as she hung up with a sigh before placing her finger at her chin. (I wonder what was up with Riku just now? He sounded more concerned about us than usual, not to mention the question he had kind of bothered me….)

"Yuka, who were you talking to just now?" A young man's voice spoke as a dark haired boy wearing casual clothing came downstairs, followed by a younger girl with dark pink hair, wide crimson eyes, and was wearing a hat over her head.

"Oh, Kohta, Nyu, you both just missed Riku on the phone." Yuka said, surprising the two. "He said something about just coming home from a business trip from Australia and was wondering how everyone's going."

"I see, so he's been pretty busy with his work, as usual." Kohta said. "No wonder he and his friends haven't visited us in a while."

"Something or the like seems to be going on at where he works, or so he told me." Yuka said. "Still, he called asking if anything weird was happening recently..."

"I can understand if things are getting jumpy because of the Angel attacks and the recent terrorist activities at Tokyo 3. Considering that, he has every right to be concerned, Yuka, I'm sure I'd be if I were in his shoes." Kohta said. "In any case, did he ever say if he, Nagi, and Tot were coming here?"

"Nah, unfortunately, it seems that they're trying to get their bearings together with all that's happening at their work." Yuka said. "So it will probably be a while before we have any get together with him and his friends soon."

"Aw, that's disappointing." Nyu said, hanging her head some. "I know Nozomi would have been glad to hear from Riku again too, but for the past couple of days, she's been staying with her parents and wouldn't be back until the day after tomorrow."

"Well, I'm certain we'll be hearing from them soon enough, Nyu." Kohta said as he handed Yuka her schoolbag. "Well, it's about time we head off, but where are Nana and Mayu, by the way?"

"Strangely enough, they made breakfast together and left for school early. They've been doing that often these days, I wonder why." Yuka said. "They left extras for the both of you, so you should get some before you leave."

"We might as well do that then, don't want to starve on the way to a big test." Kohta said as Nyu followed behind him. "What about you?"

"Instead of waiting for you, I already had mine, thank you very much." Yuka said as she was a bit jealous that Nyu was going to share breakfast with Kohta instead with her and was feeling upset about it.

(Geez, was it something I said?) Kohta asked himself, rubbing his head. "Just wait for the two of us to join you on the way to campus, we won't be long."

Yuka pouted a bit as she went on to put on her shoes, while Kohta and Nyu together went into the kitchen to reheat their morning meals when Nyu spoke to Kohta.

"Kohta, do you think that something's happened at Riku's side?" Nyu asked seriously, as her voice changed some, signaling to Kohta that he wasn't talking to Nyu anymore. Kohta sighed as he didn't want to worry about what Yuka said nor cause either Nyu or Lucy to worry either, but he couldn't help but consider that it's possible that there was a need for concern.

"I…I just hope nothing too serious has happened. If something has, it could mean that there could be people after you again, Nyu." Kohta said; shortly after she had come back to Kaede Inn, Lucy had told him that she would rather be called by that name rather than the name Kakuzawa had given her, and he could understand why. "Considering that it's Riku and his friend's job to make sure people like that man, Kakuzawa, don't show up again; maybe something unexpected happened on their end that they need to take care of."

"Maybe…Kakuzawa wasn't the only man in this world to seek those like me and Nana; there are surely others more than willing to pick up the pieces." Lucy said. "You should know that not even our friends from the Hokage can prevent such a thing from happening."

"I do, I know it very well." Kohta said. "But as long as we can have this peace in this Inn, it doesn't matter as long you and Nyu are both with the rest of us. Even when things get bad to worse, I'll do what I can to protect everyone in this home we've built."

"Kohta…" Lucy smiled at Kohta as she stepped behind him, wrapped her arms around Kohta's waist, and rested her head on his back. "…thank you for still accepting me into your life, despite all I've done in the past. Please, let me keep making amends for everything that's happened like you've always done. I'll do anything in my power to do that without killing needlessly anymore, so…"

"I really appreciate your feelings, Nyu, but I think we'd better stop while we're ahead…" Kohta said as he felt Yuka's murderous intent fill the room as she glared at them, while holding on very tightly to a slipper. "…because Yuka is watching us at this moment with that look in her eye."

"Nyu?" Nyu's personality suddenly switched back as she, not aware of the current situation, suddenly started to tickle Kohta, letting her hands go about his lower abdomen area.

"Hey, Nyu! Watch where you're…?" Kohta stopped mid-speech as he soon remembered and saw a looming Yuka coming up to him from behind as she cracked her fists at what she saw. "Wait, Yuka, this is just a complete misunderstanding, it isn't what you…"

"Kohta, so is this the kind of thing you want to teach Nyu to do at this time of morning?!" Yuka screamed as she raised her fist. "Unforgivable, you pervert!"

(Why am I the one being beaten up for something I didn't do again?) Kohta thought as he shut his eyes before Yuka's incoming slap registered to his left cheek. (Well, it must be one of Yuka's charms, I guess…)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Somewhere on the Kamakura shorelines, a man who looked to be in his early thirties, with light tanned skin, short cut brown hair, and wearing sunglasses, cursed lightly while picking up some litter in the sand and emptying it into a bag he was carrying while nearing the end of his cigarette. His right hand had wires and metallic restraints surrounding its wrist area and made mechanical noises every time he moved any joints of his artificial hand.

"I swear...it's because of how kids these days are on parties and such that they always make it my job to pick up after these messy bastards every morning." The man said to himself as he wiped the sweat from his brow and looking at the morning sun. "Ah, and to do it in this damn heat to boot...God, do I need a drink."

"Bandou-san!" A young girl's voice called out as the man, a former soldier for the SAT, Bandou, turned to see two girls he was very familiar with, the first being a girl in her early teens with short black hair and brown eyes and the second was a girl of the same age with short light purple hair and pink eyes, approach him wearing their school uniforms. The second girl was wearing two bows on her head, each to cover up the horns she had. The two girls were Mayu and Nana, and Bandou could also see Mayu's white puppy, Wanta behind her.

"You two are pretty late this morning, I'm beginning to sweat buckets in this damned heat." Bandou said with a light smirk, as Mayu smiled at the man lightly, even blushing slightly, seeing him again for the day. For a time since they knew each other, Mayu had begun looking at Bandou as more than a friend, but he was in truth to her, her personal savior who at one time along with the help of Riku Hanabishi, another friend of hers, saved her and Nana from a sadistic attacker who worked for Kakuzawa that had broken into the Kaede Inn looking for Lucy.

Even Nana had started to notice the way Mayu was feeling towards Bandou and she too had become friends with him even more as she was in debt to him as well since he gradually changed from being an enemy to an ally. Nowadays, the two visit him during the mornings around the beach area to deliver food for him, though it was Mayu who had been doing it more often since she had grown closer to him.

"Sorry about that, Bandou-san. This morning's breakfast took a little longer to make." Mayu said, offering Bandou a covered basket.

"Let me guess, it was Nana who kept you back again?" Bandou asked as Nana glared and then pouted at him.

"It's nothing like that!" Nana said as she folded her arms. "I was just making sure the sandwiches came out alright, especially since Mayu said she wanted to give them to you since last night, so I was just giving her a hand."

"Actually, Nana-san, even Nozomi-san had a better shot of getting these done without the meat in them burned too much. You made at least three attempts at making a good set of sandwiches just like mine and still they came out messed up." Mayu said as Nana hung her head.

"Okay, so I still have a long way to go, I guess." Nana said as Bandou laughed a bit before he lifted his shades, as both of his eyes were artificial due to his first encounter with Lucy.

"So, is everything still quiet at the inn? No suspicious characters or the like snooping around these days?" Bandou asked, as he would normally do each time they came to see him so as to keep up on how things are.

"Well, everyone's still okay despite all that's been happening in Japan lately, though everyone stayed at home the day that Angel attacked Tokyo-3 some days ago." Nana said seriously. She, as well as everyone else at the Kaede Inn and in the community were well aware of the happenings of Tokyo-3 these days through the news reports and everyone was hoping that such things didn't hit any closer to home.

"Yeah, I heard the country went into a serious red alert when that thing landed into the turf of the guys in charge of dealing with those damn things. I heard it did some nasty damage to their defense base too before they somehow managed to kill it." Bandou said as he was also keeping track of what's happening as well, thanks mainly in part to the fact that too many people left their newspapers lying around on the beach when they were done reading them. "But, at least it's over for the time being until another one of those bastards show up again."

"Umm, Bandou-san..." Mayu looked at him as if she was ready to ask him something important. "...Are you still planning on going after Nyu-san after everything that's happened?"

"Well, I do still have a score to settle with her, but I've still got bigger fish to fry at the moment in making sure those creeps from my old boss's doesn't show up, at least until that ninja kid shows up again." Bandou said as he turned his back. "But from the looks of things, I don't think I have to worry that much about them being on the move from what I last heard of them...Still, after hearing what's been going on in this country, I wonder just how much longer everyone can keep up this charade of peace around here?"

"What do you mean, Bandou-san? And who were you talking about just before?" Mayu asked as Bandou stayed silent before speaking again.

"Hey, you two kids should hurry up and just get to school, or else I'll chase you out of here." Bandou muttered. "The deal was we can only meet for a set time, I don't want your other friends to know that you're hanging out with me just yet, since things are still rocky with us in terms of friendship."

"I understand. We should be going anyway so we don't want to be late, Mayu." Nana said as Mayu looked at her friend and nodded.

"Hai, I also promised Musia-san that I'd return her cookbook that I borrowed a couple days ago for new recipes early this morning." Mayu said as Nana bowed to Bandou.

"Well, until next time, we'll keep in touch then." Nana said as Mayu and Wanta followed after her.

"Take care, Bandou-san!" Mayu waved at Bandou as she happily skipped past him. "I'll see you later, okay?"

As the former soldier grinned back at Mayu while she left, he couldn't help but get a small feeling that he thought he never had before as he looked at the glimmering ocean before him.

(Why am I starting to feel soft over a kid like her? There's no way someone like me can be worth her time...she's just getting the wrong impression about me.) Bandou thought as he took a bite of one of the heart shaped sandwiches and his smile grew bigger slightly. (Hmm, this isn't half bad at all...)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"It seems like everyone's doing okay for now, so we should put our worries for that particular area to rest." Riku said as Nagi and Tot sighed in relief.

"Well, that's good to hear, I was beginning to think Reese has already made his move again, but we won't have to worry much since Kohta and Lucy are doing their best to keep things under wraps after everything's that happened on their end in the past." Nagi said.

"Still, it doesn't mean that we can let our guard down, though. I'm sure that soon enough another incident similar to what happened a couple of days ago could happen again and we won't know about it until it's too late." Riku said seriously. "That's why I want to make sure of things before we talk with the rest of the clan members as well as with our Uruha Ryu teammates about what we should do."

"Considering the height of the situation, I bet Arakawa-san would have enough time to come and report to us on anything that can help us when everyone else has gathered." Tot said. "Maybe she can help Nanvel-san about that whole situation regarding Greg-san as well and even ask her if she's ever heard of that Soldier X program that we've just heard of."

"It could be a possibility, though I really hope that it doesn't turn out that way." Riku said bitterly as he thought to himself. (But then again, Kakuzawa WAS her boss, after all, so he too would have come across knowledge of it before he died. But I really can't be too sure until Greg wakes up and can recall something that can help us unravel the mystery...which makes all this waiting for something to happen all the more tense for the rest of us.)

"Riku, are you alright?" Nagi asked him as he noticed the distressed look on his face.

"Yeah, I'm just fine; it was probably something we shouldn't be too concerned about." Riku replied. "Remind me later to contact Arakawa-san and request for her to come to the mansion once she gets time, I've definitely got some questions in mind I need to ask her about." Riku then paused as he remembered something. "That reminds me, we should also contact Annabella-san since I'm sure she can help both Arakawa and Nanvel with this."

"Do you think those two will be able to work together?" Tot asked nervously. "I mean, considering how those two can get when it comes to being rivals…it's kinda scary…"

"In a situation like this, I'm sure they'll put aside their rivalry for this, though I have to agree with you on the scary part." Riku answered with a nervous grin as he remembered what had happened the last time the two scientists had tried outdoing each other in terms of experiments.

"Well, considering they're both two very ambitious scientists, it's no wonder those two have been trying to outdo other in the area of science ever since they met." Nagi said and then paused he remembered something. "By the way Riku, have we been able to contact Himena, Hyou, Justine, Arc, and Kureha yet?"

"Dad and Uncle Kurei talked with me about that earlier; at the moment we haven't been able to make contact with them, but considering they've been pretty busy in forming that group of theirs and trying to keep it hidden from GoI it's understandable." Riku replied. "Maybe once we make contact with our allies at MITHRIL it will be easier since they and our clan have been helping them with that and that program we've implemented for the Non-Humans we've helped to rescue or hide from GoI, the ones that decided to try to continue living normally as humans anyway."

"Speaking of which, that's another thing we need to talk with MITHRIL about." Nagi pointed out. "We don't know what the Patriots' stance regarding Non-Humans is, but we can't take any chances."

"Well considering what we just found out about Greg-san, it's probably the same as GoI's." Tot said.

"Probably, but I think the Patriots would probably use any Non-Human they came across as lab rats rather than exterminate all of them except the really exceptional kind, that just seems more like them." Riku gave a bitter sigh. "In that scenario too many would end up suffering the same fate as Marianne did…"

"Yeah, that's something that should never be repeated…and I know Himena would agree since she was the one who had to put Marianne out of her misery." Nagi said.

"Yeah…" Riku, Nagi, and Tot were silent for a moment before Tot broke the silence.

"So, what about everyone in Hell Valley? Have we contacted them yet?" She asked.

"Actually Tot, that will be our job as soon as we get the chance to." Riku answered. "Even though Kabuto is gone and our friends from the Kiryuudo are normal people now, the Patriots and who knows who else could still target them and that's something we have to prevent. We can't let the peace that was attained after everything that happened when we all helped Shido out be destroyed."

"I think I understand what you mean, Riku." Nagi said, as he had an idea what Riku was pondering about, but decided to drop it for now. "In any case, back to what we were talking about before, we'll probably need to get in touch with Kohta and Lucy in person eventually just to make them reassured that we haven't forgotten them through this mess."

Both Nagi and Tot nodded to him, but before anything else more was said regarding Lucy, Rio Kinezono soon entered the scene as if she was looking for them.

"Hey, Riku, I was looking all over for you guys." Rio suddenly walked in from the corner into their conversation as she stopped midway to see that they were busy. "Um, am I interrupting something important between you guys?"

"Ah, no, Rio. We were just having a friendly talk with ourselves about what we should be doing after we get back with our teammates, that's all." Riku replied quickly.

Rio looked quizzically at the three youngsters as she placed her hands on her hips. "Hey, you three were up to something just now, what's going on, Riku?"

"Hey, look, it's nothing you need to be worry yourself about, Rio. We just remembered some friends who live a bit close to Tokyo-3, so we were just making a call to see that everything was alright. Can't be too careful nowadays, right?" Riku said as Rio tilted her head. "Anyway, we were about to get to discussing a way to find anything on Reese be it information or possible locations where we could find him and then you showed up."

"Uh-huh…right." Rio said as she started to tap her shoes, noticing that even though Riku's answer wasn't a lie, at least from what she could see, there was obviously something important behind what the ninja was saying. She may be an attractive officer for the police, but there's hardly any fooling her keen detective senses. The look on her face showed that she took her profession seriously. "Well, things are already on the edge now thanks to him, so let me or Maki in on anything new you can find out on Reese. The faster we find him, the better."

"Okay, we'll be sure to do that." Riku said as he nodded to her before turning to his two partners. "Well guys, let's get going."

The three youths walked away back into the mansion, silently averting their eyes to Rio in quick, concerned glances as they did so. Rio relaxed as she shook her head.

"Man, what's coming over me? Ever since we got here, my head's been spinning because of all this stress. If Greg were awake, he'd say that I was probably just being paranoid or something." Rio told herself as she then considered what Riku was just saying over the phone, what she had overheard from the conversation that followed, and how he and his partners were reacting when they saw her just as the conversation ended.

(And just what the heck was all that about anyway? Riku and his partners sure were acting a bit out of the ordinary as if they were hiding something. Maybe I am just being paranoid over everything that's been happening…I've just got to calm myself a little.) Rio thought as she looked at her watch and cursed herself. "Aw, crap…I can't dawdle here any longer; I have to be in Police Town ASAP to see Miyuki regarding what's been going on while I wasn't on duty for days now."

Meanwhile, Riku, Nagi , and Tot were continuing their conversation, mainly to wrap things up so that they could get ready to leave.

"Alright then, now before we go I'm going to ask if we've managed to make contact with Ren and Shio yet before I send a message to Miyaka-san." Riku said. "If we're lucky maybe she can contact Ren for us. I can tell that we'll definitely need his help and Jinmu Corporation's on this. After that I'll get a car ready."

"And Tot and I will talk with Beatrice and see if she's found any information that could help us." Nagi said. "By the way, Riku, is it alright if we discuss a bit more with her about that data cache we took from GoI's main computer during that raid we made with MITHRIL on Hate Breed?"

"It's fine by me, you can fill me in on the details later. Besides, you already told me before what you, Kaori, Yukie, Reina, and Akane were able to get out of it, so it's not like I'm missing too much." Riku said. "Anyway, let's get this taken care of."

With that, the three friends split up so as to finish up what they needed to do before setting out with their friends from WARRIOR.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Nagi and Tot opened a door in front of them that opened up into a large library filled with shelves of books and also cabinets that were filled with files and scrolls on various subjects. Further back there were some cabinets that contained a multitude of CDs and external hard drives that carried even more information on them. This library was where the Hokage clan stored some of their most crucial information, which was hidden even in the library itself and had several hidden forms of security around them in case enemies were to somehow get into the mansion.

Sitting at one of the nearby tables was a lovely looking woman with pale skin, long black hair, and red eyes wearing a somber looking black dress who looked to be in her late twenties to early thirties. On the table in front of her was a laptop computer along with several books, file folders, and scrolls, some of them opened. At the moment she was alternating between looking at, and then typing on, the laptop, and then examining some of the file folders.

"Beatrice-san…" Nagi said, causing the woman, Beatrice, to pause from her work and look up over at Nagi and Tot.

"Ah, Nagi-san, Nanami-san, it's you." Beatrice, the Hokage's recently appointed record keeper, said with a light yet kind smile as she greeted them. "I was informed by Recca-san about the mission you two were on, are the two of you and Riku-san alright?"

"We're just fine, Beatrice-san." Tot answered. "I'm glad to see that you're doing well too."

"Thank you, Nanami-san." Beatrice gave a light nod of her head in appreciation as she knew that Tot was a bit concerned about her health. Ever since that incident on that island almost a year ago, when the Hokage and MITHRIL, with the help of Himena and Hyou Tokiwara as well as Justine, had managed to sneak her off the island before it sank into the ocean and away from GoI's eyes, Beatrice had been under the care of the Hokage's medical sect to try to improve her condition which had so far been pretty successful.

"Well, is there something that I can help you with?" Beatrice asked.

"Actually, yes, it's about that information regarding that place where the mission we just finished took place. Have you been able to find anything yet?" Nagi asked in reply.

"Not at the moment, no." Beatrice answered. "I've tried finding information regarding its origins and so far have come up with nothing. The only thing I can tell you for sure is that it doesn't seem to have been something GoI or any of the Non-Humans made. I'm sorry."

"It's alright, Beatrice-san, no one expected this to be easy." Nagi said. "I'll try to look around on the net sometime later for anymore information, but if we keep running into dead ends…I guess we'll have to try seeing if MakubeX can find anything in the Archive." Nagi then paused for a moment before speaking again. "Anyway, there is something else…it's about that data we managed to retrieve when we attacked Hate Breed."

"Didn't some of GoI's safety measures corrupt most of the data though?" Beatrice asked.

"Yes, but we managed to crack into some of it and from what we could find, it looks like GoI was interested investigating a location close to the Tokyo-2 area." Nagi answered as he took out a portable USB and stuck it into Beatrice's laptop, a moment later a window opened and an image file was then accessed showing a map like image of what appeared to be a series of tunnels.

"According to this," Nagi paused as he clicked on another file in the window, this one a document file. "GoI was planning on investigating this area as they had been receiving incoming reports of strange activities in that area, some of them close to the subway lines. It looks like there was a slight rise in the activities a year ago, but it doesn't seem they gathered any further data on it."

"Well since it looks like that happened only a few months before we met Himena-chan and Hyou, so maybe when we helped them, Justine, Arc, and Kureha-san destroy their headquarters in Italy six months later, those guys couldn't do it anymore." Tot suggested.

"You may be right there, Nanami." Nagi nodded in agreement.

(Though now that I think back on it, I still can't believe we were able to pull that thing off with capturing Hate Breed without GoI even noticing before we destroyed their headquarters a couple of days after.) Nagi thought to himself. (But then again, that man who leads that group, Christophe Thomas Chavanel, seemed to know we were coming, so maybe…)

Nagi then stopped as he knew there wasn't much time left and he needed to wrap things up and decided he'd speculate later.

"Anyway, the reports seem to suggest that the activities may be originating from some point underneath the railway system." Nagi paused and looked at Beatrice. "So do you think that it's possible that there may be a tribe of Non-Humans living there?"

"I'm not sure…" Beatrice paused as she looked at both the document and map. "It does at first seem like the right place, but…generally our people prefer more secluded places than this. Places humans generally wouldn't venture anywhere near…"

"Did any of the Non-Humans on that island mention anything like this? I mean you were…" Nagi paused as he knew that what the subject matter he was about to touch on were not very good memories for his friend.

"I may have been seen as their goddess, but aside from Vergilius, Anes, and Mukai, there weren't very many others who saw me or even knew what I looked like." Beatrice sighed as she thought back on her memories. "And I don't recall any of those three mentioning any place like this." She then paused as she shook her head. "Still, regardless of that, if someone is indeed down there, they need to be warned about GoI."

"I agree with you there and I'm sure the whole clan does too." Nagi said. "Since that group practically vanished almost as soon as their headquarters was destroyed we have no way of knowing what they might be planning next. Though…I'd still like to know more before we try anything…"

"Hmm, maybe Mishiba-san can help us." Tot suggested. "He always seems to know a little bit of everything, so…" Tot then paused as she realized something. "Uh, I mean…oops!"

"Tot, you do realize you've pretty much spoiled the surprise now." Nagi said.

"It's alright you two, I sort of figured out that Satoru would be here soon considering what's been happening recently." Beatrice said.

"Still, we wanted you to be surprised since we thought you'd be happy to see him when he got back." Tot said.

"You don't have to worry about that part, because I am." Beatrice replied appreciatively. "I'm sure you and the rest of the Hokage probably tired of hearing this from me, but the two of us truly are grateful to you all, as well Himena and her friends, for helping to reunite Satoru and I and also everything you and your friends have been doing for us and our people."

"And like we keep telling you, don't mention it, we're your friends and besides, it's our job to stop people like GoI, right Nagi-kun?" Tot said as she turned to Nagi.

"Yes, also we…" Nagi then paused as he looked at his watch. "Oh, it looks like we need to get going now. I'm sorry, Beatrice-san, but Tot and I have to meet with Riku and get some important things taken care of. I wish we had more time to discuss what I just told you, but…"

"It's alright, Nagi-san, I still need to look into what you needed to have a look at, and also I need time to take some of this new information in." Beatrice then gave a sigh. "But still, I get the feeling that this will be something that we'll need to discuss with at least you all, Riku-san, Recca-san, Kurei-san, Kagero-san, and Gennosuke-san present."

"Yeah, anything that involves GoI does, and we need to talk with MITHRIL about it too." Nagi nodded in agreement. "Anyway, one last thing, Beatrice-san…"

"Yes, what is it?" Beatrice asked as she noticed something about Nagi's expression.

"Well…I know how things are probably going to be getting busy soon, but please don't push yourself too much." The young psychic's eyes seemed to move to the side for a moment before continuing. "I'm sure Mishiba-san wouldn't like it if you collapsed just after he came to see you and hearing that your condition has taken a turn for the better."

"Yeah, and since we all know how much you both have been looking forward to seeing each other too." Tot added, causing Beatrice to lower her eyes and blush a little at that.

"Is…is it really that obvious?" She asked.

"Well, sort of." Tot said before turning to Nagi. "Anyway, shouldn't we get going, Nagi-kun?"

"Yeah we should." Nagi nodded and the two of them turned to leave, but not before stopping to glance back. "Take care of yourself."

"You two be safe as well." Beatrice gave a light bow at them. "And I promise I'll take care of my health."

With that, the two of them exited the library, and a few minutes later, none other than Lilica Ebett emerged from behind one of the nearby bookshelves with a slightly troubled look on her face.

"Did you find what you were looking for, Lilica-san?" Beatrice asked, unaware that Lilica, who had come into the library with the permission of Recca and Kurei a few minutes before Nagi and Tot had to do some research, had heard the whole entire conversation Nagi and Tot had had with Beatrice. "Umm, is something wrong, Lilica-san?"

"Huh, oh, oh it's nothing. Nothing at all." Lilica said quickly and nervously with a somewhat forced smile. "A-anyway, I just remembered something really important so I'll see you later!"

With that Lilica quickly hurried out of the library, leaving Beatrice alone with her thoughts.

(I guess she must have found what she was looking for.) The three hundred year old Non-Human thought to herself as she continued her work. (Anyway, I'll need to check a couple more things before I get to what Nagi-san just showed me…)

Meanwhile, Lilica gave a short sigh as she leaned against the wall in the hallway not too far away from the library's entrance, pondering on what she had accidentally overheard.

(Sheesh, just how many more surprises are we going to run into?) The pink haired hacker thought to herself. (It's obvious that the place Nagi, Tot, and that Beatrice were talking about was the entranceway to the Underground, and that rise in activity a year ago must have been then…Still, just what were they talking about just a moment ago? What could this GoI be that seems to have these two so worried and just what the heck is a Non-Human? And also…whatever a Non-Human is, that Beatrice woman said that they were her people and something about being a goddess to them…so just what is she?)

Lilica then shook her head and decided to head back to where her computer equipment was and just continue with doing what she could to help the situation with Greg for now and wait to discuss this with Rio and the rest of her friends at Warrior when they all got back and Greg had recovered.

(Well whatever this may be about, I'm sure if we ask, Riku and the other people here at the Hokage clan will answer our questions when the time comes.) Lilica thought to reassure herself. (Riku trusts all of us as both allies of his clan and friends, so we should do the same for him and his family…)  
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Sometime later, Riku managed to get a station wagon from the mansion's garage that was suitable enough to carry himself, Nagi, and Tot along with Rio, Maya, and Yuji for the ride from the Uruha mansion to the city areas. As Rio didn't bother to dwell any longer on what she saw and heard when Riku was conversing with his teammates, she decided to leave it alone while thinking on what she could do for Greg's current condition. Soon, as she was contemplating on that, time seemed to pass by quickly as the drive went on without any problems.

"Alright, this should be good enough for our ride; we can see the station now." Rio said as she waited for Riku to stop his car in front of the ascending steps of the Police Town building that she and Maya were being dropped off at, as Yuji himself had been dropped off just moments before at a taxi stop where he would get a ride that would take him straight to the Roppongi district. After stepping out of the cart that also carried Nagi and Tot along with Riku, who was driving it, Rio turned around and looked at the trio in the car.

"Well, thanks for the ride, guys. I'm sure we can manage from here on out, even with all the crazy things that are happening." Maya said as Riku replied.

"Think nothing of it, since one of the main things we were planning on doing was meeting with some friends of ours who can really help us in this situation, we figured that we might as well take you two to your workplace while we're at it since we're also concerned about those mass break-outs that we were told about." Riku said.

"Yeah, so we wish you guys and Maki-san the best of luck in handling this." Nagi said as Rio nodded her head.

"Considering how things get handled by Maki every time a crisis involving national security comes up, I shouldn't be too worried at the moment." Rio said. "Anyway, I know that you guys, on the other hand, have got things to do yourselves, so don't let our already escalating problems get in the way too much of your fun that you'll have with the reunion with these friends of yours later today."

"Rio-san..." Tot said as she knew that she was also referring to Greg's condition and how concerned they would be for him, especially how Rio was looking at the situation. "...Yeah, I'm sure we'll have lots of fun, but more importantly, don't push yourselves. You both came home from some serious fights just yesterday when we went to rescue Lilica-san and Yuina-san, remember?"

"She's right, try your best to take things easy today, it won't be good if you two get mentally fatigued during the day after everything that's happened." Riku advised them.

"We'll try to, Riku, but try telling that to the chief in the state of things right now." Rio said. "Well, we're off now. Hopefully we'll be back later depending on if things have calmed down, but we'll have to wait till Maki tells us what really happened during the course of yesterday at those prisons to learn more and what we'll be doing about them."

"I see…" Riku was about to tell his friends to take care before he suddenly remembered something. "Oh by the way, Rio, could I ask you one thing first?"

"Uh, sure, what is it, Riku?" Rio asked in reply.

"Well considering the situation with those breakouts, I was wondering something." Riku said. "With the fact that you guys are going to be dealing with some pretty nasty criminals, will you be putting out notices on these guys to the Sweepers' hangouts?"

"Sheesh, you're good at guessing things sometimes, Riku." Rio shook her head a bit. "Actually a friend of mine I talked with last night said that she'd heard that the police would be sending out a request to the Sweepers for help in recapturing the escapees with a paid bounty depending on the criminal's classification."

"Still, that hasn't even been officially announced yet, so does that mean you guys know some people who are Sweepers?" Maya asked.

"Well, actually we only know three of them, Maya-san." Tot answered. "All three of them are really nice and fun people and they've even told us about some other Sweeper friends of theirs that we'd like to meet someday too."

"Anyway, Rio, Maya, that's the thing I wanted to ask you two." Riku continued. "Since Japan's been pretty stable until recently in terms of law and order, there aren't as many Sweeper hang outs in this country when compared to some others. Therefore, I take it that Police Town will be sending officers to post the pamphlets for the criminals and also to announce what's been going on in person, right?"

"Yeah, probably, especially since most of the Sweeper hang outs I've heard of aren't too far from Police Town." Rio answered, and then stopped as she paused to remember something. "You know, back when I was a bit younger than you three I did consider becoming a Sweeper myself…"

"So what changed your mind?" Nagi asked. "The fact that there wasn't much of a Sweeper presence in Japan at the time?"

"That and I also found out that Sweepers don't really have a very steady pay rate since it depends on the criminals they capture." Rio said with a sigh.

"That's very true, in fact…" Riku paused as he remembered something and had gave a light chuckle as he realized something.

"What is it, Riku?" Rio asked.

"Oh nothing…" Riku bit back a grin. "Well…actually it is something, but…I think it would be better after a more proper introduction to some friends of ours."

"Would these friends happen to be these Sweeper friends of yours?" Maya asked and then looked at her watch. "And anyway, we don't have much time to talk anymore so tell us what you needed to ask us."

"Them and two others, to answer that first part." Riku answered. "Anyway, if either of you happen to be among the officers sent to the Sweeper hangouts, could you keep an eye out for three people? A guy with spiky brown hair who wears a collar with a bell on it and loves to drink milk, an older guy with green hair with a right eye patch and usually is wearing a hat and suit and is also usually carrying around a suitcase, and the third one is a little girl with short blonde hair, though it might be longer now, and she's usually reading something. Their names are Train Heartnet, Sven Vollfied, and Eve respectively."

"Alright, so what do you want us to do if we see them?" Rio asked.

"Just tell them that you're friends of ours and that my Dad, uncle, and I need to talk with them as soon as possible." Riku said. "Don't worry they know where the Uruha Mansion is."

"Alright, consider it done. Anyway, you guys remember to keep in touch and be careful out there today, okay?" Maya said.

"We plan to, ja ne." Riku then started the car and it then drove off.

Maya waved at the now departing car as she then turned and looked at Rio. "So, partner, ready to face the music?"

"Yeah, I'm set." Rio said as she looked at the entrance with a stern look on her face. (I'm sure everyone's going to have questions about where I've been for the past couple of days that I haven't shown up, so I'd better be ready to answer them. But even so...I just hope today won't be as full of headaches as yesterday was.)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Do you think they'll be okay?" Tot asked Nagi as Riku was now steering the car into the direction that they were planning on heading towards originally.

"Yeah, they should be fine. I don't think the Patriots would have sent spies to look into them, especially after all that's happened, but then again, there's always a chance of them being there..." Nagi said as he paused to think about that but possibility, but was interrupted as Tot shook her head.

"Well, yeah, Nagi-kun, but that wasn't what I was talking about." Tot said as Nagi realized what she meant now.

"Ah, I see now, you're still worried about how Rio-san was taking this matter, huh?" Nagi said as Tot nodded.

"Yeah, she was really trying her best to look strong with us, but I'm sure that she's probably still worried about Greg-san's condition even now." Tot answered.

"Well, I did tell her yesterday that once the rest of our nakama from the Uruha Ryu meet us and we tell them about what's been happening, we can probably find a way to get to the bottom of why Greg's state has taken an unexpected turn for the worst with him not waking up even though his body has recovered." Riku said. "Don't worry, you guys. I'm sure with Alice's help later; we'll be able to dispel any further worries Team Warrior will have about their loving son once he starts getting treatment."

"I certainly hope so, for their sake, Riku." Nagi said as he leaned back to his seat. "And one more thing, despite what you just said, the two of us can tell that you yourself are a little worried about Greg too."

Riku was silent for a moment before he spoke again.

"Is it really that obvious?" The young ninja asked.

"Hey Riku, Nagi-kun and I have known you for almost three years, so there isn't much you can hide from us." Tot commented.

"Heh, I guess not." Riku gave a light laugh at that before his tone became a slightly more serious one. "Still, you're both right, I'd be lying if I said that I didn't have some worries about the guy's condition…It's not that I'm not confident in your abilities or Alice's to be able to get Greg out of the state he's in, it's just that…it's more that I'm worried about what's going to happen next with him."

"Well, only time will tell for that, Riku." Nagi said and decided it would be best to change the subject. "Anyway, just what was it that you wanted to keep from Rio and Maya until later that involved Train, Sven, and Eve?"

"Well…" Riku paused for a moment. "Now don't tell Rio I said this, but I've heard from Maki, Maya, Lilica, and Yuji that Rio…has had a bit of an infamous history of debts and from what Greg's told me about it, that's putting it nicely."

"And let me guess, that part where Rio mentioned the pay for Sweepers got you thinking about how Train and Sven are also usually in debt." Nagi gave a light smirk.

"That and it also had me thinking…if we were to compare Rio's debts, with Train and Sven's, and also with Ban and Ginji's, which of the three would have the highest debt?" Riku, while keeping his eyes on the road, looked deep in thought as he said this because he was seriously wondering about this.

"Heh, I think we'll find that out soon enough." Nagi gave a light laugh as the thought was kind of funny even to him. "Though if you ask me, my money's on Ban and Ginji."

"Uh…don't you think this kind of sounds like we're having fun at our friends' expense?" Tot asked.

"Not at all, Tot, we're just making a very important mathematical comparison, nothing wrong with finding a little humor in it, right?" Riku said matter of fact-ly, causing Nagi to sweatdrop as he could tell that this wasn't an excuse, Riku really meant what he had just said.

"You know sometimes I really wonder about you…" The young psychic gave a mock sigh.

"Hey now, what do you mean by that?" Riku asked.

"Oh nothing at all, so, what's first on the agenda for today?" Nagi replied, once again changing the subject.

"Since we've got a good several hours before the rest of our team arrives at the location that we decided on from our recent Codec conversation with Akira and Alice last night, and since it sounds like things are still okay at the Kaede Inn at the moment, which means we've got some spare time to even visit Kohta and Lucy anytime, the first thing we should do for now is go and tell the guys at Weiss about what's been going on so far." Riku said.

"Hmm, I'll bet Ran, Yohji, Ken, and Omi must be either pretty busy or preparing to get busy considering they probably know about the prison break outs by now from Kritiker. I hope they're not upset that we haven't contacted them about it, Ran especially." Nagi said, remembering the leader of his former group of foes. "Though we're going to have a lot to tell them once we get to that flower shop, right Riku?"

"You can say that again, Nagi, and considering everything that Reese has done to boot, we've got more than just a good excuse now for not having contacted them." Riku said seriously.

"I guess you're right about that." Tot said as Riku continued to drive around as he stopped into a familiar street. "Hey, why are we stopping here?"

Riku stopped the car, opened the door, and then walked out while his two partners followed after.

"Since you two never saw this part of the area, I just thought I should show you guys the ramen shop that Rio and the others were staying until a couple of days ago." Riku said to them. "They actually share ownership with this couple and their children who originally owned the place. It's a good thing they're away on a vacation right now, considering what's happened."

"Still will our checking it out be alright?" Nagi asked. "I'm certain the police are still around the area after what has happened."

"I know, I'm sure that place is still under investigation by now." Riku said as he rubbed his head. "Ah, if only things weren't the way they are now, you guys could have gotten a special deal of a ramen bowl of your choice for a low price...it was one of Greg's ideas at the time when he worked part time at this place." Riku then smiled as he remembered something. "I'm sure you probably know this, but after that first part of our mission against the Mikage when we helped rescue Chidori and Shota, I stopped by with Yuhi and Chidori before we got back. I have to say they both enjoyed what they ordered. It's too bad that guy and his wife weren't there at the time, considering Yuhi plans to open a restaurant with Chidori after he graduates and they get married, maybe they could have given him some pointers."

Riku then paused as he remembered something.

(Though from what I remember hearing, up until Rio and everyone decided to do that co-ownership thing, she and the rest of Warrior were practically that restaurant's only customers.) The young ninja sweatdropped a bit as he thought a bit more on it. (Then maybe it was for the best that Yuhi and Chidori missed them…)

"So that's the place those two mentioned, too bad. Well, I'm sure things will get back to normal eventually once we get Greg-san back, Riku." Nagi said as Riku nodded.

"Yeah, I know that, Nagi. I guess this only serves to prove that you and Tot were right. It looks like I am starting to feel almost the same as Rio is right now about this ordeal." Riku said as he looked at his watch. "But that's enough dwelling on that. Anyway, since it looks like there's still plenty of time, I think you two really deserve some time alone before we go and meet the others, why not go and treat yourselves for the time being while I take a look around and see if there's anything that can help us?"

(I see, so that was part of his plan, huh? Well, it's reasonable since it's been some time since Nanami and I were alone for a date, maybe this can help us forget the troubles for now.) Nagi thought as he smiled a bit in gratitude. "You'll be fine by yourself, then?"

"Yeah, it shouldn't be a problem at this time of day." Riku said. "So basically, you now have my permission to have fun on my account; I'll contact you if I run into anything suspicious."

"Alright, leader, we'll be back in a little over half an hour at the most." Tot said as she took quickly Nagi by the arm and walked off as Nagi's cheeks turned red while they went on their small date, leaving Riku by himself to ponder on things.

(That reminds me, we haven't been to school for awhile too, and I wonder how everyone's doing right now?) Riku thought to himself, as he remembered most of the schoolmates and friends from his school, Daimon High School, from various people such as Ryoko Mitsurugi, Hitomi Yuuki, Daisaku Kamiya, Shizuma Kusanagi, the fighters of the enforcement group, the Shinsengumi, and the other students who were strong fighters that he, Nagi, and Tot were friends with.

Of course, their list of friends didn't just consist of fighters as the three of them were friends with the more ordinary crowd of people both at their school and the outside world, such as Kouhei Kagami, Aeka Shiraki, Takeshi Iogi, Misaki Sayama, Tsubaki Hirofumi, Kiyoka Daimon, Yuki Yoshikawa, Shinobu Misono and Takako Kuga. Though he, Nagi and Tot had missed over a week of school now, Riku hoped that all their friends were doing as well as they were the last time they had seen them. Riku also hoped that especially for Kiyoka, who he was a very closes friend with, especially considering the circumstances of how they met had met. Still, Riku didn't think he had anything to worry about for now as the closest thing to trouble that had ever happened at his school was when a ridiculous delinquent named Gaito Yakushiji and some punk friends of his had tried to stir up trouble there, but that attempt had ended in failure as that bunch had no idea they decided to try to stir up trouble at a school where martial arts fighting was a popular extracurricular activity. Suffice to say, Yakushiji had made the mistake of picking a fight with one of the strongest fighters in the school, Shizuma Kusanagi himself, and had suffered more than enough damage than he ever could in his lifetime both from the beating and the aftermath. As Riku remembered that an interesting thought came to mind.

(Still, I wonder what would happened if Greg, Rio and the others from Warrior would have done if they had been in my shoes and heard about everything what that punk did and how he had to pay for his deeds.) Riku thought with a near smirk, as he had felt very little pity when the aforementioned punk when Shizuma had went all out on him and in fact, after hearing about how the guy had made life miserable for two of his good friends before he had met them, it only made the young ninja think that the punk had gotten more than what he deserved. (Considering Greg's love for the Devil May Cry series to no bounds from what Lilica told us earlier about those videos, he'd probably have turned that ridiculous brute into a practice dummy for his techniques if he had ever gotten wind of what happened. It probably wouldn't have been as good as the beating Shizuma gave him, but I'm sure I'd have enjoyed seeing it immensely...)

After holding onto that particular series of images for a moment, Riku then shook his head and pushed those thoughts aside. As much as he hated Yakushiji for what he had done to his two friends, Kouhei and Aeka, the young ninja knew that now was not the time to dwell on that, especially considering that the punk had been sent to a pretty secure detention center where he couldn't really harm anyone, the main reason being because he didn't want something like that to cloud his mind in case anything serious actually did happen while he was waiting for Nagi and Tot. Having decided that, Riku then headed for the ramen restaurant that he had mentioned to his partners mainly just to look to see if there was anything important there, and also to see how badly it had been damaged.

As he was walking, Riku then suddenly remembered something he had forgotten.

(Oh no…man, I can't believe I forgot about this…just before we headed back to the US from our mission, I e-mailed both Kouhei and Kiyoka-san and told them that Nagi, Tot, and I would be coming back the next day and I'd call once we got back and that was almost three days ago…) The young ninja mentally kicked himself for that mistake and reached for his pocket. (I'd better call them soon or…oh great, I forgot I left my school cell phone back at the Uruha Mansion and turned it off…man, I just how am I going to explain this?)

Riku gave a sigh and decided to wait until he talked with Nagi and Tot about that since at the moment there wasn't anything he could do about it. He just hoped he hadn't caused his friends to worry too much. With that, he then continued on towards where he remembered the restaurant being.

(Hmm, I haven't been to this place in awhile, too bad it's in such a mess now that no one can stay here until things calm down, if it ever does.) Riku thought to himself as he arrived and saw the evident police tapes wrapped around the broken door and a window, along with barricades of no entry signs and a 'Closed for Stocktaking' sign was put up as well.

(Well, I'm sure it won't hurt if I snuck inside to see and analyze this situation for myself to the best of my ability, but then again, I'm no Shinichi Kudo or Kojiroh Amagi.) Riku thought as he stopped midway to see somebody was already past the tape and barricades and standing near the entrance of the abandoned restaurant. Riku then quickly stepped back and out of sight as the person turned and looked in his direction. (Whoa, I almost got spotted entering a place like this by a civilian whose already there, got to be more careful next time…hey, wait a minute…)

Riku then carefully took a closer look and saw that the person at the entrance was an attractive looking girl, who looked to be around his age, or slightly younger, in appearance with straight and long, dark black hair that went down to her waist, and wearing a thin pair of shades over her eyes. She was wearing a loose t-shirt with only her shoulder areas exposed, and was holding onto a small handbag that she was carrying with her that went along with a long and firm black jeans and sneakers she was also wearing.

"What's a girl doing here at this place?" Riku asked himself as he looked at her more closely. (I don't think I've seen her around before. Could she be a long time customer or someone who just moved around here?)

"Um, excuse me?" Riku asked the girl in a quiet, yet friendly manner so that he would not startle her since she seemed pretty focused at the moment. The girl suddenly turned her head to look at Riku as she heard his voice and removed her shades to look at him closely.

"Ah, yes?" The girl replied as Riku noticed that this girl looked a lot prettier up close and without the shades, yet he maintained his composure as he continued to talk to her. "Was there something you needed?"

"Actually, I should be asking you that, seeing you here for the first time in these parts." Riku replied with a light smile. "I just thought you might be a customer here, so I thought that you'd know about what went on here."

"Well, I don't know, to tell you the truth." The girl replied to him. "Although I don't come here that often, it was just that the sight of this place caught my attention. Also I've heard from some people who live here that this place serves pretty good food so I wanted to check it out. I do hope the owners are alright and are able to repair this place soon."

"Yeah, I'm hoping for the best for them as well, and whoever told you that was right, this place does serve some good ramen. In fact, two of my friends kind of went on a first date here and they liked it. " Riku replied as he was careful not o mention either Warrior or anything mission related into his comment. "By the way, I take it that you're new here as well?"

"Um, yes, I moved into the city about a week ago with my sisters." The girl said. "My name is Rie Petoriakowa."

"I'm Riku Hanabishi, at your service." Riku replied as they looked at each other in silence for a few seconds as Riku spoke again. "If you'd like, I can show you around the area for good spots where you can get groceries and other necessities for a good price around these parts. Especially since this city's pretty close to Tokyo-3 and things can happen during emergencies."

"Are you sure I won't take up any of your time?" Rie asked him as Riku shook his head.

"Not really, I got some friends to meet later, but it won't be for another half hour or so. And I usually act as a tour guide in my spare time to people who don't know the location they're at better." Riku said. "How about it, unless you've got other plans right now, in which case I understand."

"No, it's not a problem; I'd like to look around with you. Also, I don't have many friends in the area; you might be my first since I feel a bit comfortable with you." Rie said as Riku felt himself blush lightly.

"I…Is that so?" Riku replied almost nervously, but not too much as he was giving it away. "Well, allow me to lead the way and show you some good spots around the town."

"Thanks, I'd like that very much." Rie smiled as she started to walk with him as she began to think to herself.

(I just hope this disguise isn't overdoing it for me by making me look suspicious, it's been awhile since I dressed for an urban recon mission like this for the Delmos.) Rie thought to herself as she glanced at Riku. (And this Riku guy…something tells me that I might learn what's going on if I stick around him for awhile, but I doubt he may know anything about that Gregory Kinezono guy even if I asked. I'd better keep my act up and see where this little investigation takes me for now…)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

_**New allies, friends and developments have finally entered the stage! Just what will happen next while Greg is…?**_

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

ShardclawK: Well, that concludes this chapter for this time around, I hoped it met everyone's expectations with all the character arrivals, appearances and developments that was portrayed and mentioned thus far once more. Also, I hoped everyone all the little references I've thrown in, especially for the Devil May Cry series as I really couldn't help but make those DMC references, as I had been fervently training in DMC 3: Special Edition to be nearly as good as the combo masters out there you see on YouTube during the long hiatus, like Kail for instance. A couple of good DMC3 and 4 vids to look for aside from the famous _'Elohim', 'Elysuim'_ and _'Azarel's Evil Eyes'_ are _**'**__5__Styles of Dante Remake', 'Nothing'_and _'Emotional Devil.'_ And if you haven't seen them yet, check out Blackmamba's _'The Stupid Files'_ series, though I should warn you first that you must be over eighteen because all of the clips will have swearing and lots of crude humor and really effed up randomness.

Ran: Well, it's not like anybody's bothered by that, Shardclaw-san. They know that you do have other priorities to deal with in real life; they just have to be patient about things, though with your new upcoming revised chapters and story arcs ahead, you're only keeping the readers and fans more in suspense in finding out what's going to happen next.

Shardclaw: You're sure right about that, Ran. Now I know it's going to be troublesome for yours truly to keep up at this rate if even this story has become that popular and still is with all the new anime/manga as well as games being thrown in.

Ran: You mentioned something about it for the updated casting list before, what was it?

Shardclaw: Since you brought it up, there could be a number of people who has yet to play some titles, especially for the Bishoujo titles section, I'll provide some helpful info while looking into them as I'm pretty much still in the dark about them, though they all are very good. As you can see from a number of games were added, especially the four in particular from the eroge horror game developer, _**Black Cyc**_, such as MinDead BlooD, Gore Screaming Show, Gun Katana and Mushitsukai as they have all yet to be translated to English, these games not only have some wicked art styles as well uber cool stories, they also are quite VERY DARK content wise, especially both versions for MinDeadBlood, which is considered one of the longest games you'll ever play while translating Japanese to English.

Youji: If anyone else out there want more helpful info on these as Shardclaw-san has yet to complete them, you can ask DarkFusion as he knows a great deal about it as he was the one among the circle of writers for the COE/SX stories to complete it more than our beloved perverted host.

Shardclaw: Hey, cut me some slack over here! Try sitting through some of the scenes just to proceed through the story in that game and see if you can say the same thing afterwards with a brave face…well, at least I had an easier time through Yume Muri Kusuri, probably the BEST drama eroge game anyone will play...wait, why are you making me say all these things?

Omi: In any case, we do hope this little news of ours has brought some light to the fans out there, as Shardclaw-san is still planning to deal with the minor mistakes and clarify some things in the past chapters to tie in with what was revealed in MGS4, while still focusing on the revised updates. If anyone out there has spotted any that needs doing so during the progress of these set of chapters from 1 to 12, let him know along with your suggestions too and he'll be on it to fix them.

Ken: Until then, I'm sure you can still get by any problems you may encounter, because you still have your trusty harem to assist you, am I right, Shardclaw-san?

Shardclaw: You guessed right, Ken, and what better assistance to do just that, is the first ever set of anime girls that Dark-san sent to me as a birthday present all those years ago, which up to present time have not failed me in 'curing' me of my writer's block time and again!

As I said that, _Ai Yori Aoshi's_ Tina Foster, Taeko Minazuki and Miyabi Kagurazaki entered, all of them wearing skin tight office uniforms with low cut blouses, microskirts, garters and coloured stockings as they started to snuggle against me.

Taeko: Shardclaw-sama, are you only saying those nice things about us, not just because you've recently completed the PC game version of Ai Yori Aoshi in your spare time and got to know more about our...'endearing qualities'?

Shardclaw: I do mean it when I say you helped me out that time and kept on doing so from then, so I'm really grateful for the opportunity of ever getting the chance to be with such lovely ladies such as you three, especially Miyabi-sama as my most personal favorite female character of the series, as the game featured some more pleasant qualities about the appealing personality that I enjoyed the most about her, only making me fall in love with her all over again.

After I said that, Miyabi turned her head to the side with a heartwarming and blushing smile as she held her cheeks, while Tina got a bit jealous and almost suffocated me by squeezing my head against her chest.

Tina: Mou, you always go after the most appealing and mature ones, Shardclaw. What about Tae-chin and myself?

Shardclaw: Hey, you said it yourself about Miyabi being number one in looks, but you yourselves are a class by itself that I also enjoy as well and can't get enough of until I can conclude the manga online, then my life will be complete. Which was why I wondering after this chapter is finished, let's re-enact that joyous moment the first time you guys ganged up on me, at a time like this, I can use some 'inspiration' for the next chapter with your 'help' if you know what I mean...

Miyabi: But, Shardclaw-sama, that means we would have to use Tina-san's famously known, mysterious drink on you once more to get you into the mood. Do you recall its aftereffects?

Shardclaw: Aside from the passing out after one sip; yeah...was there something I missed?

The three girls' faces turned crimson as Miyabi answered my question.

Miyabi: For average people, yes, but remember due to your awesome power growth as a writer and a wanker killer over the time we've known you, it is quite different. Not even Tina-san predicted it, but the first time we had you drink it, it soon turned out to be quite a powerful aphrodisiac and pheromone attracting agent.

Shardclaw: What did you just say? Then that must have meant since that time, whenever I wanted to have a drink because of its unique taste...

This time, it was Shardclaw's turn to turn crimson as he clearly guessed what was it they were talking about and swallowed hard as he stood up.

Shardclaw: Ah, what the hell? What do I got to lose than just my stamina and several extra hours of sleep? I suppose a little trial run with you guys until the next update wouldn't hurt, or you're not up to the challenge?

The three girls smiled slyly to each other before they grabbed me by the arm and dragged me offstage.

Tina: Heh, oh, we'll accept it alright. Just don't expect us to go easy on you as usual; we're going all out just like the first time, even if we have to use the handcuffs again on you.

Shardclaw: Just the kind of words I wanted to hear, and likewise in my case as I've found new ways to eat whipped cream off of you three as dessert toppings. See you later, guys.

As they group takes off, Ran cleared his throat as he continued with the closing message.

Ran: With that aside, I guess its time for departure until the next chapter is ready, huh?

Youji: So it seems, though I was really glad that Shardclaw willing to go through the trouble of including us as well in the next revised chapter with new material provided by Dark-san, but I'm sure he doesn't need to know from us that he's being thanked for doing so, when he's in the process of already...

Ken: Let's not give the readers any more funny ideas than they have to of Shardclaw-san's personal time than it is, Youji, I think he deserved it since this was a new chapter development wise and all.

From the background, Shardclaw can be heard giving out certain commands to the girls that carried him off.

Shardclaw: Now, Tina-chan, to start things off, I'd like for you to make Tae-chan more comfortable doing that usual 'routine' to kick things off, as well making her say my now favorite quote from her yet.

Tina: Heh, you got it.I hope you're ready, Tae-chin, I won't hold back since it's by the master's request. Rawr!

Taeko: Hanyaa.

Shardclaw: Ah, music to my ears.

Back to the Weiss boys, they only shook their heads as his friend continued.

Youji: Yeah, we'll leave it at that till the next time, I suppose. During the time, let's hope the readers got some nice things and suggestions to leave for Shardclaw that can also give him inspiration as well for this chapter.

Ran: Until the next update of this uber cool side story, this is Weiss, signing off.


	15. A Brief Respite, Part 3

Shardclaw: Well, what can I say first of to my faithful readers, other than welcome to another uber update of this revised story after such a very looong delay, which I must humbly apologize for to everyone since most of my focus for a while was, on my part, with my job and life occupying most of the time I have these days. But here I am, still alive and well to get this thing back rolling as frequent as possible.

On another note, it seems that has managed to fix that chapter content problem I mentioned in a previous chapter, which is good news meaning I can once again give you the usual, delicious large servings of that crossover goodness that can only be written with such skill by yours truly and even some more. And since the majority of you enjoyed the last chapter, I thought it would be fitting to have Lucy and Nana come back and assist with the hosting from now on.

Nana: The way you put it, it seems that the readers are in for some real treats in this chapter, Shardclaw-san.

Shardclaw: Oh, do I have a dozy of an update to offer to make up for the time I haven't gotten to update anything for quite awhile and we're still ways from starting the next arc for this story, Nana-chan. That's to tell you how much surprises I've got planned in store judging from the developments, references and appearances from this chapter as the readers will see for themselves, though somewhat a portion of it may seem to be part of a flashback chapter to introduce someone I want to introduce from the only, official Burn Up W/eXcess manga as you'll see later on, but that too is part of the lovely surprise that I've set up for this chapter.

Lucy: Also, you happen to have a piece of good news for the fans regarding more additions into the already massive casting list which we're curious to hear. But do you think you'll be able to pull it off while being able to survive the oncoming onslaught of the current girls from your harem afterwards as it has always been these past couple of chapters, not to mention a number of games that you've been playing recently which will also be referenced in this chapter that will make some readers jealous?

Shardclaw: No need to remind me about it, Lucy-san, the gaming scene is only but an added challenge, as for the girls, I'm prepared for the worst case…hey, why are you and Nana-chan smirking to yourselves? You know just who is going to 'attack' me at the end of this chapter, huh?

Lucy: We'll keep that our little secret until then, but for now, we should get things for this chapter on the go, as we have a lot of material to cover and the fans have gotten really edgy waiting for your progress.

Nana: Agreed, Lucy-san, so without further ado, here's another crossover filled chapter for everyone's enjoyment.

Shardclaw: Aw, man, if I knew this was going to happen, I would have asked the hawt Ai Yori Aoshi girls that I had a wild time with at the end of the previous chapter for a heads up on who next on my harem list was to appear during these revisions in the future so I can prepare myself for surprises. I'm still recovering from Taeko's, Tina's and mostly Miyabi-sama's newly acquired, bedroom techniques that totally drained me out mostly, now that I finally finished the Ai Yori Aoshi manga and was quite content with how it ended and saw more of their personalities and pasts that I never saw in the anime, since they wanted to show more of their gratitude towards me that way…Oh, well, I'd better not complain and just hope for the best to come at the end of this chapter, I suppose. Enjoy the long awaited update to this crossover story to your hearts content, people.

* * *

_**Will their dreams depict a clue to a mystery, a memory of the past, or a revelation for the future? Yuina Hattori and Seraph finally awaken in a new and unfamiliar terrority!**_

* * *

Metal Gear: Soldier X

Chapter 14: A Brief Respite, Part 3

* * *

Shortly before Riku's, Nagi and Tot's departure with Maya, Rio, and Yuji, somewhere in a privately accommodated room at the Uruha mansion, Seraph was still soundly asleep next to Yuina Hattori, both of them covered in blankets. Unlike Yuina, however, she was talking lightly in her sleep as she was having a dream about her past….

"Master, are you certain about this?" Seraph asked as she was walking side by side next to a young girl with near similar hair and facial features of Yuina Hattori, both of them wearing long, and white decorated robes. The two figures were walking across a marbled floor in what appeared to be a sacred temple, bright golden light emanating from all sides of the room.

"Even if you do claim such things, I'm not willing to accept that." Seraph spoke on as they walked past other human figures with emulates accompanying them, also wearing the same attire. It appeared as if they were truly in another world, a place that housed both humans and biodroids working in harmony, in other words, a holy paradise.

"But, Seraph, what do you make of the events that have occurred in the past that lead to today?" The young girl spoke, also with a gentle voice which sounded similar to Yuina's whenever she was calm. "In this world, the only remaining piece of evidence that mankind still thrives in, and can still call a home...humans have a limit as to how much they can chase after 'power'. It was the first case many years ago and has repeated itself yet again during its time…if this goes on, this planet itself will be just a memory."

"We've preserved the planet's memory and the people within it for many years, there's no reason why the habitants should give in easily just because we're all that partly occupies it now." Seraph said as she looked to a vast sky line. As a large body of water surrounded her view, clouds could be seen floating over the large sea before her. "Is it wise to say that, just as the ancient songs predicted, this planet has met its last days?"

"That is why it is important for the occupants, or those entrusted with safeguarding the planet's future, to know of the consequences of the state of the world. 'Power' if applied the right way, can bring salvation or in the wrong way, destruction. This planet has seen enough destruction and due to that, you were brought about as a reason to steer humankind along the correct path of their ways." The young girl said as she began to sing a hymn revealing that Seraph's companion was a songstress.

"True, the emulate system was only created to curb humankind's desire for war at first, having us for entertainment reasons before it advanced to the biodroid system." Seraph said. "But, how is it that the humans can prevent such events from happening?"

"That I wish I had a certain answer to. Maybe the truth can be told from the ancient songs I've learned, as that one person may have witnessed those things to come." The songstress said before taking Seraph's arm with a smile. "But, what matters the most is that even though this place won't last much longer, we're going to watch over the memories of this place forever. It is an everlasting existence, never allowing to fade, it was always my dream."

"Master…" Seraph said as she then noticed another emulate from a distance, but something appeared to be wrong. The emulate standing before Seraph and her master bore nothing but black attire with straight long, flowing black hair, a black and revealing fighting outfit and large, dark black looming feathered wings. She had a blank look in her eyes as fresh blood dripped over her body, blood that wasn't hers.

"Lucifer…what's wrong?" Seraph asked, fearing the worst as she then noted the emulate called Lucifer holding onto the corpse of a young man. She then understood what had happened. "Don't tell me you've…?"

"He said he didn't need me anymore…why are humans like that…?" Lucifer said weakly. "They discard you like a tool when they have no use for you anymore…not only that, they are full of arrogance, continuously seeking more power to destroy one another…they should all just die…by my hands…"

(No, Master!) Seraph exclaimed in thought as before she could react, Lucifer raised her clawed hand while she dashed at Seraph's master…

Seraph suddenly woke up from her sleep, a cold sweat covering her forehead while trying to catch her breath. Wearing nothing but a simple bra vest and shorts as her undergarments, Seraph realized that she was in her room in the Uruha mansion, with a dozing Yuina at her side.

"It was just…a dream. No, more like a memory that I choose to forget, but now it's come back to haunt me." Seraph said to herself, gripping onto the sheets. It appeared that was one of the things in the world that could shake her up emotionally. "After all that has happened with Yuina and me so far, I've forgotten why I've come to this timeline to begin with. It was because of her…"

"Unnn…" Yuina groggily moved her arms as her eyes opened slowly to see a nearly distressed Seraph. "Good morning, Seraph…is something wrong, you don't look so good?"

"I'm sure this is what you humans refer to as 'getting up on the wrong side of the bed this morning', but I'm fine." Seraph said as she sat up. "I was just having a dream of my past, that's all."

"Hmm, if you want to put it that way…" Yuina said as her eyes widened when she watched the kind of spacious and luxurious room she and Seraph were in. "Wait, this isn't my room? What kind of place is this, Seraph?"

"You were asleep the entire time, so you wouldn't know that this is where we'll be staying for some time." Seraph said, getting up and using her biodroid powers to simply rearrange her appearance to put on her casual clothing. "But judging from your alarmed condition, you seem to be doing well after a good night's rest. It also appears you have remembered what occurred as well. "

"Please tell me what's going on, Seraph?" Yuina asked. "I can remember some vague stuff, but clearly enough to know that something's definitely wrong here!"

"It looks like I don't have to worry about your mental condition too." Seraph said blankly as Yuina glared at her.

"You're not being helpful by giving me these kinds of answers, Seraph!" Yuina said. "Tell me the truth, did auntie really die and I was kidnapped? What about the people who rescued us? Why are we here, weren't we rescued?"

Seraph glanced at her master and sighed as she placed her hands on the teenager before seating her back down. "First of all, you have to calm down and take some deep breaths. Acting all panicked like that won't do, Yuina, you need to think clearly on what's going on here."

"But…" Yuina began to shake as Seraph held her tighter. "I'm scared, Seraph. For the first time in a while, I've never felt like this, even after meeting and learning about you. It's not fair that you alone know what's going on while I have to suffer..."

"You're right, it isn't fair that I keep what I know to myself and act like nothing's happened, but I can tell you that I'm just as worried about the situation as you are, which is why you must trust in what I have to tell you until you can fully accept the truth of everything that's happened up to this point." Seraph said. "Do you understand, Yuina? Only your actions later can determine what we should do later on. Please, you must be able to act accordingly when you learn the truth."

"I…understand, Seraph." Yuina said, looking downcast. As Seraph gently brushed her master's long and pale pink hair, a gentle knock on the door was heard as Yuina looked alarmed, but Seraph assured her that the person was no enemy of theirs.

"Seraph-sama, have you finally awakened?" A female voice called out as Seraph answered.

"Yes, both I and my master have arisen." Seraph said as the door opened, a maid carrying a wheeled tray of assorted breakfast dishes came in the room.

"Compliments of the Uruha mansion's chef as requested by the people who rescued you." The maid bowed to Seraph and Yuina. "I certainly hope it's to your liking, knowing you both had been through strenuous times yesterday. You need to keep your appetite filled after all."

"I see, give him my thanks." Seraph said as she remembered something important while Yuina didn't hesitate to take a couple of French toasts and started chewing on some Japanese style egg omlettes. "Which reminds me, are Greg-san and his accomplices still here?"

"Who's Greg-san, Seraph?" Yuina asked as Seraph replied her question.

"He was the one who I met by chance encounter and helped me out in rescuing you." Seraph said as the maid sadly shook her head.

"About that, Greg-sama's injuries were very grave, although he's stabilized; he is currently resting in one of the rooms under intensive care." The maid said, causing Seraph to gasp.

"He's still resting…could that mean…" Seraph said in shock before stopping. "What about Riku-san, Nagi-san and Tot-san, as well as Rio and Maya-san, I need to speak to them."

"I'm sorry; they've all left the mansion to run some important errands in regards to the recent events. That was just not too long ago." The maid said as Seraph lied back. "Is there anything else I can be of assistance with?"

"Wait, could Lilica be here by any chance?" Yuina suddenly asked as the maid replied.

"Yes, she's with one of her comrades at this moment, should I get her for you?"

"Please do, I need to let her know I'm alright, as well have her tell me what's going on as well." Yuina said as the maid complied.

"I understand, please help yourselves while I arrange for her to meet you." The maid said as she left the room, Seraph glanced over to a musing Yuina while she thought to herself.

(Yuina, I'm hoping you'll be able to make sense of all this somehow as I'm still trying to, now what we're at a place like this.) Seraph thought. (As for me however, if Lucifer has indeed gone into hiding once she arrived here some time ago, I'll need to pursue her soon and put a stop to whatever insidious plans she could have. But as of now, seeing you recover from this should be my one priority…)

* * *

Meanwhile, from within another area of the Uruha mansion around the same time, inside a data and research room which served the ninja group's medical teams and their assistants near a well functioning medical room that was nearby during emergencies, Team Warrior's techie and inventor, Nanvel was seated near several monitors, watching various recordings and battle data results of the prior mission that her friends took part in the day before. She had been working on these tests since early morning and wasn't showing any signs of slowing down just yet since Oboro and Serina had also helped her after their arrival at the mansion.

She was trying to get to the bottom of the new mysteries surrounding Greg's past and its possible relation to the newly developed psychic skills that he displayed through the data and visual evidence that she gathered from his fights with Shade and Mantis. Close by, the data disc that was retrieved from Greg after the mission stayed as it was, untouched and unopened since that time as told by Maki's suggestion.

Still, after glancing at the disc and at the screens a couple of times over and over, Nanvel wished she had any understanding on what was going on and if this was related to Greg's current comatose state as she pondered some possibilities, but before she could give the matter more thought, she heard her friend's voice call out to her from behind.

"I'm back." Lilica Ebbett called out as she stepped inside the room carefully while announcing herself when she saw Nanvel was busy working and thinking. "You need a hand with anything, Nanvel?"

"Yeah, your timing couldn't be any better, Lil. I think I may need your hands a bit to help me crack with some data I've been looking over this morning from the acquired battle data of Greg's participation of yesterday's mission." Nanvel asked as the younger girl nodded, resting a small pile of hardcover books on the table next to Nanvel's work-desk.

"Sure thing, I understand. I'm just curious about it like you are, so I might as well clue myself in too." Lilica said as she rested a small pile of research books that she brought from the library and stretched her slender arms before sitting next to Nanvel. "So, found out anything useful yet?"

"Not really by much, it's just that I never actually predicted this sort of thing could have happened before. This is a first for me as well." Nanvel said, placing her left thumb near her lips. "And from what Rio told me of everything that happened, she's just as surprised as the rest of us about Greg's increase of his newly gained psychic abilities in this time spam."

"Now that you say it, when things calmed down after Serina-san, Oboro-san and the rest of the med team from the Uruha helped Greg and the rest of us out and they asked us to give us as much information as we could on Greg's condition before coming here and how much each of us knows of his medical background in terms of him using his powers. Rio did say Greg hardly recalled anything about being able to use his powers like he did yesterday after all that he did just after fighting that Shade guy I was told about." Lilica said as Nanvel's eyes lowered.

"Hmm, it could be possible that he would likely forget what he did when he fought Mantis as well if he wakes up." Nanvel said seriously. "It's just a guess, but chances are that his powers could be related to his memories as part of a function of sorts."

"Are you talking about the ones he gained and spent with us, or the ones that were sealed prior to that, such as the ones with his old family?" Lilica asked.

"Rio did say that Greg remembered a memory he had with you and Seishiro-san when she thought he would have lost control of himself after he blacked out from Shade's attack, which somehow slightly increased the offensive, speed, and strength parameters for the CQC functions that the nanomachines read shortly afterwards, but only for a set time since that seemed to be taking out some of the energy needed for them to work." Nanvel said. "Then there's Mantis not too long afterwards, who somehow released the nanomachines true functions through Greg's powers, or I should more accurately put it, the Soldier X's latent abilities that were sealed along with Greg's past memories when he began to recall them."

"So, in other words, Greg's psychic powers seem to work the best with both kinds of memories, good and bad, is that what you're saying?" Lilica surmised.

"Well, it was just a guess for the time being, but until we can learn the truth, we need to change the situation for the better, so for now this disc's going to remain untouched." Nanvel sighed as she placed a hand on the cover.

"At least we managed to figure out that much so far, it's a good thing, right?" Lilica asked with a smile.

"You're right, Lil, maybe with this little piece of information, we'll be able to put everyone else at ease for the moment." Nanvel said. "Still, we have to be cautious and can't simply assume that what Greg's going through is just simply because of his powers, we got to worry about that personality that resides within his mind as well."

"Aw, man, so much for wishful thinking for us. Getting to the bottom of this really isn't going to be easy after all, it's like there's more questions for us to solve than there are answers. But still, for his sake, we won't give up on him." Lilica said as she looked around the room, expecting Oboro to be around since this was where she saw her last with Nanvel before going to breakfast earlier in the morning.

"If you're looking for Oboro-san, she stepped out a while ago to prepare some herbal tea that she said that would calm our nerves at a time like this." Nanvel said. "But if you ask me, I think she may have snuck off to look for her husband, Gennosuke-san, who was supposed to be in a meeting with Recca, Kurei, Kagero and the other available Uruha and Hokage ninjas to discuss about the situation."

"Heh, are you feeling jealous, Nanvel?" Lilica asked with a grin as Nanvel shook her head.

"Okay, I envy her just a bit for having an incredible looking man like him for a husband; they seem to be alot closer than any other couple I've seen." Nanvel said. "Still, although they've been a big help to us so far, I can't help but wonder that there's something about them that doesn't fit along here…"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lilica asked.

"Well, they certainly have a strong taste in traditional clothing, not to mention being really courteous to strangers like us as well." Nanvel said. "It may be common for them, but whenever they're in the same room with us, it's like we're part of an old ninja flick since they act so differently compared to the rest of ninjas here."

"Yeah, you're right. But I suppose people like them do make making new friends more fun, right?" Lilica asked.

"I suppose, we'd already have people from the Underground and over at Roppongi to deal with as allies, and weird as some of them may be, they really helped us out with the information gathering and the technology sharing a lot in the past in terms of helping us catch some criminals." Nanvel said as she noted the look on her friend's face as the previous conversation about Greg's powers worried her a bit and decided to change the subject.

"So, how are things on the outside otherwise, have Rio and Maya left yet?" Nanvel asked.

"Oh, yeah. Just a while ago along with Yuji, Riku, Nagi, and Tot since they had errands to run too, but that was after meeting two of their members from Riku's Uruha Ryu team and some of Kenshin-san's own Hokage Ryu teammates." Lilica replied. "They all seem like a pretty cool bunch so far."

"It seems that this mansion is just full of surprises with all these people other than us that are currently staying and arriving soon to help out." Nanvel said as Lilica briefly remembered what she was to ask Nanvel since she got to the room.

"Hey, could I ask you a personal question about some of the people staying here, Nanvel?" Lilica asked as Nanvel quizzically looked back at her.

"Sure, go on ahead and ask, though I'm not totally sure about what you mean." Nanvel asked as Lilica went on.

"Okay, is it just me, or has the Uruha mansion gotten a lot more...umm, how should I put this?" Lilica tilted her head slightly as she was trying to think of the right words to describe some of the arrivals at the Uruha mansion they've met and will be arriving soon. One of them was the mysterious, yet beautiful looking woman known as Beatrice as Lilica, while she was visiting the mansion's library area earlier, had ended up overhearing some unusual stuff during Beatrice's conversation with Nagi and Tot that made her worry a bit.

"Well, gotten more 'unique' guests over time since we met Riku and the others that live here?" Lilica finally asked as Nanvel smiled to her question. "There's no question that this place has gotten a lot more people who are now working with the ninja clans that we haven't seen or met before. It's been obvious ever since we got here yesterday."

"Ah, so that's what you're worried about, huh?" Nanvel replied. "Lilica, we don't really have much choice but to try to get used to it. I've already been hearing some talk from the people here about when the rest of the other allies that this ninja clan's made over the years will arrive, so I'm betting what we've seen so far is just the tip of the iceberg. This place is more or less a rendezvous of every possible group or organization of people who are into the whole 'good guy' business like us."

"Yeah, that's true. But, Nanvel…" Lilica lowered her tone as she wheeled her computer chair closer to Nanvel as to speak to her more silently. "…I'm not sure if this should be relevant to you, but it seems that the Underground may have been investigated by the Uruha and Hokage without us knowing."

Nanvel soon stopped her typing as she looked at Lilica when she heard this. "Wait, where, when, and how did you hear about this, Lil?" she asked sternly and quietly.

"Alright, listen up really good to what I have to tell you, because I'm still wrapping my head over what I heard and still can't come up with a logical explanation to this." Lilica said as she recalled most of what she heard to her friend, who nodded along the way with what she heard, even raising her eyebrows at some points.

After a few minutes, Nanvel sat back on her chair to relax as she tried to think up of what to tell Lilica about what she just heard.

"Hmm, GoI, Non-Humans…this is definitely new stuff to me. I do recognize the name MITHRIL though. I've heard some good stuff about them when I read up on some files about PMCs that are on the war economy hire list after the Second Impact. It's definitely news to me that they've teamed up with the Hokage, but whatever it is they're working on, I doubt it's anything bad." Nanvel said, placing an index finger near her lips. "Still, since neither of them have made any contact with the Underground and the civilizations living there as of yet, I think we can put informing the Hokage of the Underground's existence on hold for now, though from the way things are going, especially with Lt. Reese's actions, we'll probably be telling them soon enough."

"I was afraid you were going to say something like that, Nanvel. If that guy knows about the Underground too, or even that Greg, Linn and the rest of Warrior already made contact with the inhabitants, then there's no telling what could happen if he targets that place with the Patriots' backing, which is why we need to tell Chelsea-san and the others what's happened as soon as possible." Lilica said. "But other than that, those names Nagi and his girlfriend mentioned with Beatrice during that conversation with have me a bit worried even more."

"They could mean trouble if we're not watchful of them, but they could be an entirely different level of enemy we've faced so far, it would be advisable not to ponder about it until things get better for Warrior soon, if you know what I mean." Nanvel said. "But even if that's the case, I'm sure they all have pretty good reasons for those people and allies being here if the Uruha and Hokage have grown that popular over the years. And we'll need all the help we can get; I don't think we'll be able to handle things the way we used to now."

"Heh, I guess you're right. I may have been worried over nothing anyway. Yeah, I'm just sure everything will work out just fine." Lilica said nervously with a laugh as she wanted to think more about what she overheard, but as Nanvel just suggested, she had much more important things to keep her mind on at the moment. (Yeah, maybe I shouldn't ponder about what Beatrice, Nagi, and Tot talked about too much, I was probably overreacting. Though if any enemy organization other than the Patriots has discovered the Underground by now, it's definitely something we can't ignore. I get the feeling we'll probably end up needing a proper explanation about what kind of people make up this GoI if we have to deal with them somewhere down the road, especially since all three of them seemed to regard it as a real threat. Still, I'm sure that Beatrice would be kind enough to explain things to us as well, she doesn't seem like a bad person to me after all…)

Just then, Oboro re-entered the room carrying a tray of traditional tea and she noticed Lilica was there keeping Nanvel company.

"Oh, I didn't know you were here too, Lilica-san. Good morning to you." Oboro said as she placed the tray down, offering the two Warrior geniuses some. "Please, help yourselves, as it will surely relax you both."

"Thanks, Oboro-san, I really need this." Nanvel said, taking a cup while Lilica took one and filled it herself to try it out as the two women took their time and sipped the warm tea, only to have them sighing heavily to the taste after they had their fill.

"Ah, how refreshing." Lilica said, with a hint of surprise in her voice. "I feel a little more refreshed than I was earlier since I'd been working by myself from this morning."

"Same here, I think I can hold out some more through the research if I got this to help me relax." Nanvel said as Oboro nodded.

"I knew you two must be under a great deal of stress after everything that has happened, so if this can relieve some of it a little, I'm glad I could have helped this way." Oboro smiled as Lilica nodded.

"Well, it's doing just that, Oboro-san." Lilica said as she looked at the woman more closely. "But even so, we owe you big time for pitching in to help our Greg and the rest of us yesterday, I think just sitting around just looking at statistics over what's happened like this isn't going to be enough to repay you guys."

"Please, don't push yourselves more than you have to, everyone here has a part to play in the Uruha mansion just like you are." Oboro said. "We're still in the midst of gathering our allies and information to prepare ourselves for what may come next, but it's the most we can do for my dear medical student's friend and family."

"I hear you, I just hope what happened yesterday won't lead to something we couldn't control later…" Lilica said in a near doubtful voice as before any of the other two women could say something to lift her spirits, the intercom for the room blinked on Nanvel's desk as she pressed the video button to see who it was, as one of the maids of the mansion was standing at the entrance to the room as if she had an announcement for her.

"Nanvel-sama, sorry for the interruption, but an urgent matter regarding Lilica-sama's attention has arisen." The maid said as Lilica turned to the screen.

"Me? What happened?" Lilica asked simply.

"It appears your two friends who were rescued alongside you are now awake and are asking for your presence." The maid said as Lilica stood up.

"I guess this means Seraph and Yuina are finally awake and waiting for answers, huh?" she said to herself as Nanvel nodded to her. "Fine, I'll be right over."

"Go to them, you've been with her through that whole mess with Mantis." Nanvel said to her friend. "I'll be fine over here, now that Oboro-san's back."

"Yes, please do so, Lilica-san. We'll be sure to notify you and everyone else if anything comes up." Oboro said as Lilica nodded to the two as she then made her way to Yuina's temporary room with her cup of herbal tea while Oboro came to Nanvel's side to drop off the tea cups and kettle to continue on with their work.

* * *

Elsewhere in the country, in a secluded location in a mountainous region, inside a darkened room of what seemed to be a nearly abandoned estate house…

(What the hell could that old man Kurando and that Iga scum be planning this time?) Shade thought to himself as he sat in an armchair. (They've come up with some rather unique ideas in the past when it came to acquiring more power and status…but this time…how far are they going to take things?)

The immortal ninja was busy reminiscing about what had transpired the evening after being exposed by Reese for testing Greg Kinezono's abilities and letting him live at the end. Shortly after leaving the mission site, he was accompanied by Tenzen Yakushiji to a secluded location where he would meet another immortal and even more powerful ninja who was twice his current age, who he knew personally by the name of Kurando, but was commonly known as Darkness.

Despite not having wanting to do anything with the former Iga clan ninja whom he despised greatly, Shade went anyway as it was a chance abate the growing anger he was feeling over the past few days' events, especially if Kurando had anything of interest for him. Tenzen had a similar reason for tolerating Shade's presence as he was curious as to why Shade was needed for Kurando's business for starters, but paid mind to keep it hidden until he could somehow acquire more power for himself to overcome both Shade and Darkness. Tenzen had grown tired of being a servant for Darkness for all these years, although he stayed by him to gain more knowledge of the ninja and dark magic arts, despite knowing full well that Darkness had kept most of the more powerful skills to himself and would not share it with him.

When Shade got to the location, he kept silent as he was shown inside an abandoned building where there were a couple parked SUV's and several dead men wearing colored uniforms, yet were holding various weapons.

"I hope your reason for summoning me here is worth my time today, Kurando, because I'm still not in the best of moods right now." Shade's voice rang out as he stopped his movements to examine what had taken place.

"Now, now, there's no need to be angry just because you were left out of the fun." A chilling dark voice said as a tall male who looked to be in his twenties appeared from one of the sides of the SUV's, arranging his clothing as he approached Shade with a smile. "It's never too late to join in, Shade. I made sure aside from all the male flunkies here, I made sure not to ravage the female agent accompanying them…too much."

"I'd like to know what is it these people did to make you target them, if it's worth my time." Shade demanded as Tenzen called out to him from behind.

"Hmph, watch your tone around Kurando-sama and never question his purposes either." Tenzen scowled. "A simpleton such as you will never grasp his genius, especially since he's doing it to acquire a very special item."

"Really?" Shade simply replied, while maintaining his cool as he wasn't going to let Tenzen rattle him that easy. "And what may that be, I must ask, that is so special that you went through all the trouble?"

"Would you believe that I've finally gotten information that can help us retrieve the lost Émigré Manuscript?" Kurando asked with a grin, making Shade react to him in surprise.

"Did you just say…the Émigré Manuscript?" Shade exclaimed as he was very familiar with the forbidden book, which was said to bring the dead back to life. "After all this time, you've finally found it?"

"Well, yes and no. It is still quite out of our reach for now, but it shouldn't be too hard to acquire it since after all the years it existed, it migrated from place to place around the world by devout followers of religion to keep it from falling into hands such as ours. All we need to do is find its current possessors." Kurando replied calmly. "Damn that old fool, Roger Bacon…I should have ended his pitiful existence when I had the chance and that Manuscript could already have been in my hands decades ago after the last user, Graham Garland, was known to have possession of it…"

"So, what do these unfortunate people have in common with the Émigré Manuscript?" Shade asked as Kurando noted to him, pulling up a torn pocket tag that had the name, WAREZ, marked on it. "What's a company like that doing involved in the arts?"

"Its part of an assignment I've been looking into by my recent employer, apparently they are going to be part in sponsoring the upcoming King of Fighters tournament." Kurando said. "From what I've gathered, they've been busy with experiments that involved cloning Orochi's power by creating one of their own."

"And they need the Manuscript for that?" Shade asked as Kurando replied.

"Possibly, those people at WAREZ have been moving strangely for the longest while now. So much so that I can't make an exact idea of their actions, but I've been hearing things regarding resurrecting the dead for their experiments…" Kurando said as he simply waved it off. "But alas, these bodies didn't have any reliable information which could have helped, so I made sure to dispose of them before they could go back and report to their superiors that they're being investigated."

"However, there's still no time to waste." Tenzen said. "The Manuscript is one part of the problem at hand, we also have a meddlesome flea who dares to get Orochi unsealed for himself and he already possesses two of the Sacred Treasures from the last tournament."

"You must be referring to Ash Crimson, I presume?" Shade asked. "How about I go and deal with him myself for good since I too see him as a bother for gaining Orochi's full power, hmm?"

"And that is why you're such a simpleton." Tenzen said simply, causing Shade to watch him from the side. "In case you haven't noticed, if any of us happen to kill anybody from the KOF, there's bound to be problems if we were to go after the power ourselves."

"Well, the only exception was the older Bogard's brother a few years ago, from what I've heard you saw to that when he challenged you on Chisakura Island, or so I've been told." Kurando said. "I hope you don't mind, but I took a little look into it once I heard what happened. While I couldn't locate the body I took some steps on your behalf, Shade, so no one should be able to firmly pin his supposed disappearance on you."

"Hmph, that is no longer of my concern, he was a stubborn fool whose endless training routines proved to be fruitless when he challenged me, especially if he was so weak to have died of those wounds. That fool would have spared himself a good deal of humiliation along with his own life if he had only realized that he was out of his league." Shade replied simply.

"It really is so like you and your kind to bully the weak for your pleasure, Koga trash." Tenzen spoke in a mocking tone from the side as Shade took no notice of his comment and wanted to get back on the topic he was holding with Darkness before.

"In any case, what you're basically saying we need is to build a small force that is willing do our work in dealing with the interlopers who are seeking Orochi's power, is that it?" Shade asked.

"That's the plan, aside from seeing how capable they will be with the pitiful fighters in this era's time, I can assume we'll be in for some entertaining times ahead." Kurando said as he eyed Tenzen. "Besides, I'm certain you'd rejoice in meeting and regrouping your forces as, from what I recall you telling me of them, each of these warriors possessed some rather unique jutsu and ninja skills, Tenzen."

"Yes, it would be a delight to fight alongside them once more, each of the fallen Iga ninja who fought to the death with honor in the past, will gladly be able to serve our purpose in this time." Tenzen replied as Shade stayed quiet.

"The Émigré Manuscript, the rebirth of your fallen ninja brethren, Orochi's full power finally in our grasps…once everything has come together, we'll be unstoppable against anyone who opposes us once and for all." Kurando said as Shade lowered his gaze. "This is the grand moment you've been waiting for, hasn't it?"

"Yes, quite some grand things to be looking forward to indeed, seeing what needs to be done now." Shade said, adjusting his clothing, indicating he was ready to leave." I'll be sure to make the preparations in case you'll need my assistance, just to be on the safe side. I won't tolerate any more interferences or mistakes now we have this chance in a lifetime."

"Why not stay and take out some of your frustration on the woman in the back? Even after our bit of fun, she can still be mildly amusing to your tastes if only for a while." Tenzen said as Shade simply turned around.

"Hmph, another time, perhaps, I don't need to be sharing things with you of all people anyway. I just remembered I have other business to attend to and I don't want to be any later than I have to due to certain circumstances." Shade said as Tenzen scoffed at him.

"Fine then, it's your loss for missing out on all the fun we're still having here." Tenzen grinned slyly at him. "Just remember about what you were just informed, we're expecting results from your own end quite soon once we can recover those artifacts."

"Oh, don't you worry, I won't forget the deal." Shade replied to Tenzen, as he didn't want to stay around his ally in name only anymore than he had to, especially if it meant sharing the same woman both Kurando and Tenzen had ravaged repeatedly before his arrival.

"And also, Shade..." Kurando's voice called out to him as Shade stopped in his tracks. "Don't you worry yourself about those who meddled with your recent mission earlier, hearing about that ninja's new accomplices have picked my interests. I certainly would be checking things out on them soon enough."

"You'd better be careful for what you wish for, old man. They could even be conspiring with Reese for all I care. But you're free to do whatever you want until new orders come in." Shade said. "Just don't go do anything that can ruin my planned payback for them."

"You have my word; I'll simply just keep an eye on them." Kurando said before pausing as if he remembered something and called back to him. "Oh, yes one last thing…" The ancient ninja then reached into his pocket and took out a folded piece of paper, which he tossed in Shade's direction.

"What's this?" Shade asked as he caught the paper, barely turning to Darkness.

"A list of the names of the ones that will make up your team should you agree to work with us." Darkness answered, and Shade could detect a faint amusement in his voice as he continued. "I'm certain that the names on the list should be quite familiar to you."

Shade's eyes narrowed in suspicion at Darkness' words, but he wasn't in the mood to spend any time trying to wring any answers out of further conversation with the man.

"Whatever, you'll get my answer soon enough, until then enjoy yourselves." Shade said simply before taking his leave.

After Shade had left, Tenzen looked over at Darkness "Well, do you suppose he'll take up your offer?" The former Iga ninja's expression then turned into a scowl as he glanced in the direction Shade had gone. "Though I must ask, is his cooperation really necessary?"

"We'll need his powers in the upcoming ceremony to bring back the fallen Iga and Koga ninja, so yes. In regards to your first question though, I think that last bit with the note I gave him should take care of that since a little convincing to push him by just telling him won't do the trick. It will be his curiosity and unwillingness to let go of the past that will win him over." Kurando said. "If all goes according to plan, our involvement shall be in the sidelines while any ally who will help us gain Orochi's power can be of use. At least until the right moment arrives…"

"While this is unlikely, humor me a little and tell me what to do about Shade in the off chance that he pulls something on us and take the Orochi's power for himself." Tenzen said as Kurando replied to his curiosity.

"As long as he sticks to his objectives, I should see no problems. Besides, I've known him for far too long, he won't turn against us when he's after the same thing we're pursuing." Kurando said. "Still, if we use this chance while that FOXHOUND group is in chaos due to their superior betraying them, we can gain those artifacts easier and a bit faster with less chance of interference from the enemy. It's all about getting to those Heralds first before they can fully acquire the Orochi power before we do."

"Heh, whatever makes you happy, I suppose." Tenzen said as he then heard a sound coming from a nearby room and sinister grin came upon his face. "It would appear she's woken up. If you don't mind, sir, I think I'll give our esteemed female guest a proper morning greeting."

"Just be sure not to break her, I've barely even begun to have my fun." Darkness gave a light laugh, but the look in his eye as he regarded Tenzen showed that he would genuinely be displeased if his underling didn't follow that order.

As Shade exited the hideout he thought he heard the sound of a woman's scream echoing from the doorway when he stopped and looked at the piece of paper Darkness had given him. Eight names were listed on it and he recognized the surnames of each of those listed.

(Muroga, Kasumi, Kisaragi, Jimushi, Kazamachi, Udono…all names of families within the Koga ninja clan that had a certain special technique unique to their bloodline.) He then made a bitter smile. (So that's why the old man was so amused…the irony of my having to borrow anything of the clan I long since cast aside so as to accomplish a goal such as this truly is sickening.)

Shade then let his thoughts drift to think about the reason why he left his accomplices early.

(I hope Barasuishou would forgive me for being a little late today, I guess I just have to spend some extra time with her when I return to her to make up for the delays.) Shade thought to himself as he fixed his coat properly before disappearing into a black mist, leaving the two other immortals to continue their 'business'.

Back to the present, Shade stood up as he had contemplated enough on the past events, knowing he would be beckoned by Kurando later when the preparations were complete. Despite his earlier words, Shade realized that accepting the proposal was the best course of action as he could already find ways to use these new allies that could take care of a number of complications. Of course, that didn't mean it was all going to be easy, after these eight Koga ninjas were revived, he'd have to set everything up in advance so that they would acknowledge his leadership as a Koga ninja while ensuring that they did not find out about his no longer being of that clan, or for that matter, make contact with the present Koga clan. There was also the matter of informing them about the current state of the world and how much the country of Japan itself had changed from the early days of the Edo period and finally teaching them the current ways of warfare.

(It'll take some work, but it should be advantageous to have my 'brethren' aiding me in my pursuit, but it will all be Kurando's gain if he ever gets hold of the Orochi.) Shade thought. (He would surely see fit to get me and everyone else who has helped him out of the picture and that is one thing I plan on not letting happen if he betrays me. That means, I may need to find some more allies for myself who could aid me should that happen…)

"Father?" A young girl's voice called out to him as a small, feminine figure appeared in the doorway to his room. She was wearing a long and loose purple dress, a rose with a thorny vine was covering her right eye like an eye patch as two other roses of the same nature acted like ribbons for her long, pale white hair. "What has taken you so long?"

"My apologies, Barasuishou, I'm coming to join you now." Shade replied as his expression softened into what was almost a warm smile, something few had ever seen from this man. "So sorry to have kept you waiting once again, but today, we have the whole day to ourselves. We will spend as much time together outside as you like."

"I'm glad." Barasuishou said with a smile of her own, as Shade took her small hand and walked out of the room together with the immortal ninja who she looked up to as her father.

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the Uruha mansion yet again…

"Yuina!" Lilica suddenly ran into Seraph and Yuina's room, only to see Yuina busy, trying to pick out from the assortment of clothing that was offered to her by the clothing staff of the Uruha mansion. "Whoa, looks like somebody's having fun at the mansion's expense."

"Oh, Lilica, I'm glad to see you." Yuina looked back as she quickly hugged her friend. "I just couldn't help it, when I noticed I really didn't have anything to change into after all that's happened; these people suddenly offered me these to choose from. I couldn't refuse them after they've gone to the trouble to prepare these for me…"

"Well, at least you're being honest with your feminine side, so feel free to take whatever you feel like wearing around here." Lilica said, as she thumbed her own clothing which looked like an expensive blouse and matching miniskirt, which seemed to be a more fashionable version of the clothes she normally wears at Police Town. "These also came courtesy of the mansion and the owner has no qualms in paying for such exotic stuff and letting his guests wear them. You can say it's a policy for the allies and friends of the Hokage who are staying here to look as efficient as they should be."

"Is that so?" Yuina said as she then pointed out an outfit to wear. "Then…I'll choose this and this, please?"

"Why, of course, madam." The maid responded by handing out the outfit Yuina chose, which consisted of a single red-brown designer jacket that had large black buttons for its left side, and matching blue jeans with suede black boots. While Yuina began to change into her clothes, she continued talking with Lilica.

"Alright, Lilica, now that it seems that Seraph and I are out of danger, how about telling me about why this happened?" Yuina asked sternly as Lilica nodded her head to reply to the best of her ability, her friend's questions.

"Well, considering that you recall being held captive and done some things against your will, its no surprise you want to know what's really going on." Lilica said as she then looked at Seraph who nodded back at her. "First off, what I want to know is if you know anything about a group who call themselves the Patriots?"

"No, this is the first time I've heard about them." Yuina shook her head. "Are these people responsible for what's happened?"

"They are a group of shadow leaders who run almost everything in the world, or so we've been told. Unfortunately their methods for doing so aren't what you'd call good ones and there are those who are fighting against them. We think that organization may have done this in order to get to your father, Yuina." Lilica said simply as her eyes widened. "Sorry for not telling you this, but we found out some details from Mantis after you were rescued about your father's project and how much it involved other biodroids like Seraph here."

"It…it can't be…" Yuina muttered as she had already put on her outfit, leaving her naturally long hair as it is for the moment. "So, you're saying that my aunt died and my life was endangered all because of my father's project, is that what you're trying to say, Lilica?"

"You can say it was the most probable cause, but the one who was truly responsible for causing all of that was also trying to get his hands on someone dear to me and my friends. He was the one who ordered anybody that interfered with your capture to be killed." Lilica said. "That person was working as one of the commanding officers in one of the groups who are against the Patriots, but later turned out to be one of their spies."

"I see, so this whole incident is connected to you guys as well." Yuina said as Lilica nodded. "Wait, you guys mentioned Mantis told you about my father's project, how is he?"

Both Seraph and Lilica looked at each other as Lilica sighed first and spoke.

"Mantis…was killed, despite the efforts to finally bring him out of the Patriots' grasp." Lilica said as Yuina's eyes cast downward. "We think that either the Patriots didn't need him alive any longer after the turn of events, or more likely, to prevent the spread of the information he must have had and was willing to share with us."

"All of this happened…just because I…" Yuina muttered as Seraph quickly warned her.

"Yuina, all of what happened isn't your fault; you shouldn't be quick to blame yourself just yet." Seraph said sternly.

"But, Seraph…the people who rescued us, even those who aren't related to this whole thing…they must despise me for getting them caught up in this and causing them this amount of trouble, all because of my father." Yuina said as Lilica approached her friend.

"Yuina, no one here has anything against you since you're the whole point of why my friends went through such trouble to rescue us to begin with." Lilica said. "Your father's project and how much it involved those who got into the mix had nothing to do with you."

"What do you mean?" Yuina asked.

"Everyone who came to our rescue did so on their accord; they weren't intimidated or forced to do it. Counting not just Greg, Rio, and Maya who stepped up for personal reasons aside from seeing us safe on a promise he made with Seraph, there were his friends from FOXHOUND who also wanted to help Greg out in seeing the mission through safely." Lilica said. "And from what I can tell up to this morning, it seemed that none of them had any complaints about it, as a matter of fact, we were wondering on how we should be taking care of you guys from now on."

"Lilica…" Yuina said with quivering eyes as she reached out to Lilica and started to cry, as she was trying to act tough the entire time. "I…I just couldn't help but keep blaming myself ever since auntie…!"

"It's okay, Yuina, I know it must have been hard on you all this time." Lilica said, placing her hand on her friend's head. "Take all the time you need to let it out, okay?"

Yuina's response was only a small, muffled wail as she buried her face into Lilica's chest, sobbing quietly as Seraph looked on with a somewhat unsettled look. She was still in the mental battle of how she can now deal with the hardships Yuina must face from now on, while at the same time, how she should confront an old enemy from her past.

After a few moments have passed, Yuina started to quiet down as Lilica noticed all that her friend needed was a shoulder to cry on. Yuina then lifted herself up and wiped her teary eyes before Lilica spoke.

"There, feeling better now?" Lilica asked as Yuina nodded slowly.

"A little, it's going to be awhile until I can get adjusted to all of this…" Yuina said as Seraph came over to place her hands on her shoulders.

"There's no need for you to rush things, Yuina. As hard as it is on you, it is best to take things one step at a time." Seraph said. "So, what are you going to do now as things stand as it is?"

"Lilica, would it be alright that we at least see the person who rescued us?" Yuina asked, surprising Lilica a bit as the hacker replied.

"Sure thing, even though he's asleep, I think Greg wouldn't mind a couple of visitors." Lilica said getting up. "You two, follow me."

As she made her way out of the room, she then remembered she brought along some of the extra tea Oboro made and offered the two of them it, since she thought it would relax them a great deal. While both Yuina and Seraph approved of the tea to their tastes, the trio then stopped in front of the room where Greg was recovering as Lilica opened the door for them to enter.

"Yuina, you may not clearly remember him since he rescued you, but that's the guy who personally lead the operation into rescuing you." Lilica said as Yuina looked on from the side, gasping quietly.

"I do remember him and what he did for me and Seraph, Lilica. And for that we're really grateful, but he is going to be okay, isn't he?" Yuina asked nervously as Lilica looked to the side with a near downcast look until she lifted her face as she faced the two females who seemed concerned about the person who was went through a lot just to rescue them.

"Well, things may look complicated now, but Greggie's as tough as they come." Lilica said. "If he managed to survive up to this point after all that's happened, all due to his experience while in FOXHOUND and among other things, that's already a good sign he won't go down without a fight, even something like this won't be much of a problem to him."

"But, Lilica-san…about all you mentioned before when he…" Seraph spoke as Yuina shook her head as she can see this was getting hard to continue discussing with Lilica for the moment. "I'm sorry, even though everyone says that his condition seems satisfactory for now and that help is on the way for this matter, I'm certain you're still having doubts about the outcome."

"It's okay, Seraph, its natural that everyone's like this. We're hopeful, but scared and worried at the same time about him." Lilica said. "This is the first time in the longest while something this serious had us worried about him. I'm sure everyone else in WARRIOR would tell you that, hell, I'm guessing even though she won't show it, Rio right now must still be in a mental mess over worrying about Greg more than ever now that things have come to this."

"If only there was something we could do to help…" Yuina said as Lilica shook her head.

"We could appreciate that, Yuina, but remember you two are just as important in this whole affair as he is right now. We need to make sure that you pull through this mess by the time we're working on Greg's condition, so you are everyone's priority at the moment." Lilica said. "In saying so, you and Seraph just need to relax and take things easy since you've been through quite a lot, until the ninja clan's heads and their allies gather everyone here."

"I take it that we may need to answer some of their questions again soon, assuming they may want to know more of Yuina's involvement in this?" Seraph asked as Lilica nodded as the trio exited the room quietly and began to walk in the mansion's corridor.

"I'm afraid so, but I think they won't be directly pressing you two for answers so soon. They're nice enough people who would accommodate your needs until you're comfortable and ready to share your explanations with us, whatever they may be." Lilica said.

"Then, we shall take your advice and do just that, Lilica-san." Seraph said as Yuina seemed to give out an opposing opinion.

"Wait, Seraph, is that even wise?" Yuina asked suddenly. "They may be offering shelter and protection from the enemy, but what about at home? What if…auntie…"

"I know you're worried about the state of your home after what has happened, but at this point, it's too dangerous to consider venturing outside where the enemy could locate our movements, and especially, the location of this base that's housing the very people who rescued and are protecting us." Seraph said, causing Yuina to stare at her blankly. "I'm sorry, Yuina. I too wish to at least know of the situation, but as Lilica and the people living here stated, your house could be under the Patriots watch as we speak."

"No way…" Yuina muttered softly as before Lilica can say something to console her, Recca, Kurei, and Kagero along with Yanagi, Neon and Gennosuke Koga entered the passageway where they meet the trio of women.

"I see another one of our special guests have finally awoken." Recca said in a calm and welcoming voice. "You're the young lady that was part of the objective of our son and his associate's rescue, huh?"

"Welcome to the Uruha mansion, Yuina Hattori-san." Kurei introduced himself. "I'm the owner of this establishment, Kurei Mori, and the man who just greeted you is my brother, Recca Hanabishi. I do hope you've made yourself at home during this turbulent time we're all under."

"Um, no, it's not a problem; so far, I like it here, though it's going to take a little getting used to." Yuina said as she bowed to the group of ninja heads as she turned to Recca. "You just said that your son also helped in rescuing me yesterday too?"

"That's right, though he and his close friends who work with him aren't here at the moment to tell you exactly what you need to know, so I guess that's going to be our job." Recca said.

"Seraph and Lilica filled me on some details a while ago, about these people called the Patriots." Yuina said as her eyes shifted. "About how likely my father's project may have been the reason I was kidnapped…"

"Well, we can't be too sure if that was the main case, but we've been looking into that since similar occurrences have happened in the past with other secret projects as well." Recca said. "But for now, anything that comes to your mind that could bring light to the situation could help us, Yuina Hattori."

"Of course, we're not pressuring you if it's too hard on you, it will be alright with us for you to just take it easy since we all know how…" Yanagi said as Yuina shook her head.

"No, it's not necessary; I want to do what I can to start helping those who risked their lives to help me and Seraph." Yuina said with clenched fists. "I don't want my friendship with Seraph to be the cause of your friend's pain anymore."

"Yuina…" Seraph said as Lilica approached her.

"Are you sure you want to do this, considering the situation?" Lilica asked as Yuina looked at her firmly.

"I already made my mind up, Lilica. I just can't stand the thought of knowing your friends almost got themselves killed just on the account of me, Seraph, and how we're connected to his project, when my auntie already had suffered the price." Yuina said. "Although I may not be useful as a combat skilled person, at least let me do something to help fix the problem. It's the most I can do to make up for the trouble."

"Well, we certainly didn't expect this to happen, but if you're that willing to take a step forward in facing this ordeal, I don't think anyone here is going to stop you, seeing you're already mindset about this." Lilica said. "Just don't push yourself while doing so, Yuina, you still need to relax despite all what has happened."

"I know, I won't push myself, Lilica." Yuina said as Seraph smiled to herself.

(It seems that she's not going to let the fact that she was the victim get the best of her from now on, I hope she can somehow keep the spirit up. Somehow, I underestimated that strong will she sometimes can show once the right signs show themselves.) Seraph thought to herself. (I have to be able to do the same and stick with her until she can fully overcome this ordeal.)

"However, I want to make it clear too that Seraph and I will need to know more about what the Patriots are capable of and how many people they must have hurt. If my father's going to be in danger because of them, I need to be strong enough to protect him when I see him again." Yuina said. "So please, allow me to help in any way."

"We can assure you, Yuina, that you and Seraph will be among the first to know just how the Patriots operate, but we'll also guarantee that you'll be treated as a special guest of our clan. While the information gathering will take time, please think of the mansion as home and get along with everyone." Kurei said. "I'm sure my son and his friends will also be of assistance to you when they return."

Yuina gave a simple nod as Lilica then took her arm.

"Okay then, Yuina, for the time being, how about I take you and Seraph around the mansion for a tour?" Lilica asked as Yuina complied with a smile as she walked off with Seraph following her while Gennosuke looked on.

"Are you sure it is wise for her to make that decision, considering she's somewhat the victim here, Kurei-dono?" Gennosuke asked as Kurei spoke.

"Well, maybe its part of the guilt on her conscience that's made her decide like this, as much as I like to argue the point, she's still a child." Kurei said. "This must probably be her way of expressing her determination to fix the problem."

"Even so, the girl needs the support through the matter, and we already promised we can tell her what we know about the Patriots, but will it be enough?" Kagero asked.

"Its rather soon to tell, lets wait until Riku and his friends get back to talk to them about and find out if they can do something to help ease the matter Yuina's going through." Recca said as the others nodded and returned to their original destination within the mansion.

* * *

(Author's note: If anyone out there hasn't read the Burn up eXcess manga one shot, you should check it out right away for reference sake as part of the flashback from here on out takes place shortly after the conclusion of the 'Band of Glistening Light' chapter. You can look in places such as stoptazmo or mangafox dot com to read or download it.)

Meanwhile, somewhere else in Tokyo-2…

A small alarm buzzer rang inside a dimly lit room as a young girl steadily woke up from under her wide covers, wearing simple, light blue pajamas. Fully awake now, she reached for the clock to turn off the alarm button, as metallic joints clanked together on her prosthetic right hand, covering the areas of where her natural hand should be.

"Ah, it's morning already…" The young girl said in a soft voice while yawning as she got up from the bed to go over to draw the curtains. With the over sized pajamas she was wearing, it was clear that both her hands were not just prosthetic , but also her feet as well as it made small, clanking sounds, which were being silenced a bit as her gentle steps were cushioned by the long sleeves of the pajamas. Taking hold of the curtains and spreading them, the young girl spread her arms and basked in the bright sunlight as she let out a big smile.

"Looks like today's going to be another bright day, I hope everyone at school will show up again today." The girl said as she heard a woman's voice call out to her.

"Yukari, are you up already?" The woman asked as the girl named Yukari Imada let out a cheerful 'hai'. "If you don't hurry up, you're going to be late for school."

"I know, I know, Mom." Yukari replied as she got to preparing herself for school, one of the things she looked forward to at the start of a new day. Her school blazer was already close by and ready, but the young girl had to get herself ready and washed up first.

Wasting no time, Yukari went across to her dressing table to get herself out of her pajamas, but quickly stop to adjust a picture frame that had a treasured picture of herself and another person she seemed close to, locked in a hug facing the camera.

(Hmm, it's been awhile since I've heard from Greg-niichan, didn't he say he would call me once he's back in Japan?) Yukari thought to herself, remembering the day she first met him, Linn Aramaki and Seishiro Takeda and he got involved with her life…

* * *

The date was July 7th, 2012, some time after Greg had officially joined FOXHOUND as its new psychic. From the time he was recruited, he had been working as a two man unit for various missions with Linn Aramaki, but now most of the time, they work together as frequently as possible after how much mission success progress had occurred when the two worked together on a somewhat difficult mission.

At this time, their relationship had gone from simply working comrades to simple dating, though nothing serious had started between the two. Even Rio, who somehow expected Greg to end up with Linn, was quick to approve of their relationship as she and Linn somehow became close friends.

Due to the amount of work involved in both WARRIOR and FOXHOUND parties, the groups hardly got to meet during the space of time in that year, however it was when news reports of Police Town's near destruction caused by IEM's forces when it attacked the building for reasons unknown, Greg just had to investigate once he had free time from his FOXHOUND schedule.

At first kept a secret by Seishiro, who didn't know any details himself at the time, the two persuaded Rio to let them in on what happened since WARRIOR's investigation into IEM was secret at the time. After the matter was resolved and the higher ups at FOXHOUND had allowed them some free time, Greg, Seishiro, and Linn went over to Rio upon request to a location they'd never been to before, a hotel building that housed a spacious suite in Tokyo 2.

The three FOXHOUND recruits, all dressed casually for the occasion, made their way to the inside of the suite which seemed to be handled by one person who can accommodate such luxury.

"Alright, Rio, we came here as you requested." Greg said, taking off a pair of tinted shades and placing them on his shirt collar. "You'd better have a good enough reason for contacting us now after all that mess at Police Town took place almost a month ago."

"Oh, my, you were paying attention to that?" Rio asked nervously as her surrogate son sighed while he folded his arms.

"Rio-sensei, if the top half of Police Town was almost destroyed to the point that it almost toppled off its main structure after several large explosions around the point of its origin, of course that would make news, especially to us knowing you would be inside that building along with Yuji and Maya at the time." Greg said as Seishiro approached from behind and placed his hand on Greg's shoulder.

"Now, now, Greg, there's no need to exaggerate about it so much." Seishiro assured him. "Besides, the whole matter has been dealt with already, so there's no need for you to be concerned like this."

"I know that, Seishiro-san. Still, Rio-sensei owes an explanation for all that happening and then saying that either of us shouldn't get involved until now in the case they were in." Greg replied calmly, having cooled down a little.

"Yeah, it's not like you or the rest of Warrior to take on such cases like this without our assistance." Linn spoke now. "Unless the case you're worked on was that highly confidential…"

"Alright, it's no use hiding it from you three any longer." Rio put up her arms and stood up. "I'm sure since you're so insistent to finding out why I've keep things out of the dark were because of the case we were working on as Linn implied, that I should start letting you in on what really happened."

"Okay then, what kind of case was it that you had to keep things on such a confidential level?" Greg asked as Rio started to answer his question.

"For your information, it was a bodyguard mission." Rio replied in a serious tone. "We were assigned to watch over a young girl who we rescued from a weapons lab where she was being used as a guinea pig for their experiments of developing a new weapon for war."

"Wait, what did you just say, Rio?" Linn asked, stunned to hear this, as Greg and Seishiro flinched. "A young girl was being used as a test subject?"

"You heard right, though I'm sure it's common to you guys by now. I've heard you've dealt with organizations that run illegal testing on humans and the like before since you joined the FOXHOUND group." Rio said as Greg spoke up.

"Yeah, but its not like WARRIOR to undertake quite a mission to begin with, unless the weapon in question was going to pose some threat to national security if some terrorists got their hands on it." Greg said as Rio shook her head.

"Actually…it did get a lot bigger than that once we found out just how special the girl alone is. Well, you'll know when you meet her soon." Rio said as Greg noted the change in her tone while Maya and Yuji entered the room now.

"Oh, good, it looks like everyone's here already." Yuji said as he saw Greg, Seishiro and Linn. "Yukari's been a bit stiff meeting new people besides us, but she says she's willing enough since we told her she can trust us."

"At least her mother's encouraging her enough, so it's not like she wouldn't want to meet them." Maya said as Seishiro looked on behind them to see a pair of people walking with Lilica to meet them in the living room area.

One of them was a tall woman with short and light blonde, wavy, shoulder length hair, wearing a pair of rounded spectacles and a slim, casual office uniform, noting she must have a high position at a company of sorts. The other was a younger girl who was standing at the older woman's waist height, noting her appearance was that of a pre-teenager. Her hair was different compared to the woman she was standing next to, as hers was a deep black coloured and straight, flowing hair that ended past her neck line, while wearing a white, long sleeved t-shirt and a pair of stylish jeans.

"Greg, Linn, Seishiro-san, meet Haruko Imada, and her daughter, Yukari." Rio introduced the two as Greg stepped forward to introduce himself and greet the girl.

"Yukari, wasn't it?" Greg smiled as he held out his artificial right hand to the young girl. "What a cute name for an even cuter lady such as yourself. The name's Gregory Kinezono, nice to meet you."

"Ah…the pleasure's…all mine, Greg-niisan…" Yukari muttered as Rio placed her hands on her shoulders.

"It's okay, Yukari…you can shake his hand." Rio said as Haruko nodded to her daughter who shyly lifted her arm to reveal her metallic right hand that extended all the way to her elbows, causing Greg, Linn and Seishiro to gasp silently.

(What the…?) Greg thought to himself as he saw the small metallic hand in front of him as he gave it a firm grip. (New age metallic prosthetics? I haven't seen these in awhile except for…what's going on here? Why would this girl be wearing these?)

(And it's not only that, it seems both her arms and legs are prosthetics too. Didn't you notice how different she was walking compared to kids her age?) Linn said to him through her own mental link towards him. (Did something tragic happen to Yukari to make her like this?)

(I guess we're about to find out about that shortly.) Seishiro replied through his own as well as Greg stood up to look at Rio while Linn and Seishiro took their turns in greeting Yukari as well.

"Well then, how about having everyone make themselves at home, so we can get to know each other better and that Yukari's more curious in finding out more about the guys from FOXHOUND." Rio said simply as Greg came closer to her to speak.

"Sensei, this little visit isn't going to be just telling us what really happened at Police Town anymore, I can tell already." Greg said seriously. "I hope there's some logical explanation as to what happened to that young girl."

"Okay, so I omitted telling you about Yukari's condition, sorry you had to see that without warning." Rio said, as Greg placed a hand on her shoulder.

"No need to apologize, just from looking at you, I can tell it must have been hard on you too." Greg said simply as he walked past her. "Look, I'll do my best to behave and listen to their story, okay? You won't get any attitude from me when you know I have a soft spot for kids who already refer to me as an 'onii-san.'"

"Greggie…" Rio said solemnly as she nodded. "Okay, then, let's go have a seat and formally introduce ourselves."

A moment later after everyone's settled, Linn and Seishiro were introduced to Haruko and Yukari, before they got to explaining about the details of the creation of the MD or 'Merciful Doom', a forbidden weapon created by the IEM's weapon branch. Yukari was initially a target for both her father and IEM due to the power she possessed as an experimental guinea pig, making her able to become a vessel for the weapon that can be controlled by psychokinetic energy. Along with the battle data that showed her as an exceptionally powerful combat tool, she was the reason why Police Town suffered heavy damage when the American branch of IEM was sent to capture her.

However, it was her own father, Toshiaki Imada, who personally was the one who came to Yukari among the chaos, and having still an attachment to him at the time, Yukari went alongside with him, not knowing of the cruel fate that awaited her…

"I see, so your own father…" Seishiro said as Yukari nodded as if she got the idea of what he was going to say next. So far, Greg, Linn and Seishiro had learned the truth of IEM's illegal activities, but of all the things they'd heard of human experimentation since they became FOXHOUND, Yukari's case took the cake. Somehow, the three were feeling resentment towards Toshiaki after hearing of the cruel things he did not only to his daughter, but to another of his IEM employees, the brutal rape and murder of the chief inspector for IEM, Cary Mare.

However, as Greg promised not to give any attitude around Haruko and Yukari, Linn and Seishiro did the same and held back their feelings as they'd gotten past the subject as Haruko wanted to know more of Linn and Seishiro, by asking the two about their occupations.

"Rio-san has told me about the line of work you three do, I'm interested about how different it is compared to her job." Haruko said as Seishiro answered.

"Nothing's different between the roles we take, although FOXHOUND has a more active, 'preventer' role in the defense business, if you want to describe it that way the best." Seishiro said as Greg took friendly glances at Yukari, giving her brief smiles and waves whenever she glanced at him.

"Preventer'?" Yukari asked. "What was it that you prevent?"

"It's our job to prevent certain bad things from happening." Greg said, raising his right hand up as to Haruko and Yukari's surprise, three of the round glass ornaments that were used as decorations began to lift themselves up and circle around his open palm. "Say for example, something or someone of precious or secret value that can be used for either good or evil is to fall into the enemy's hands…"

Greg then used his power to make the round ornaments float away from each other, before one of them started to lose its height and dropped, but was caught by his free left hand as he continued drawing his example.

"In this case, the enemy has the item in its possession, and it's up to us to make sure that no bad things happen to it by recapturing it." Greg said, throwing the ornament upwards and kept it afloat this time as it rejoined the other two floating glass pieces. "Of course, like Seishiro-san said, it's our mission to keep it safe to begin with, but our jobs also include repossession and security of a defenseless state, item, or individual."

Then placing the ornaments back where they belong, Linn crossed her legs and spoke. "In short, we're the type who has to take the job seriously, for our client's sake, be it private armies, business conglomerates, or even families…we'd stick to the job and see it to the end."

"Waaahhh…" Yukari said as she looked on at Greg, Linn and Seishiro. "That…was so…cool! You three are so cool!"

"Even cooler than Rio-sensei?" Greg asked, causing Rio to lunge at him, roughing his head up.

"Don't you get too full yourself, for somebody who always gets kicked around by Garland 'Bloody Hands' Durev." Rio said as Greg used some of his CQC skills to quickly get himself out of Rio's hold.

"Oh, rub it in, why don't you?" Greg muttered as he felt his cell phone ring, causing Linn to stare at him.

"Hey, didn't you turn that off when you know we'll be busy today?" Linn asked as Greg shrugged his arms.

"As much as I liked to have today be interruption free, don't forget I'm still working like two different jobs. It could be Geese-sensei or the guys from FOXHOUND calling, so I can't just ignore it." Greg said. "Forceful work habits are hard to break, you know."

"Ah, go ahead then. It's not like you're missing any fun here." Linn said as she excused him, while Yukari stepped up to Greg.

"You're going to be back soon, right?" Yukari asked. "I'd like to see you do more of those tricks from earlier."

"It'd be an honor, especially if it can bring a warm smile from that delightful face of yours out, ojou-san." Greg bowed, showing a bit of his charismatic side to Yukari, who blushed lightly to him.

"Okay, I'll wait." Yukari said as Greg took a walk to the outside of the veranda, where Haruko noticed how her daughter was being open and pondered to herself.

A few minutes later, after it seemed that Greg was busy talking on his cell phone, the recruit sighed as he placed it back. Before he made his way back inside, he heard a voice call to him.

"Excuse me, Gregory-san?" A familiar woman's voice that Greg can recognize called to him as he turned and saw Haruko Imada approach him with a tray holding drinks. "I was looking for you and I heard from Rio that you were out here. I was wondering if you wanted anything to your liking, you are one of our guests after all."

"I'm just fine, if that's what you're asking, Haruko-san. I do appreciate your concern, though, so thanks." Greg said as he nodded when he took a glass of the drinks on the tray. "I just had to take a very important call regarding work with some good friends from FOXHOUND we're supposed to be having in a couple of days once our leave is finished."

"I see, that's very good that you seem to be taking your work seriously." Haruko said as she rested the tray down on a coffee table close by and walked close to the veranda where Greg was standing, looking over the city from their rooftop while her hair flew gently from the breeze. "You seem to be quite a responsible person."

"I wouldn't get your hopes about me if I was you, I'm still ways off from the term you just described, but I'm working on it." Greg said sheepishly as he noted the look on her face. "But don't mind me asking this, just why have you come here if it's not just to offer me a drink, Haruko Imada-san?"

"It seems that Rio was right when she said she made a sharp disciple out of you, you perceived my being out here was not just to keep you company." Haruko smiled as she saw through Greg's act. "Actually, I personally wanted to talk to you about something as well as ask you a favor, both of which are in regards to Yukari. Well, that is if you're willing to listen to me."

"I had a hunch you'd mentioned her name if the topic of this conversation is about her, but I never would guess I'll be also involved from what you're saying." Greg simply said, a bit surprised as Haruko was facing him directly now with a stern look though his reaction didn't show and he managed his composure in front of her. "Well, fire away, Haruko-san. What is it you wanted to ask of me?"

The older woman held her breath first before speaking once more to the psychic.

"Gregory-san, I've never seen Yukari act the way she did when she met you for the first time ever since before… the experiments that her father performed on her." Haruko stopped midway, leaving Greg to guess what she was going to say next, even though he knew well what was on her mind without even having to use his power. "Even though she's managing through the rehabilitation, it's still hard on her, and as her mother, I can tell that she's still fighting her emotions over everything that's happened."

"Yes, I know where you're coming from. I also had to deal with such things not just as somebody who lost a limb, but as a soldier as well." Greg said seriously. "I've also seen a number of children and other victims attempt to recover from something as ghastly as what Yukari's gone through and most of their situations were hopeless, despite the technology and advanced medical science in this day and age. Then there's the psychological damage to consider as well…"

Haruko soon began to cry a little as she heard that, knowing Greg was spot on about her mental condition after all that has happened.

"I just…I just want my child to live happily once more, you understand?" Haruko asked. "Even though she said she wants to try her hardest and cut whatever remaining ties to her father, it's just going to be hard on her from now on…"

"Yukari-chan…must have been quite lonely for a long time, huh?" Greg asked as he held Haruko, making her stare at him quietly. "I can tell, her father's negligence also contributed to her being isolated from the things she was supposed to enjoy as a normal girl growing up."

"I see you've experienced the same things as well." Haruko said as Greg nodded.

"True, but that doesn't mean that it's hopeless, is it?" Greg asked. "You said so yourself, and from what I've seen, she's managing pretty well so far. However, I reckon you're asking me this for some insurance, is that it?"

"Please, if it's not too much trouble, she's already taken a liking to strangers that are nice to her and when she met you earlier…" Haruko said as Greg grinned slightly.

"Well, I guess this means I've got to take up a new role as a big brother soon." Greg said, as he rubbed his head. "Though I'd like some time to think things over first, I'm often a pretty busy guy, so I won't be around the most when you two would want me. But that goes without saying I won't turn your offer down just yet."

"Yes, please take your time, Gregory-san. I know you must contemplate things to suit, so let me know when you've come to a decision." Haruko said as Greg offered a hand to her.

"Are you sure you're alright now?" Greg asked, making sure she was well enough to face after her emotions were let loose a while ago.

"Yes, I'll be fine now, pretty much by thanks from talking with you." Haruko said as after Greg nodded to her as to leave things as they are, he began to walk back inside, but not before she called out to him to ask him one more question.

"Gregory-san, just tell me one thing." Haruko said. "Why did you jump at the chance to being with Yukari like this so soon when I asked?"

Stopping mid way, the dark shadow over his eye line disappeared as Greg was pondering heavily what just happened and the new responsibility he was given. Turning his head around, he then gave the woman his answer.

"Well, Yukari-chan's going to need a good male role model in her life until she is able to stand on her own, I'd thought I make myself someone who she can actually look up to if her father's not around anymore to fulfill his role since the kid deserves much better. Besides, even if you hadn't asked me to, I'd ask first anyway. You can say I was just waiting for the opportunity." Greg said as he looked at Haruko with a smile on his face while looking back at her. "You've got quite a cute daughter, Haruko-san; I give you props for that. It would have been impossible to refuse the offer to begin with once I stared into those wonderful and curious eyes that she has. She got me beat the moment we met."

With that, Greg walked off into the room to join the others as Haruko breathed a sigh of relief while hearing Yukari's voice called for his name in an excited tone before she joined the group once more.

The whole day passed as Greg continued to get along with Yukari who kept asking him questions about himself and his powers, as he answered to the best of his abilities, all the while contemplating on what he could do to help improve her recovery.

When the time came to leave, they left with a hearty farewell, as Yukari made sure to ask Greg to visit it again soon while Greg assured that he'd keep the promise, all the while Rio was sure that something seemed to be bothering her surrogate son, but didn't bother to touch the matter until they left the Imada apartment.

Later that evening, back at the Warrior safe-house where Greg, Linn, and Seishiro were staying during their time in Japan, they were joined by Rio, Maya Jingu, Lilica, and Yuji who offered the three FOXHOUND recruits some drinks and other refreshments after the long day from visiting Yukari Imada and her mother.

"I've got to say, today was quite eventful in terms of meeting those friends of yours and listening to their story, Rio." Seishiro said as he sipped on some cold ice tea while Linn sat close by next to him and Lilica drinking some soda. "Now after hearing all that has happened, it's rather hard to believe that such a thing happened under our noses."

"Seishiro-san's right, I'm rather surprised FOXHOUND didn't get a hold of these developments before they blew over by now, or maybe we didn't get the proper information surrounding the weapons made and how they originated that would have made us become involved somehow." Linn said as well, looking at the opening of her can with contemplating eyes.

"Well, you've got to remember that it all started as a private mission from Yukari's mom, so there was no way all of us would learn eventually just how big this thing was going to get." Lilica said. "Most especially when it involved the kid as the core reason for this whole fiasco when she became a target."

"That's true, yet still…how could her own father…do such things to her?" Linn muttered as Seishiro noticed her look was that of letting out some of the feelings she was trying her best to hold back from what she saw earlier when she met Yukari and her current condition for the first time. He could understand most of what she was feeling, with Linn being an individual of FOXHOUND and having seen children involved in causalities not just from certain missions, but also from the notable past atrocities that occurred in her home land in New Delhi, India. Seishiro had also seen similar cases in the past as well and had to be mentally able to prepare himself at one point for the worst case scenario during a mission that involved children, as did every other of his FOXHOUND comrades.

Not only that, she was rather close to her own family, most especially to her parents and kept in close ties with them often. Still, she has heard about the 'kinds' of 'father/daughter' relationships gone wrong in so many ways through the media and history, that it sickened her, but not as much as what she heard from Yukari's mother after the experiments done to Yukari Imada.

Having come from a 'father/son' relationship gone sour himself, Seishiro could agree wholeheartedly with the attractive mixed Japanese-Indian woman about how Yukari was treated by her own father. Although the situations were different comparing his father and Yukari's own, his actions were completely unforgivable in his eyes seeing what kind of a person Yukari was and that such an innocent person didn't deserved to be treated like that by anyone, especially by her own father.

"It's hard to understand, isn't it, Linn?" Seishiro asked. "That one man's greedy ambitions would also mean the sacrifice of one innocent girl that he himself created with his own blood…it's truly a despicable act that should be condemned like any of the domestic crimes more common in society like those who beat and even sexually abuse their own daughters."

"Amen to that, Seishiro-san." Yuji noted, lifting a cup of traditional green tea. "Like everyone else in this room, we all feel that way towards her old man even up to now, even though the bastard's probably rotting away in his grave after Rio managed to mess him up good."

"Speaking of everyone in this room…" Maya Jingu thumbed over her shoulder as the others saw Greg laid back on the couch in front of the television, with a set of large headphones around his neck and the tv volume on max, as he was playing Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition as Vergil in his coatless costume, on the Vergil Must Die difficulty at Mission 2 from his save file with a rather deep and concentrated look on his face as he continuously pressed between the attack and Jump buttons on his custom settings and controller, causing his Vergil to execute a number of Aerial Rave rebounds any time he got an airborne enemy with Yamato, be it one that has Devil Triggered yet or not, as the sound effects cued how fast his fingers were going.

Judging from the very short button pressing intervals during his play of Jump Cancelling than normal that the group can hear, it was clear that Greg seemed upset somehow and this was one way of him letting out what could be troubling, though it didn't seem that way to Rio, who shook her head, letting a sigh out and called out to her student, hoping to break his concentration enough for him to relax a little.

"Hey, Greggie, how much longer are you going to keep going at it like that?" Rio asked, lifting a large can of one of his favorite energy drinks that she'd seen him carry around for training and refreshment purposes, named Monster. "Take a load off and come join us for a little."

With a heaved sigh after managing to get an SS rank for the mission after a couple of tries, Greg stood up to stretch his arms and body as he turned the game system and television off since playing the game as close to a pro does be taxing on both his natural and artificial fingers. Taking off the headphones, he then turned to join his friends and adoptive family at the table as he took the ice cold metallic, black and green can from his surrogate mother.

"Mou, what is it that draws you to such an old game like that?" Rio asked as Greg sipped the drink first before talking. "We're at the age of second and third generation gaming and you're stuck with post Second Impact style games like that, what gives?"

"Even so, you've yet to understand the really deep mechanics of the combat system for Devil May Cry 3, sensei. Last I read from one of the original combat guides made for the game, there's probably a thousand different ways to execute combos and attacks in that one title alone." Greg replied, as he placed a hand on his chin as if he was going into deep thought. "Of course, I'd like to experiment that number myself, but my fingers are not as quick and agile as the pros out there, nor do I have the kind of imagination they have, so I'm not going to kill myself trying the really advanced stuff since I'm comfortable enough just being able to not only just jump cancel to an extent, but also buffer my charge attacks and then there's advancing to what I can do in part 4..."

Now noticing the puzzled looks that were directed at him from his surrogate family and his partner, Greg ceased what he was going to say next and quickly put his artificial hand behind his head. "Ah, I'm guessing you guys called me over not to have this kind of conversation, huh?"

"Well, it's just that ever since we'd gotten back from Yukari's place, you've been quiet most of the time, but we can guess just what's been bothering you, Greg." Maya said.

"She's right, you know. You did grow up with us, so knowing how you would react to certain things is common to us by now." Seishiro said as Greg sighed, feeling a bit unsettled as he heard them said this.

"Can you blame me for being like this now after hearing what happened to Yukari-chan?" Greg replied simply as he drank more of the energy drink. "Look, I'm sorry if how I'm feeling right now seems to be bothering you all, but it's a natural thing for me. I was listening to Seishiro-san and Linn, so of course I'd be pissed at her old man for something like this, but…it's not really that which is bothering me right now."

"Come on, Greg. Like you, even now, I still want to tear Yukari's old man more than just a new one, but we can't fix what can't be undone." Rio said, as if she was trying to correct Greg. "I admit I wished I should have done more for Yukari back then, we all do, but…we're beyond that point now. The damage has been done already; all that's left now is restoring whatever Yukari lost due to the experiments."

Greg's eyes lowered a little after hearing Rio's words and seeing her pained expression as he gritted his teeth.

"Alright, no need to say anymore, sensei. But as I said before, I've got something else bothering me and it's gonna take more than just talking to help me right now. I need to blow off some of this steam outside." He said as he finished the energy drink in one, long gulp before he stood up firmly and started to walk from the group.

"Where do you think you're going now?" Linn asked as Greg simply stopped in his tracks as he was near the entrance to the back yard area.

"Relax, I'm not going to sneak a smoke if that's what you're thinking, Linn." Greg said as he took up his training bag that he brought along with him. "I'm just going to try and get off something that's been on my chest since this evening, so if anyone needs me, I'll just be right outside."

"Well, I won't stop you, but just remember how chilly the nights are this time of the year, so don't stay out too long to catch something you wouldn't like." Rio said. "And also, don't try anything crazy out there or else, I'll know."

"Hai." Greg simply let out a simple and somewhat, lax reply as Lilica called out next to him.

"I got some new TrueStyle tournament videos that you should check out, Greg. Maybe we'll watch them later together to give you some ideas." Lilica said as Greg also let out a simple reply to her as well.

(Author's note: TrueStyle is an official Devil May Cry related annual tournament that has players, both pro and average, compete against each other in terms of skill and style through videos they created in any of the DMC series, but most are common for parts 3 and 4 and is also a good way of discovering hidden aspects of the combat system never thought possible. Some of the famous and personal favorite ones are those from Brea, a DMC gaming goddess (you heard right, a girl of all people, being a literal beast in Devil May Cry and turning everything about it inside out) who is best known for some of her 'flying' Dante videos that serve as an example, look for it on YouTube and see for yourself just how creative and inventive she is, then check out some of her Combo Mad vids for DMC 4 to see how far she's gotten. And no, I have no plans in joining it any time soon until I get really good at it one day, but it's unlikely in this lifetime….)

"Hai, hai. I'll be sure to keep it in check, Lilica, thanks." Greg replied as Yuji cut in with an attempt to try and cheer Greg up.

"Hey, Greg, maybe afterwards, you can stop by my room and watch the third episode of the _Queen Blade_'s _Rurou no Senshi_ OVAs that you've been waiting for to see for the longest while." Yuji said with a big smile as Rio, Maya and Lilica stared at him. "This time, it's got the Vance sisters as the main stars, so you're in for some threats when you'll get to see Reina in a gym uniform and then to add for the win, a steamy shower scene with all three of them at the end."

A small gulp from Greg's throat was heard as Yuji said this, not that this was uncommon to him since he had begun living in Japan and gotten used to its customs by now, but he didn't want Linn, who was in the same room with him, realize that he was thinking that all the same, she'd look just as good wearing a skimpy gym uniform in her current age or almost just about anything she puts on, proving herself to be a truly dangerous weapon to the males who work with her.

"Alright, I get the picture, Yuji, I'll be sure to drop by later when I'm in the mood." Greg said as he felt his cheeks turn red for a bit, not just for trying to get the image of his FOXHOUND female accomplice wearing suggestive clothing get the better of him, but also since like Yuji, _Queen's Blade_ was considered one of his personal favorite gems of anime, and at one point, was forced to admit that it wasn't just because of the some of the extreme ecchi features presented in every episode, but its well directed and intriguing fantasy storyline and the unique characters that had him hooked to the series, especially in the second season. The OVA specials were just snippets for the eager male crowd of fans to appease their tastes of the series' all female cast set in a high school setting environment until the second season was aired to continue the original story.

(Crap, can't think of such unnecessary things now…it's training time.) Greg thought to himself, shaking his head fervently as he opened the door to step out with the training bag in toll. As it closed behind him, Rio slapped the backside of Yuji's head hard with an annoyed look on her face.

"Ouch!" Yuji cried out as he looked at Rio. "What the hell was that for, Rio?"

"Well, thanks so much for already making him more aggravated than he already is when what we're only trying to do is calm him down." Rio lamented.

"Yeah, Yuji, why did you have to go and mention such senseless things to him?" Maya asked. "Once he gets like that, there's hardly any stopping him now. I just hope it doesn't get the better of his emotions."

"Look, I thought it would have calmed him down somehow. I know for a fact that he likes _Queen's Blade_ as much as the rest of the male otaku population." Yuji said as the two women from WARRIOR glared at him.

"That answer really isn't much of a reason for trying to sway his emotions like that, isn't it?" Rio asked as Yuji spoke.

"Maybe not, but I thought I'd try. Besides, you of all people should know that no matter how much control over his emotions he can have from training and being with those who care for him, he's still capable of losing it when these sort of things happen." Yuji said as he drank his tea. "I mean, he's still human like the rest of us, no matter how you look at it, Rio. He has a right to be angry after learning about how Yukari was treated, but he's also fighting within himself not to go over the line before he loses focus of his emotions and then his abilities as a psychic."

"He's right, we should never forget that he's dealing with another existence from his mind, and he's more prone to losing control of it if he becomes more emotionally unbalanced at this point, especially with us around." Seishiro said, while touching the black eye patch that covered the wounded eye that Greg gave him when he first realized his powers when he was still a child years ago. "This probably is his way of trying to keep his personality at bay, but he still needs some guidance to pull him through a situation like this, or else we'd just be having a repeat of what happened all those years ago."

Linn stayed quiet as she pondered on what she heard from Yuji and Seishiro, thinking in her mind on what she currently knew about Greg's struggle to a detailed extent. Having been told by Dr. Naomi Hunter about most of the information regarding Greg's power and the costs that came with them since she was first partnered up with him; she was one of the few people in FOXHOUND who knew a great deal about the psychic's condition soon after he was recruited. Still, it didn't change how she wanted to work and stay with him for the duration she was in the group, although having only human based abilities while Greg was on a different level from hers in certain aspects, she knew there was something she can still contribute to ease his struggle since she took a liking to him on the first day they met.

On the other hand, Rio sighed, understanding what both Yuji and her old friend meant as she reflected a bit into her past.

(They're both right, it's a natural reaction everybody must have, not only I was mad as hell about what happened to Yukari, I was like that too once when Chisato was killed...no, a lot worse as Greg of all people pointed out to me once.) Rio thought to herself solemnly as she remembered a glasses wearing brunette woman named Chisato who was one of Rio's closest friends that she made from her academy days.

She was a desk worker for Police Town's accounting department who often stayed late at nights to work the extra shifts, and even secretly helped Rio financially when her clothing bills piled on her once. Since they were tight friends in the past, she was even introduced to Greg during his early teenager days at one time before he started to live in the States as Chisato was named one of his 'godmothers' by Rio since she also helped out in his study progress during the late nights while she worked the extra shifts.

At one point, she wanted to introduce her new boyfriend who recently started to live in with her to Rio, but it never came to be as an incident that happened within Police Town sometime prior to the IEM investigation, in which a virtual drug that induced mind control was secretly administered to one of the police officers and influenced him to go on a shooting spree within the headquarters, killing a number of his own officers under his command before the effects of the drug killed him at the end, with Chisato being the first victim of a series of incidents to continue within Police Town that was dubbed, '_**The Police Town Massacre**_'.

Emotionally unstable since the shooting and over Chisato's death, Rio was hell bent towards wanting revenge against the ones responsible for creating the apparatus that was used for the instigation of the incident, showing a side of herself that even shocked Greg as he had never seen her react such a way before, which saddened him deeply, but thanks to Maki's smooth talking, Rio had to put aside her vendetta to focus on the mission. It upset Rio even more when the case was later unsolved and pushed aside, due to lack of evidence and information, even after the headquarters suffered massive damage from when two loose criminals began to decimate Police Town due to an insider from the VDS who allowed them the security system lower its defenses and the repeat of the first incident occurred all over, but was later put to a stop by Rio and Maya.

Rio was restless from the incident, and Greg's concern for her state intervened while she thought Chisato's death was in vain and while the criminals responsible were still running around as he offered to help her apprehend them, the Virtual Drug Syndicate, and put them behind bars since certain cases surrounding murders that involved rising government officials started to occur around in the States and FOXHOUND had to investigate it, Rio agreed to work with him and Linn, along with a friend that she'd later meet during the mission that he told her about on the condition that she herself personally meet the female ringleader of the VDS that FOXHOUND was able to identify and give her a good punch for Chisato's sake as she promised him and her team that she won't go overboard as she did when the incidents started to take place.

"I got no problem with that, you're free to do as you like to her as long you don't overdo it." Greg said to her as a reply when at one time things have calmed down. "The U.S government still needs her for the mug shots anyway, since she's gotten to the international criminal status. And my bosses really don't appreciate another group taking the credit for taking these guys down, but this all started when your country's criminals started mass producing that virtual drug for the masses. If that thing ever got out on the public streets in America, we'd have quite the problem getting it under control. A drug with this powerful effect will change everything in society and that won't be a good image setting for the most powerful nation on the planet, will it?"

"Geez, even though you're going to help me get closure for Chisato, now you're saying cold things like that." Rio said in an uneasy tone at Greg. "Can't you consider how much I've gone through ever since..."

"I know perfectly what you mean, sensei, that's why I'm just putting on my FOXHOUND game face to tell you that we need this woman ALIVE, no matter what. She has a lot of questions to answer and we'll make sure to get everyone of them answered." Greg said seriously as he approached Rio and spoke her as he came in contact with her shoulders as they stood side by side.

"But as I stand close to you like this, I speak as your student and your surrogate son to tell you this: I feel the same way about Chisato-san just as you do, she was good to me in the past too. But not as strongly to go to the point that I want to play the role of a 'bad cop'. You…you actually frightened me, sensei, to see you like that, for the first time since I've known you and it made me wonder if I'm capable of feeling like that whenever I could lose control of my powers." Greg said.

Rio cast her eyes downwards in silence as Greg placed his left hand on her shoulder.

"Not that I don't understand how you feel, but it just doesn't fit someone with a personality like yours. You're just not the same without that cheerful, flirting attitude that made you popular." Greg said, now with a light smile. "I know that it must be frustrating to stay on the narrow path at a time like this, but please, bear with it for a while longer. But I can promise you this, as a FOXHOUND recruit and as the only god son to the honorable, Chisato-san…"

Greg stood firmly in front of Rio as he placed his artificial right hand on his temple in a firm Marine salute as he finished his sentence.

"…that I shall put all of my efforts into assisting in the arrest of the leaders of the Virtual Drug Syndicate alongside you and that way Chisato-san, as well the other slain officers, can finally rest in peace." Greg said firmly as Rio simply smiled at his gesture, feeling relieved that she can leave this sort of thing to him and his team when her team couldn't pull through.

"Yes, you'd make certain that will happen, won't you?" Rio asked as she felt like crying, but after seeing the determination on her surrogate son's face and feeling more better after hearing his words, she returned the salute to him with a big smile. "Let's work together to make it happen, okay?"

As Rio had stopped reminiscing and recalled what helped her through that turbulent time, she thought it was time to return the favor. Standing firmly as she began to walk towards the door where her surrogate son went through earlier.

"I guess it's up to me to talk some sensitivity to him, then." Rio said with a light smile. "Don't worry, I'll find out what's really bothering him and have a good talk with him before he ends up doing something reckless."

"Make sure you do, he can be rather rash when he's not thinking clearly sometimes." Linn said. "As his partner, I would know."

"Hmm, so you're leaving me to do this by myself, huh, Linn?" Rio asked as the Japanese-Indian native shook her head.

"Not really, you just understand him a whole lot more than I do right now. Sure, I can support him too, but you've been through things he has yet to experience which could help you talk to him more than I do." Linn replied simply. "Besides, you seem to be more relaxed whenever the two of you are together, dealing with things like this, no sense getting in the way of such a strong bond like you have."

"Fine, you won this time. But the next time he acts up, I'm leaving you to use your 'bodily talents' to try and calm him down somehow. Don't count on me all the time to ease his emotions." Rio replied, pointing her finger at Linn before she turned to the door.

Linn simply answered with a smile to Rio's comment. "Sure, Rio, whenever the time is ripe."

"Good luck, Rio." Lilica said as Rio waved back to her friend.

"Thanks, something tells me I'll need it." Rio replied as she exited the room to the outside of the house where she stopped for a moment.

"I know I saw him come out here before…" Rio said to herself as she stopped outside the back door to look around until she saw Greg's silhouette standing at the middle of the training ground, surrounded by three training bots that Nanvel made and left at the compound. His chest and back only covered by a thin white vest that he was wearing underneath the shirt which he wore earlier, while he was now wearing a pair of loose, shorter jeans that ended just below underneath his kneecaps. Rio took a closer look and saw that he was wearing straps around both his wrist and ankle areas and recognized what they were after a second observation.

"Why is he using the weights for his limbs?" Rio asked herself as she knew what they were, as she knew he would use these for training the strength of his limbs by using these time to time whenever he stopped by, but it was the first time she saw him use all of the available weights that were around for both his arms and legs. Even more strange, was the stance he was in with his arms clasped to his chest area, while his legs were in a bow legged position, stretched out from each other while his feet were in a ready position that looked more liked defense than offense.

"Wouldn't those normally restrict his movement? Also, I've never seen that pose before…" This somehow struck Rio's curiosity a little, until she saw the weights that were strapped on his limbs began to draw in a mix of red and blue aura that was surrounding Greg's body until they both lit up with a bright color, as the rest of his body began to darken a bit, leaving only the outlines of his clothing, his face and the light of the nanomachines being circulated through his right shoulder area to only be seen. Never seen something like this happen before, Rio wondered when he'd make such a stance, but she also had little worry as Greg seemed to be completely in another zone while he did this action.

Before she could call out to him, she heard a sound of a violin began to play, before an electric guitar began to accompany it afterwards, as she heard a song play out loud from his cell phone that was left on the porch. It had its MP3 sound player function on as Greg programmed it to play one of his favorite songs that help him train and focus his techniques.

Battle theme: _Drink It Down, the __**Japanese Version **_of the_Devil May Cry 4 Opening Trailer and Bloody Palace boss battle theme__**, **_sung by_** Larc~en~Ciel**_.

(Author's Note: Not sure if people know of this, but this song was indeed used in the Japanese trailer for DMC4, as well as the later levels of the Bloody Palace mode for boss fights, so I sort of found this song really late while I was browsing randomly for good DMC 4 gameplay vids for ideas and I ended up bouncing into a well played Nero vs Agnus, then a Nero vs Dante BP fight vid by a YouTube subscriber, DoubleDown4, that used this song for its fight and that was the turning point for me, I instantly fell in love with the song (aside from watching two epic gameplay fights which helped me gained ideas). In an attempt at a shot as a translator, since I actually copied the translations for the song, word to word from a translated music video from another YouTube host, subbedpvs, so the rest of the battle will have the original Japanese romanji lyrics first, with the translation following soon after along with the fight scene. But man, why they didn't make this song as an unlockable or an option for the American version of DMC4? Like most of the western masses, I'm a Larc~en~Ciel fan too since they sang the intro themes for the original Full Metal Alchemist and the Gundam 00 first season animes and I'd love to fight a boss with this awesome song in the background…anyway, enough of my ranting, back to the story…)

As the song started, Greg continued his stance as three of the training dummies around him lit up, apparently being run on Nanvel's programming, activated and one of them rushed at him.

The psychic suddenly cancelled his stance by turning his right leg towards his side, and the rest of his body forward, all the while his left arm was rising in a forward thrust, then repeating the process with his right arm before attacking the dummy with a one legged kick, before using a powerful rush of air below him can be seen as the blow connected to the dummy, causing it to become stunned and airborne at once. Greg then made a small gesture with his right glowing artificial hand as if he was throwing a dart towards it, in which he was actually throwing a light psychic energy shot at the target. Soon after, he then used telekinesis to thrust his body vertically upwards towards the dummy's position, executing a mid-air Judgment Kick, knocking the dummy back down on its back onto the ground.

_nameraka ni hari tsuku kanshouku_

[Sensation sticking smoothly,]

_yami to wa fukaku ajiwa umo no_

[darkness is something to be tasted deeply.]

_karadajuu e ukeire te kanji aou_

[Let's receive it into our bodies so we can feel it.]

Greg wasn't finished yet, as he followed after with his Grand Fall kick, planting his descending kick once, then suddenly canceling his descent, using his powers to cause a 'rebound effect' in order for him to leap a distance as he used his powers to fire a psychic ball that homed in on the downed dummy, lifting it off the ground and kept it air borne as Greg then used his powers to glide towards the target before he grabbed the dummy with his nano fist while falling from mid-air then and landed on the grounded, thus freeing his grip and now using psychokinesis to keep it in position in front of him with a pulled back right fist, being charged with psychic energy as the energy that was covering his body was being transferred to his fist. After charging it for a few seconds, Greg then sends a single, slamming punch into the dummy's abdomen area, shutting it down it of its further functions.

_[drink it down,_

_enjoy the black around,_

_taste the darkness]_

The other two training dummies' sensors flashed red, as the coloured plating they wore changed color to a deep black, meaning their defensive and attack capabilities have been increased to a degree in order to make the sparring more difficult.

_[Let down, you feel trust, break down]_

However, it was just as how Greg programmed them to behave tonight. He was now ready to push things to a higher level with his body, as he re-entered his defensive posture once more.

_samari kuru shougeki heto osore zumi tobikomu_

[Without fearing the coming impact, truth takes a dive]

_shinjitsu ga (shinjitsu ga)_

_kimi ni mo nagara koumu_

[and flows through you.]

The next dummy charged at Greg with a revolving blow, as Greg was able to leap a small distance towards it and deflect five of its blows with his Kinezono Style Defense technique, his arms absorbing the energy the dummy landed on him through psychic energy. He then lands back on his feet, only to execute his standard bare handed attack, before switching his movements to attack the dummy with a consistent string of Flicker Kicks which suddenly connected into several roundhouse kicks to push himself and the target towards a nearby tree before kicking it upwards with a rising spin kick that sent a heavy cloud of dust in its direction, and towards the tree hard enough to sending it crashing against it, only to send it back at Greg who was now under and behind it.

_eien ni shizumu youna sakkaku ni daka rete_

[How long can you maintain your sanity while caught in a hallucination,]

_doko made (doko made)_

_shouki de ira reru no ka_

[where you're sinking for eternity?]

Greg then grabbed unto the tree behind him with his right artificial hand, lifting his body to follow along with a jump as he tracked the airborne training dummy and pounced on the dummy's back with his Judgment Kick, then using his rebound effect once more from the Jump Canceling technique he was using, while turning his right hand's knuckle area into a hand-blade type of weapon, as he made a vertical cut into the dummy's area, the air around Greg looks as if it was being cut as well due to the use of the nanomachine and psychic energy combination, as a bright sphere of air can be seen around him, being formed and cut away at the same time with the attack.

Using his telekinetic guided feet, Greg touched the dummy to execute the repeated attack several times before landing on the ground once more, finishing the consistent attack on the training dummy with his Panther Snapback, which was a devastating counter attack which consists of a single blow from his left hand, then a palm blow from his nano fist which required the gathered energy Greg had stored up from his Style Defense technique.

_Kimi no te ga kakushin e chikazuku _

[Your hand closes in on the core,]

_teoi de mo sono me ni kakeyou_

[despite my wounds, I'll risk it for those eyes.]

_iku mae ni tsukameru ka? chikara wo_

[Will I be able to seize the power before I pass away?]

_[drink it down,_

_enjoy the black around_

_taste the darkness]_

The remaining dummy had already activated its last set of attack parameters after seeing it was being the last one standing against Greg. A string of messages indicating increases of defense, weight, sensory awareness and attack patterns was heard from it as the training robot flashed a heavy red around its armor plating, before proceeding to rush at Greg.

_Let down, you feel trust, break down_

"Looks I'm in a bit of a problem from here on out…" Greg said to himself as he saw this, still putting up a defensive posture. "Guess it's time I'd stick with the good old CQC from now on."

_Kagami wa ima kudakare mita koto mo nai kimi ga_

[Now the mirror breaks apart and you, whom I've never seen before, awaken_.]_

_mezamete (mezamete)_

_aa, mou kare nai_

[Ah, I can't go back anymore.]

The training robot's AI had now been improved greatly, as the data it was using was variant combat data information from Rio Kinezono, Seishiro Takeda and a few of FOXHOUND's more experienced combat veterans such as Garland Durev and Michael Hansen. The change in its attack stance was clearly seen as it had chosen a close combat style of Taijutsu.

Due to its increased speed, Greg didn't predict it to come close to using Garland's True Dread's power, as a flurry of kicks and punches from unpredictable directions strike around Greg's chest area, before spinning behind him and grabbing his waist area, violently slamming Greg's body behind him in a suplex throw.

The force of the combined attacks were getting too much for his body to handle, but the dummy wasn't letting up as it slammed one of its legs near Greg's position, but the psychic had managed to catch the dummy's arm with an upraised kick, pushing it back with the counter.

_Migawari ni ushinatta azayaka na gensou ga_

[The vivid illusion I lost in sacrifice breaks open.]

_hajikete (hajikete)_

_sakeme ni shouki wo mita_

[I saw my chance within it cracks.]

Spinning on his back to get back on his feet, Greg felt the pain coursing in his body now as he struggled to stand upright. After a few seconds, he fell on one of his legs, holding his chest in pain.

[Get up

Get up, you know the worst

fed up fearless light now.]

Wiping the blood from his lips and the heavy sweat that was gathering from his head, Greg spat out the blood gathered in his mouth from the blows that was just inflicted on him. After having regained his senses and strength if only for a moment, he then signaled the dummy to come at him once more, seemingly ready to fight again.

_Kagami wa ima kudakare mita koto mo nai kimi ga_

[Now the mirror breaks apart and you, whom I've never seen before, awaken.]

_mezamete (mezamete)_

_shizuka ni gokidasu_

[Quietly, you begin to move.]

The dummy charged at Greg with a downward kick from overhead, but the psychic blocked the kick and quickly shifted his hands to grab unto the ankle area of the dummy, bringing its body closer to his face. The training dummy registered an incoming palm strike as Greg pulled it close enough to attack it, but Greg suddenly went for the throat area of the dummy, holding it from behind now, while his other hand went directly for its face area as a loud, snapping sound came from the impact Greg's fist made with its face.

_Wazukani hiru reta yami no mukou e kake agaru_

[Shooting up a gaze beyond the darkness that opened up a little are those eyes]

_sono me wa (sono me wa)_

_mou daremo te ni o e nai_

[that no one can handle now.]

With that strike, Greg already had dizzied the dummy, and continued his assault. He then sent a strong uppercut, followed by a sweeping roundhouse kick that knocked the dummy off its feet as Greg then placed his hands together while recovering from the sweep and sent an electric charge towards the dummy's chest area, causing it to fly back away from him.

But Greg wasn't finished as he had a couple of things to mix into his attack. He then quickly clapped his hands once and touched the ground in front of him, as suddenly a gust of wind caused by his psychic powers began to pick up energy and was now a small whirlwind surrounding the dummy that was collecting stones and pebbles underneath its position from the training ground, which were now hitting the dummy as it's airborne height grew as high as the trees in the area.

While the whirlwind of stones continued to hit the helpless dummy caught high above in the air, Greg then spun his body twice away first before stopping, and using the leaking nanomachines that were leaking a wound from his artificial right arm that he got earlier, created a thin, three bladed boomerang of nanomachines that he then threw at the dummy, having his weapon cut into it and shutting it down of its functions before it landed on the ground with a hard and motionless crash.

[Drink it, drink it down]

[Drink it, drink it down.]

After this, Greg then executed a one kneed pose that then seemed to release the energy he was using before, as the red and dark blue hue that covered some areas of his body disappeared, revealing his natural dark toned skin and body once more. A sign of cold air can be seen leaving his lips as Greg then breathed once heavily after he was finished concentrating.

It took but a short moment for Rio to finish catch her breath after seeing Greg conclude the practice exhibition, having seen a side of him she never thought she'd see in battle while managing to keep the flow of battle to his favor. As she was making sure he was finished for the time being judging from the finishing posture he was taking, she decided to speak up now.

"Man, I feel so sorry for whoever will be the one to get all those consistent attacks you just did back there, Greggie." Rio lamented with a soft applause. "Providing of course, if that is humanely possible to execute those kinds of things in the first place on an actual living human being."

"Well, when you consider the kind of people I face in both actual and sparring combat, the factors change with each and everyone of them, I'm just training my body to get used to opponents that are twice or even greater than my body mass for the time being." Greg replied, as he collected his breathing as he now stared at his surrogate mother. He knew he was being watched during most of the practice. "Of course, something like that isn't really going to happen in a lifetime, I was just messing around."

"Eh? You mean, you weren't seriously doing that as part of your training?" Rio asked.

"Oh, I was, but in experimental terms. Besides, only a brute with little to zero actual combat experience would only end up being the receiving end of such punishing attacks like the ones I just did, and those were simply the basics of my combat style. If I was armed with actual weapons, had some additions to my techniques and added in some more consistency in most of my attacks of terms of mixing things up …In any case, I somehow must have caught your attention, huh?" Greg asked after he noticed Rio's eyes widened as he said most of this.

"Oh, you certainly did, in more ways than one." Rio said with a serious look as Greg stayed quiet, as she noted the serious look that was returning to her. It appeared he still seemed upset. "So, have you cooled off yet, Greg? What's the matter, why the glare?"

"If you must know…" Greg said as he raised his fists together with a pained smile on his face. "My arms and legs now hurt like hell thanks to that experimental training and I can't really take these off by myself. I was just wondering…"

Rio simply smiled while shaking her head as she approached her student to oblige his request. After managing to get them off as they dropped to the ground, Greg began to rub his wrists at a time.

"Thanks, sensei, I needed that. The nanomachines should take care of things from here, hopefully." Greg said as Rio was still looking at him, figuring out why he did such training, but was now past the point of hiding any more of what he was feeling as he had to be straight up to her now.

"So, why are you out here then, sensei? I know it's not to talk about my training just now, is it?" Greg asked as Rio replied strongly.

"Come on, Greggie, there's no use keeping it from me any longer if you're training yourself like that." Rio said simply as Greg stopped to catch his breath, knowing she was right. "The training is one thing, but other than that, I've known you long enough by now that I recognize that this is one way you usually deal with your pent up anger whenever you're around this area."

"Guess you know me well enough to say that I'm the kind to resort to this sort of thing before saying anything by now." Greg simply sighed as he rubbed his head and answered honestly. "Alright, you read me like a book. It was one way of mine to let out on what I wished was Yukari-chan's father just now. Although the result wasn't I was looking for, but it was close enough even if it didn't look like a human target, am I right?"

"Heh, so that's what it was, huh?" Rio asked as she took couple of steps from him while talking. "To tell the truth, I actually feel the same as you on that whenever I want to let out on whatever happened back then."

"Guess we're in the same boat then. Something tells me that you want to talk about it." Greg simply said while he walked a distance to take his phone and return it to normal functions. "Care to tell me more on your personal feelings?"

"I'm more interested in hearing it from you. What were you thinking just then when you guys got to meet Yukari and her mother and listened to their story?" Rio said as Greg sighed before he sat down on the small staircase leading to the porch to relax and started to talk.

"Well, coming from me, from my time training in the Marines and then joining up with FOXHOUND so far, I've heard some pretty grim stories regarding children being involved in war from both fellow and experienced soldiers." Greg said solemnly. "War orphans, child guerilla soldiers, victims and survivors of tragic consequences all due to the fighting, no matter where it's at…I've had to deal with it time and again up to the point that it's almost gotten routine and it still ticks me off that these things are still happening even after half of the world already has gone to hell."

"Have you and Linn…ever seen these for yourselves as of yet?" Rio asked as Greg shifted his eyes to the side as she asked him this.

"Well, we've done a few missions in the Middle East, as well as in the South Africa regions in the past and the kind of things I've just mentioned barely scratch the surface from all the things we witnessed then." Greg said. "Yeah, we were told and briefed many times by the higher ups that we'd have to face a strong possibility of encountering child war victims in a mission, but…to even put that fact off would be inhuman. Just seeing the reality was enough to make even the most seasoned soldier lose sense of things at the time…as I nearly have."

"Is that how you felt…about when you saw Yukari?" Rio asked as Greg replied.

"I really don't know…I've seen child survivors of war barely coping with their lives just because of the kind of trauma they've experienced while others could have brighter futures." Greg said. "However, when I saw that kid's face smiling at me like that when I introduced myself, as if nothing had happened to her…I just thought to myself, 'How can a girl like her stay so high spirited, knowing the pain she must still be going through was caused by a loved one she trusted?'"

"Greggie…" Rio muttered as she saw Greg started look at his trembling artificial right fist.

"I thought by now I could have gotten used to such things…but after seeing and hearing what Yukari's gone through…it just started to build up from deep within me." Greg gritted his teeth. "I don't know if it was sadness or extreme pity for Yukari-chan and those like her, or anger and hate for the bastard father and those like him, but I can be sure of that my feeling about this was so genuine that even I felt my counterpart from within my conscience feel it strongly. That…was the only thing that seemed to connect us on a personal level and made me react the way I did earlier. Yet still…I didn't want Yukari-chan to see that side of me or know how I felt…such a person like her…doesn't have to live out her life like this…no child has to!"

(It's been awhile since I've seen him like this, even though he comes off as a level headed guy most of the time.) Rio thought to herself. (I'm not sure if it's the stress related to his work, but I can also reckon his personal feelings must be weighing in on how he feels about Yukari's situation.)

"Was that all you wanted to say?" Rio asked. "Is that what's made you so upset, Greggie?"

"Partly, I've got another thing I should let you know about." Greg said after calming himself a little. "It happened before we left earlier, Yukari-chan's mother had a personal talk with me just after I was having that private call with some of my other FOXHOUND buddies regarding a mission we're suppose to be doing in a couple of days from now."

This came as a surprise to Rio since she didn't know that Greg included the word 'personal' to his sentence since she had an idea that whatever they talked about had to be very personal. To begin with, she didn't even know that Greg and Haruko had spoken to each other privately about this matter, which surprised her even more.

"What was it you two talked about?" Rio asked in a curious tone as Greg sighed at first, before continuing to tell Rio what had happened before when he spoke to Yukari's mother. Rio then found out that Greg was trying to sort his feelings on what he can do to help Yukari in his own way, since her own mother personally asked him to help as since WARRIOR was already still supporting the Imada family.

After a few minutes of explaining to her what transpired between him and Haruko, Rio took in Greg's words and understood that he himself must be emotionally confused in what he can to do help Yukari's situation judging by his earlier actions. After he had finished talking, it was Rio's turn now to offer him some advice to the best of her abilities.

"Now I seem to get what's been bugging you even better, but a thing like that isn't something that you should be so ticked off about, Greggie." Rio lamented. "As a matter of fact, you should feel honored that Haruko gave that request personally to you, maybe she does see something you have that can contribute to Yukari's rehabilitation."

"Maybe so, but then again, I'm just a trained psychic soldier who really hasn't started to do anything for the world except make it a safer place by intercepting and eliminating a few terrorists since I started the FOXHOUND gig in the past." Greg said. "Parenting is one thing I really have no actual experience with just yet, you know."

"True that, but you're a double major in philosophy and sociology, I doubt the actual parenting skills are necessary at this point." Rio said. "I think I know what you're problem is, how to approach Yukari more properly, huh?"

"That's my point. Normally, it shouldn't be a problem, but in this case…I'm actually at a loss on how I can deal with a situation she's in on a personal level." Greg said as Rio shook her head.

"Man, you don't have to think too hard on it, just do things how you're used to with everyone else and she'll get attached to you in no time." Rio said. "Its not like her condition's made her a recluse, she's still got a bright future despite what's happened."

"I'm not saying it's a real problem, there's one major thing to consider. Aside from that, I'm more worried about her mentality or more likely, her connection that she could still have towards her father." Greg said with a serious tone. "No matter how you look at it, she's going have to live with the fact that she's the old bastard's daughter by blood, gene and DNA for the rest of her life, something you, I or anyone else in this world CANNOT change, no matter how hard we can wish for it."

Rio stayed quiet to what Greg said and took his point seriously, while he continued on.

"In that case, as much as I hate to admit it, I want to do whatever's in my ability to help improve her condition, but I won't do it to take over any important roles for the Imada family, just being somebody they can lean on when there's trouble is enough for me." Greg said. "I guess that's pretty much where I'm stumped on how to do it properly, though."

"Afraid you'd get too attached to each other?" Rio asked as Greg fidgeted in response. "In case you haven't realized by now, you were in a similar position before when I first found you if I recall. I think you can't avoid both facts since you too have been neglected by your own father, yet still are bound by his blood."

Greg leaned back, knowing Rio was right on this one. Rio then placed a hand on Greg's shoulder as she smiled.

"Still, it's not an entirely bad thing if that can connect you two better, just think about it." Rio said. "Knowing you already, you're going to be just fine dealing with Yukari when she needs the company. Of course, if you're actually having problems and need some more professional advice, you've got the rest of us and Seishiro-san to help you out. So, don't be afraid to ask, okay?"

"Okay, you win me over this time, sensei. I'll be sure to take note of what you just said." Greg let out a relaxed sigh as he heard this and nodded his head. "Man, somehow I just felt ten pounds lighter and it probably wasn't just due to the exercise, seems like talking does really remedy a situation like this."

"Now that I assume you're feeling a little better, how about we head back inside to talk things over with Linn and Seishiro-san, huh?" Rio asked as Greg looked at her with a quizzed look.

"What do you have in mind, sensei?" Greg said, wiping his chin of the remaining sweat he built up during training as Rio continued.

"Well, since we already have the people from the NSWF Child Welfare Department being kept under wraps about how Yukari was treated by her father, in order to protect her mother's legal custody over her, one step is making sure she is protected not just by the new laws they've set up, but possibly any group that may want her since she survived some harsh experiments in the past." Rio said.

"Oh, yeah, I've been hearing about those people, they've been taking their job rather seriously since the Great Quake that hit Japan around the time Second Impact occurred when it comes to children's safety and how they are being treated these days." Greg said. "Of course, you and the rest of WARRIOR never had that kind of problem when you took me in, but not so many children who were in the same position I was years ago are so fortunate."

"True, that's part of their operation, no matter how cruel it seems, but so far they've done nothing for the police to accuse them of. " Rio said. "Also, I'm sure if you want to look around a bit, there could be leftover IEM forces who'd want the girl to themselves."

"In other words, have them be investigated by FOXHOUND when the time comes to minimize Team WARRIOR's known activity towards the group in case something happens, huh?" Greg asked. "Sounds like an idea to me, but…"

"I know, I know, we can't have your buddies find out about Yukari just yet, even though I told you to trust them whenever you're encountering problems." Rio said before Greg made a notion with his hand.

"Well, I guess I can ask that shinobi kid from my group, Riku, for a hand in regards in gathering intel on IEM secretly, his ninja clan's supposedly good in those sort of areas, as well as scouting areas without raising a ruckus from what I heard from him." Greg suggested.

"You think he can be trusted to keep the secret about Yukari?" Rio asked as Greg titled his head.

"The guy owes me some favors to pay back from a past set of joint missions; it shouldn't be a problem if I tell him about it eventually." Greg said. "Though, I won't do that just yet, its best to wait a while since it looks things are inactive for the time being with IEM's movement and Haruko-san putting an indefinite stop to the MD weapon's research."

"Right, just don't leave the guy out in the cold since he seems the type to get worried if you ask him about IEM out of the blue unless you've got a good excuse for it that can keep Yukari out of mention." Rio said, while Greg gave a little friendly gesture as if he had given in to one of Rio's ideas yet again as he gave his reply.

"Heh, to think you'd actually planned something like this. If I had known any better, you're just trying to have me show more of my softer side by doing things like this, not that I'm complaining." Greg said with a grin. "For instance, you did something like this when I first moved to the States by suggesting I joined that pen pal volunteer program, thinking I'd get lonely without you guys. It pretty much came as a surprise to me that I'd ended up getting in contact with someone who has gone through the same mess with her father in the past."

"Hey, all I did was just gave you a little push, that was all. Everything else afterwards was your own doing." Rio said, putting her hands up. "Though I'm glad for both you and that An Shouji kid that things turned out okay from what you told me so far about her, with her being adopted by that author, Ryo Sakuma, who you said sponsored for her private boarding school education."

"Yeah, if you hadn't pushed me to be her pen-pal a few years back before to begin with when I moved over, then I wouldn't have known how properly I would get to be friendly with Yukari-chan or other children her age by now." Greg replied.

"Most of that came naturally to you over the years, but you are right that I was planning quite a benefit for you back then, and not just because you two have had difficulty with your actual parents compared to now." Rio said. "But then again, most of that charm of yours that only you have around people like her is a natural thing you must already have."

"That's true; I'm not really like this with everyone else, am I?" Greg asked, as if he wanted to be sure of his genuine feelings.

"Well, that only applies whenever you're with people like yours truly, that much I do know of by now." Rio replied as Greg sighed heavily with his back turned to her, the cold night air turning white from his heavy breath.

"I guess you're right on that point, looks like I still got a long way to go." Greg said. "Man, all this time, here I thought I was tough enough to handle these sorts of things mentally, but I guess I'm still really a softie, huh?"

(Nothing's wrong with that caring attitude of yours, Greggie, I guess that's why Yukari's already gotten attached to you and even have her mother entrust her friendship to you.) Rio thought to herself while looking at her surrogate son in silence. (While it's true what you said before that none of us can ever attempt to replace the position of Yukari's father, but at least if it's you who can help give Yukari the happiness she truly deserves that was taken away from her, if only on a temporary basis, I'd be more than just content knowing she wouldn't feel bad about her existence as it is right now anymore. And, hopefully in turn, maybe she can do the same for your troubled soul…)

Rio soon found herself choking a bit, as she felt some light tears trickle down her cheeks as she quickly wiped them clean and cleared her throat. Just dwelling on how the two are almost alike which would be a basis of sorts for the two of them interacting with each other soon was making her emotional a bit and clearly she didn't want Greg to find out how she was still trying her best to get used to Yukari's current condition.

"Come on back inside, Greg, its getting way too chilly out here for my tastes." Rio lamented as Greg turned back around, putting back on his shirt from before as she suddenly thought of something.

(Still, I've never seen Greg pull that kind of stance before, which means he must have found another way to use his abilities for combat like that while he was in FOXHOUND.) Rio thought to herself. (First he started by storing psychic energy into his limbs to increase body weight while maintaining a limited ability to jump to a certain height, then transferring the gathered energy to some of the attacks against the heavy opponents in order to create lifting properties while fighting them. It also looked like each attack was planned one after another in order to maximize some of the lift he used for some of his aerial attacks. Didn't think he'd advance like this in terms of combat, but as he said, he was still experimenting with the idea…sometimes I frighten myself thinking I raised a guy like this.)

"Is something the matter, sensei?" Greg asked as Rio shook her head.

"Nope, just have something in my mind, but it's nothing to worry about." Rio replied, as she decided to drop the idea of asking Greg about most of what he was practicing, and placing an arm around his neck. "Come on, everyone else is rather concerned for you. Let's go and tell them what we just talked about and hear what they have to say."

"Hai, hai, you just go in first, I'll join you shortly." Greg said, waving to his surrogate mother. "I'm just going to clean up out here first before I get inside and call it a wrap for the night."

"Need any help?" Rio asked as Greg shook his head.

"I'm cool, really, it's no big thing." Greg said in a quick reply as Rio looked at him at first before smiling silently as he watched her head back inside to join the rest of their friends first, but at the moment he was alone once more in the training yard, he suddenly grimaced by clutching his chest with his left hand and holding unto his mouth with his right hand. With widened eyes, Greg hurried over to a nearby set of bushes and began to throw up, the effects of his experimental training and Violent Greg's influence now taking their toll on his body that he couldn't show before in front of his surrogate mother.

Finally getting himself to breathe properly once more, he then heard his counterpart's voice speak from within.

"I warned you before, didn't I?" Violent Greg said in an echoing tone. "Try to do things the way you want with my power and this is what you'll get. I don't understand why you'd try in the first place, just because you're pissed at how some old guy treated his daughter, you just wanted to use me as an excuse to beat something up, namely yourself."

"Che, what about you, who was giving hints to do just that once you heard everything?" Greg asked in return. "I could care less what you're thinking, I'm going to go with my instinct and help out in any way I can, and I certainly don't need you to butt in when you feel like it."

"I only gave you access this one time since this is about the only thing we can see eye to eye with, but think wisely about what I can do to you the next time you attempt that crap." Violent Greg said. "This will be my first and final warning to you."

As if he was being held down due to his heavy breathing, Greg suddenly felt the tension around his chest lessen its pressure as he removed his hand, allowing him to gather his senses. Standing firmly once more to face the clear moonlit sky, Greg thought to himself.

(So much for thinking I had finally have full control over him, my first real attempt to control my powers is actually a failed one after all.) Greg thought. (Still, what Rio said before seemed like a bright idea. Maybe I should try her approach and with time, I should be able to make the right decision for Haruko.)

With that, Greg hurried along in racking up the training equipment and robots that he brought out and soon afterwards, returned inside to join his friends and family.

Sometime after, when everyone heard about what Greg and Rio spoke about, they all agreed in the favor of pitching in to help Greg make himself a role model for Yukari to look up to while he finalized his decision for her mother the next time they met, during which he was very grateful for her to allow this. Soon after telling her that he made up his mind, Haruko seemed pleased by this and told Greg to take his time in getting to know Yukari more.

During the short time period in which they became friends, as told by Seishiro and Linn who also supported him, Yukari needed to experience as much of the outside world as possible, since she was in still in the late learning years of her school life and may have missed much important information about the current happenings of the world. Aside from teaching her some of his experiences since himself, Linn, and Seishiro had been to several places around the world in the past, one idea suggested to him was taking Yukari for a surprise trip to an amusement park Greg would frequently visit in his neighbor-hood region that was really popular with all the kids in the area.

One day after getting Haruko's permission, Greg and Linn made a surprise visit to Yukari during a day off from school one morning, having the full day to themselves as Greg personally requested one of FOXHOUND's helicopter pilots for a 'personal escort mission' with him, since he didn't want too many people to know that he would have used the Harrier 2 just for that reason, people like Matthew Reese being one of them in particular that Greg wanted to avoid answering his nosy questions.

The elated look on Yukari's face was unforgettable to those who watched her reaction when she accepted Greg's invitation, as she picked out one of her favorite outfits for the occasion, consisting of a purple, long sleeved fur jacket, since the city area of Washington that she'd be visiting would be in a near winter like state, even though the cold climate's been eliminated completely due to the global warming caused by the Second Impact.

After flying for an estimate of two and a half hours over the vast ocean that Yukari couldn't help but keep taking pictures of the sights she saw on the way over, the chopper reached the American soil and made a drop point on a field away from the amusement park for the area. After the group consisting of Greg, Linn, Seishiro, Rio, and Yukari Imada got off, they made their way to the entrance where they were greeted by an elderly American lightly bearded man wearing a baseball cap, a blue shirt, and overalls. It appeared that he knew Greg well by the way he noticed him at once.

"Well, well, if it isn't the G-man himself, haven't seen you and some of your folk around these parts in ages." The man said, lifting the front brim of his cap as he looked at Rio, Linn, Seishiro and Yukari who were with Greg.

"Yeah, it has certainly has been, old man Harold. You know me, busy as usual." Greg said simply as he saw his friend send approving nods to the other people behind him as he turned to the curious Yukari's gaze, who was shyly looking back at him.

"Good to see your family's doing well too, but who's the pretty little girl with you today, hmm?" The old man asked as Greg put up his artificial right hand, with his index finger pointing upwards as if it was a friendly warning.

"She's not a little girl; she's an Ojou-san." (AN: Japanese for young lady, also a reference to what Dante says to somebody in the first episode of the Devil May Cry anime when he introduces Patty Lowell to him. Wish they made more episodes…) Greg said in a tone that made Yukari chuckle lightly to the comment as the man joked to this and fixed his overall straps.

"Alright, excuse my manners then, young lady." The man introduced himself to her. "I just happen to be the owner of this small amusement park since the Second Impact, the name's Theodore Harold, but only my good friends get to call me by Ted or Teddy, my nickname."

"A….ano…" Yukari stopped to blush a bit, as she has yet to understand the English language fully, even though she's been getting extra lessons by her friends outside of school, from Team WARRIOR, Seishiro and Greg lately.

"Her name's Yukari Imada, she recently became a new friend of Linn, Greg and Seishiro-san through me, who knew her a while before they did." Rio inputted, placing her hands on Yukari's shoulders. She seemed to be familiar with Ted as well. "We just wanted to treat her today by showing her Greg's favorite place and to let her cut loose."

"Why, Greg, you'd go through the trouble of bringing a girl like her from the other side of the world all the way here?" Ted asked as Greg shrugged.

"Hey, I know you won't disappoint in terms of giving out the best service to those who come here, I'd thought she should have the same experience too." Greg replied. "Besides, I personally would take care of any problems that may come up, I just want Yukari-chan to have as much fun as possible, you're in good hands since you, your daughter, and I are good tenants back home at the apartment building."

"Every time whenever it's you, it's like dealing with a tough customer who is easy to negotiate with. I know Clair would agree with me on that one." Ted said as he nodded. "Okay then, come on in. Rio and Linn should know their way to the food stalls, so they can go and get things prepared in case the special young lady gets hungry."

Rio and Linn both nodded to Ted, since more or less since they knew him after visiting the country a few times, Rio was in charge of managing the sales of the local and popular foods that were made especially for the park before Linn came along for the ride since this was more of a hang out spot for Greg.

"So, that's how it is, Yukari-chan." Greg told her, facing her now. "Just tell us which ride or attraction you'd like to go first and we'll help you have a blast."

"Uhnn!" Yukari nodded as she knew she was being spoiled like this, but she didn't mind because her new friends were there to help her feel how the outside world was like if only for a little while. She got right to taking Greg and Seishiro's arms as she pointed towards one of the joy rides as her first destination.

Making sure to have pictures taken of most of the activities for the day, Yukari made plenty of memories of her first time in America, and was invited to come again by Ted to the park whenever she was around since she has become a complimentary customer.

Sometime after that, Greg often visited her and her mother to keep them company and keep track of her learning process, since Yukari had a lot to catch up on, but she was in truth a quick learner and had plenty of potential as a student. To help further her studies, Greg often brought certain foreign literature at times, so she could get a good idea of the world that she missed all those years, as well as help her develop some language skills for the next time she goes to America.

One evening, after having agreed to stay the night over for the first time since they met in order to help her prepare for a test for her class that was coming in a matter of days, Rio, Linn, Seishiro, and Greg had been taking turns each giving Yukari individual lessons and have been giving her notes and suggestions for her English.

As it was Linn's turn to wrap things up with Yukari's studies, she called out to Greg, who was busy in the kitchen, preparing a late dinner for everyone since he had been assigned cooking duties that evening.

"Alright, Greg, it's your turn to take over." Linn said, placing a hand on his shoulder as if she was tagging him while Seishiro was talking with Rio and Haruko. "Apparently, you're the last one tonight to stick with Yukari until her bed time, so don't do anything to distract her from her studies."

"Come on, what would make you want to say a thing like that?" Greg said simply, as he turned the stir fried vegetables he was cooking over on the pot he was holding as Linn replied.

"I know how much you like to play around just because she's cute and she's gotten used to having you around, but you've got to help her keep her focus too." Linn said as Greg sighed; suddenly taking off the apron he was wearing and giving Linn it as he wrapped it around her slender waist while she smiled at his gesture.

"Fine then, I get your point. Just don't take your eyes off the stove while finishing that." Greg said, suddenly taking one of the cooked carrots nearby which was being kept as a side dish and began to chew it as he left the kitchen. Aside from staying healthy, an old action gun flick named '_Shoot 'Em Up_' that he watched while he was in the States one time in which the protagonist's main meal throughout the movie was nothing but carrots inspired him to eat more vegetables often, especially if he wanted to build his eyesight's strength for certain FOXHOUND missions. "See you guys whenever I'm done."

Heading upstairs to where her bedroom was, Greg fixed his shirt after finishing the carrot, cleared his throat, and knocked on the door, announcing his presence.

"Yukari-chan, it's my turn to assist, so I'm coming in now." Greg said simply as he opened the door, only to see Yukari suddenly run up to him to hug him around his waist area.

"Ah, Greg-oniichan is finally here!" Yukari said, as Greg stepped back a bit since Yukari's body weight was enough to almost him fall over.

"Now, now, Yukari-chan, what did I tell you about following Uncle Yuji's suggestions?" Greg nervously asked, although he didn't feel too bad about being called onii-chan by a stranger like Yukari.

"But that was what Rio, Maya, Lilica, and Yuji told me to start calling you by from now on since we've all become such great friends." Yukari replied, wrapping her metallic, prosthetic arms around his waist as Greg sighed. "And besides, you've really become like a real big brother to me that I know I may never get, so what's the harm in that?"

"They did that, huh?" Greg asked in response as he thought if his surrogate family really put him up for this just for their amusement, but he didn't see anything bad in that either. "Anyway, how much longer are you going to hang onto me like this?"

"But you always do fun and helpful things when we're studying together." Yukari said. "I like studying with Linn-oneechan and Seishiro-san a lot too, but you just make learning even more fun sometimes."

"If you're referring on how I helped you ace that English test that I helped you study for last month, it's not a big deal." Greg said, rubbing his nose with one of his artificial right hand's fingers. "Aside from catching up on my native language when I was younger, I did study some classic literature and monologues as well."

"Still, I can't believe that even you suggested I take a hint from one of your favorite games to help me put more feeling into my composition and it actually worked." Yukari said, as Greg simply smiled, turning his back towards her, only to suddenly turn towards her, clenching his fist as if he was acting from a play, or more like a comical scene from Dante's meeting with Agnus in Devil May Cry 4 from the cutscene, '_Agnus Redux_'.

"'Is sanity…the price to pay…for power!'" Greg said with an upraised fist, causing Yukari to chuckle a little as she noticed something. "Hmm, what's up, Yukari-chan? I've known that's like one of the funniest things you've seen me do, or was my imitation a little off again?"

"Not really, you just look a little run down to me than usual." Yukari replied.

"Now that you mention it, I've really been going at it making dinner since early evening, I really haven't given myself a chance to relax yet…I must look tired to you, huh?" Greg asked, as Yukari smiled.

"Well, then, allow me to get you ready for studying with me with a complete energy charge hug!" Yukari said as his eyes widened as he heard this.

"Wait, Yukari-chan! That's not necessary, I think I can…" Before Greg can finish, Yukari suddenly tightened her hug around his waist with more strength than he can imagine. "Urrrk!"

"Juuden!" Yukari exclaimed as she used some of her leftover strength that she gained as an experimental test weapon to squeeze (or more in Greg's case, crush) his waist against her body until he started to spasm as a deafening sound of bones being cracked were heard and an unconscious Greg fell forward.

"There, energy charge completed." Yukari smiled as she now noticed what she did to her older brother like figure and gasped, noticing that she still has to control the strength that she possessed, even if she's gotten better in controlling it since the aftermath of being freed of her father's grasp. "Ah, Greg-oniichan, gomen ne! I didn't know what I've…please wake up!"

In response, Greg simply raised a weak hand up as he responded to Yukari's call, giving a short laugh before standing on his feet.

"Heh, I'm just fine, Yukari-chan. I just didn't expect you to use so much strength on me like that since I'm not being used to getting hugged for dear life like that just yet." Greg said as he placed a hand on her head as this was routine. "But thanks to that, my body feels a little better now, I think we can get things started on your studies. Just ease up on the next time you want to hug me like that, okay?"

Yukari nodded as she sat down on her studying table where her school supplies were as Greg pulled a chair from nearby closer to Yukari's position and started to help out.

Several minutes passed on as Greg looked on at Yukari's progress; he then felt his personal cell phone vibrate before a MP3 ring theme of _**Kamelot**_'s, '_Shine on You_'s chorus began to play loud enough for both Yukari and Greg to hear.

_Cause the light I shine on you_

_Is what you gave to me_

_I'm a crystal clear and true_

_I'm your cairn and creed_

Yukari gave a brief smile as she heard this, even though she still hasn't gotten a full grasp of the English language that she was currently learning, it appeared she liked the verses in the song enough to understand what most of it meant.

Taking the phone out from his breast pocket, Greg then quickly attached a small, red customized headset that he was carrying to his left ear which Nanvel had created for his private use whenever he used his cell-phone outside of FOXHOUND a while after he started working with Geese as a means to prevent his phone calls from being traced from by an enemy or outside source. He then answered it so as not to disturb Yukari's studies as he went to the outside veranda of her room.

"Gregory Kinezono here…ah, it's only you, Geese-sensei." Greg said, as he spoke to the person on the other end, who just happened to be Geese Howard.

"That's quite a way to greet your outside sponsor and trainer, Greg." Geese's voice echoed from the other end. "Have I caught you at a bad time?"

"Actually…" Greg stopped midway as he glanced at Yukari for a moment through the open door before he took the headset that he was carrying and switched to nano communications instead so the conversation could only be heard between him and Geese. It was then he began speaking once more. "No, I can talk for a while. I was just helping a friend with her studying."

"Then, I'll make it short and simple. I need you in SouthTown by tomorrow to assist Billy in a mission; some of the rivals are starting to give me a hard time again in terms of collection protection money." Geese said.

"Whoa, hold on, I never said anything about assisting you guys in terms like that, and not especially on such a short notice." Greg said suddenly. "That was the deal when I signed up with you, wasn't it? Can you reconsider another errand for me to do?"

"As much as I'd like to refuse that idea, it will have to hold until we can find out what those Heralds of Orochi are up to, I just want less trouble to deal with by the next King of Fighters." Geese said. "Besides, I need your skills now more than ever, Greg. You're an exceptional soldier that should have no problems handling a mere group of thugs who just stepped on the wrong side of the law, that's all."

"Need I remind you that I'm not a vigilante of sorts for hire, nor is this something out from those _Grand Theft Auto_ games that I usually play where I'm called whenever to punish those who ended up stepping on your toes. I don't do business like that, especially considering my role as a soldier, so I'm going to keep things clean as always and I'd like my criminal record to stay that way as well." Greg said seriously. "I'm just making extra use of my skills on the side while I needed the training and not to mention more importantly, the 'you-know-what'."

"I haven't forgotten your end of the bargain; I have your supply of medicine, plus the money for the last job you handled so well, so you'd be getting handled nicely when you get here." Geese said.

"Then this means that I've got to show up no matter what." Greg said as he sighed. "Anyway, I'll have to tell you some information in regards to what's been happening over at the Japanese branches of the remaining NESTS cartel, but they could wait till I get there tomorrow, same location as always?"

"Yes, we'd expect you anytime since I know that you'd take awhile to get from Japan to the States." Geese said. "That's all I've got to tell you, Greg. The real business picks up from tomorrow on, so get some rest."

"Yeah, I'll be sure to do that. See you then, Geese-sensei." Greg said as he hung up and returned his cell, sighing to himself at first. (So much for spending another fun day with Yukari-chan tomorrow before going back to FOXHOUND, man, Geese-sensei certainly knows how to kill my fun sometimes…but no use complaining now that I already accepted the job since I last saw him.)

"Onii-chan?" Yukari's voice called out as Greg turned to look at her with a small grin on his face.

"Hmm, what is it?" Greg asked simply as he took out a small prescription packet containing two differently coloured pills and a glass of water that was nearby where Yukari was studying. "Already having trouble with the homework?"

Yukari shook her head as her long, flowing, and streaking hair followed her movements while she made a cute 'mnn-mnn' sound with her closed lips and replied. "I was just wondering if you'd have to go back to your home tomorrow for, you know, work?"

"My, quite the sharp one, aren't you?" Greg asked with a smile before he swallowed the pills and water. After clearing his throat, he nodded. "Yeah, it seems so, one of my supervisors needed some extra hands for help, so I won't be around to play with you again tomorrow, I'm afraid."

"It will be okay, it's not like I won't get lonely without you or anything. I'll be just fine." Yukari said, placing the pencil near her lips as if she was pondering something. "It's just that…"

"Hmm?" Greg noticed the now worried look on her face.

"It's just that…you don't look at least a bit happy when you're being called off to work. I've noticed that too sometimes when we're together with Linn-oneechan too." Yukari pointed out. "I know it's your job to prevent bad things from happening to people, but…I can tell...it doesn't make you comfortable all the time, especially in your condition."

"Well, you're right that it's not the safest job I can ask for, it pretty much has its downsides. But hey, it's like the only thing I can do with the training I've had so far, also this was something I decided on a long time ago." Greg said, as he reflected on both his jobs as a FOXHOUND recruit and as a disciple of Geese Howard, since he referred to both of them as dangerous occupations that he had to endure in his life as a psychic soldier. And this was causing Yukari to worry about him, which bothered him a little.

"So, are you that worried about me?" Greg asked, wanting to make sure that he was only imagining things.

"Well, a little sometimes." Yukari said. "I know you're Rio's number one student and you can take care of yourself pretty well, but…I couldn't help but do so, since I know now you're such a nice person and I don't want anything bad to happen to you."

"It's okay to feel that way sometimes, not much kids I personally know your age would express themselves in that manner towards a complete stranger like me." Greg said. "But you have to know something about my role; it's the kind that's full of risks that comes with the territory. Staying out of danger's hardly an issue anymore, so it's not like me or Linn could stay out of harm's way every-time we go out on a mission, even if we wanted to."

"I know, I understand that much." Yukari said. "But, in the end, you really wear yourself out from those missions, don't you?"

"Yeah, they can be pretty grueling at times, physically and mentally." Greg said, nodding his head while stretching his arms. "So, where are you getting at with all this, Yukari-chan?"

"I'm just saying… that it's okay whenever you're having some sort of problems with your work next time, I can comfort you." Yukari said as Greg raised an eyebrow at her.

"Hey, Yukari-chan, hold up for a moment. It's not like you to be saying things like that at your age." Greg said as Yukari shifted her eyes to the side as she touched her chest with her artificial hands.

"I'm saying, that you can cry if it gets too much for you." Yukari said. "I can lend you a shoulder, so it's okay if you let me comfort you…"

(So that what's this is about, huh? This kid…she's really…) Greg thought to himself in surprise at first before grinning to himself as he walked over to the frontal position and kneeling in front of her seated body while she stared at him blankly. Before she could know it, Greg was soon already using both of his hands to tickle her sides, causing her to giggle out loud and move about in her chair.

"Kuchi, kuchi, kuchi, kuchi!" Greg said, as Yukari playfully punched his arms while laughing.

"Hey, that's harassment!" Yukari laughed as he stopped after a few seconds and calmed down. "What was that for anyway?"

"Have you been reading those romance manga novels again? Saying things like 'you'll lend a shoulder to cry on' and that 'you'll comfort me' is really sweet and all, but it doesn't fit someone like you, especially when you say it with such seriousness." Greg replied smiling. "I just had to do that to lighten the mood, that's all."

"But, I do mean it." Yukari said, as she took Greg's artificial right hand with both of hers and placed it over her chest. "Ano-ne…will you…stay with me forever, Greg-onii-chan?"

"Mattaku, there you go again, saying things that are so not your character. Or are you simply asking to get tickled again?" Greg asked as Yukari smiled as she was expecting to get another tickle attack again, as she answered.

"I just…I just want things like this to stay as they are." Yukari said. "Now that I'm able to do the things like I wanted to do before da…I mean, my father did those things to me in the past, I'm so happy that I got to know people like Rio and Warrior, and now along with you, Linn-oneechan and Seishiro-san to help me and Mom from now on. I only want you to be with me as much as you'd like if it makes you content."

"Yukari-chan…" Greg muttered as he lowered his head and took her hands to rest them on her lap before standing up straight as he thought to himself. (As far as she can remember, she's never had a father's genuine love to begin with, has she? It's just like me when I can vaguely recall not liking my father in my past…the only difference is that I really hated his guts for something he did, but I can't sense any of that from this girl. If I had met her in my youth, would I have turned out just a little more different than I am now?)

"Now why would a cute ojou-san like you want to keep hanging out so much with an old guy like me?" Greg asked now, opening his arms. "If people were to see that and get the wrong idea, then that would be pretty depressing, you know."

"You're not old; you're only in your twenties, mooou." Yukari pouted and puffed her cheeks, in which her facial expression and the tone of her voice when she told him that caused him to feel something warm strike into his chest with a heavy hint of affection as he began to think to himself after seeing her innocent gesture like this, which only made her all the more cuter with the way she says 'mou' that she sometimes added at times was something she did whenever Greg or someone from Warrior teased her like just now.

(K…Kawaii! She's just way too cute with that expression of hers from the time I've known her, its as if she's become of one of those Toei female moe characters that you can't help but just adore and love, especially if she's adopted one of their catch phrases from one of my past favorite anime remake series of _Kanon_ made back in 2006 that seriously beat the living crap of the original series in terms of voices, art, story, character and one of the best anime endings ever!) Greg thought to himself, secretly turning away from Yukari while clenching his artificial right hand and shaking it, while recalling one of his most loved anime titles from Toei Animation aside from _Air_ and the _Clannad _series that grew unto him during his teen years.

It would come as a bit of a surprise to some that he had a rather weak spot for certain cute things as well, which he tried not to show much, despite the image and personality he has given people about him except to Rio who knew more of his softer side than everyone else. Also to contribute to this was due to the times he spent with Yuji in the past and even up to the present, who made sure to get him into more of the anime genre, as well as being with the only pure Japanese FOXHOUND recruit at the time, Riku Hanabishi, who introduced him to the game versions of _Kanon, _both the original PC and PSP versions_, Code Geass: Lost Colors, _a PS2 game which was an alternate retelling of the first half of the series, and eventually, _Fate/Unlimited Codes_, a Capcom made fighting game in used the characters and story from a famed visual novel he was also introduced to named _Fate/Stay Night_.

Luckily for him, he got the PS2 console version of the _Unlimited Codes_ to add to his import fighting collection since the game ran a lot more better on the system than the PSP's version, but was still having some hard times dealing with the missions of several of the characters, even though he was good enough at the time to have beat over ninety percent of the missions from the old, yet still popular, _Guilty Gear X2_ and could never get around beating one the most of one of the most dreaded things he or anyone else ever faced in any game…Mission 45.

(That reminds me…the PSP version of that _Queen's Blade_ fighting gameI've heard about was also a hit, but that's so hard to find now since stuff like that are now rarity items, especially to the otaku who are into the ecchi stuff. There's no way the general public are allowed to get their hands on that for a fair price, sadly, which adds to how hard to get it. ) Greg thought to himself as he suddenly shook his head.

(But…I must not let such actions and thoughts get the better of me, those kinds of things are rather dangerous now that I think about it. Can't forget why I'm doing this in the first place and not lose focus.) The psychic thought some more. (Is this what Yuji was referring to as the famed 'moe'? Part of his influence from the 'wrong kinds' of material he had in his possession and he let me read from time to time from the past is his fault to begin with if I'm feeling like this…,come on, Greg. Just think of some of the Vergil combos you finally managed to make in the past just like you saw in the combo vids and you'll be just fine for now.)

Clearing his throat loudly to compose himself, Greg got back to answering Yukari's question while trying to keep a straight face so as not to give her any ideas of what he was thinking of just now.

"It's like I said, an old guy like me. I'm already halfway to that point if you say I'm in my twenties, but I'm actually around midway there." Greg pointed out as he made a friendly gesture of pointing upwards with his artificial index finger. "Why, even because of work, I've started to get some gray hairs, see?"

Yukari giggled a little before she took her time to stand up straight from her seat, but because she hasn't gotten fully used to her artificial legs, she stumbled a bit, causing her to fall over. Luckily, Greg was quick enough to catch her before her body landed on the ground head first as he held her above her chest area gently.

"Oto, be careful now there." Greg said, as Yukari stared at him with wide eyes. "That was almost a nasty fall you got there, wouldn't want you to hurt that precious body you have."

"My precious body, huh?" Yukari simply asked, raising her hands in front of her face. "Even after what my father did to me to make me like this, can anyone else tell me the same thing with a straight face other than you, your family, and friends?"

(Uh-oh, I KNEW something like this was bound to happen eventually.) Greg thought to himself. (Was I wrong to tell call her 'precious' before if it made her upset?)

"Look at me; I can't be a normal girl anymore." Yukari said. "Although I'm still alive, my body's been nothing but a tool for his experiments ever since I could remember, it's not the same as it used to be. How can anyone say that I'm precious?"

"Yukari-chan…" Greg said as he stared at her directly in her eyes. "Look at me; I really don't see anything that is wrong with or about you, as you're a very special girl who I actually prefer to look at as an actual miracle."

"You're only saying that to make me feel better, aren't you?" Yukari asked as Greg gripped her shoulders with a firm and assuring grip.

"That's not true, Yukari-chan. Any other normal child wouldn't have pulled through the harsh things you've gone under, but that's besides the point I'm making." Greg said as he sighed first before continuing. "I do know that your father's the one to blame for making you like this, so I can't stop you if you want to hate him. Is that what you're trying to emphasize?"

"Well…I'm not really sure about it…" Yukari's eyes shifted as Greg leaned back. "Would it really be okay for me just have those kinds of feelings for the man who helped my mom gave birth to me?"

"It's like I said, neither me or Rio or anyone else for that matter is going to make that choice, that's up to you entirely." Greg replied. "I just want to make it clear so that you don't end up denying your own existence because of the things he did to you, or else those feelings would just grow along with you, and only end up making things harder for you to get by as you recover. Trust me, I've been that way once, and in ways, I think I still am, battling with the memories I was given during the time I was with my own father."

"But, you don't seem to be too bothered by it, Greg-oniichan." Yukari said. "What was it that made you think otherwise about yourself up to this point?"

"Good question, Yukari-chan and I'll even provide a good answer for that." Greg said. "It's quite simple actually, despite the things he did in the past, I'm still here as part of the living world as a human being. Just as your father and mother worked together one time to bring you into this world; it's the same with me. Without my father and mother's combined DNA and genes, I'd never have existed or be here standing chatting with you right now. It was thanks to him that I'm here, and that's probably one benefit about him I should be grateful for, aside from the family he made of my deceased biological mother and younger sister as well."

"Our situations are a bit different, now that I think about it." Yukari said. "I mean, I always yearned to be with my father and helped him in any way until the last experiment, but…I can't be just grateful with being born into this world because of him…"

"Of course, something like that isn't much to satisfy that growing curiosity of yours, but that's doesn't mean that you should worry too much about it." Greg said as he raised his head. "If I were to place your old man between the category of good and evil, I'd sure label him on the evil side for the bad things he did, but I should also commend him on the side of good only for having bring to this world, a very special and cute girl like you that I can be friends with."

"There you go again, saying weird stuff about me…" Yukari couldn't help but blush as Greg grinned slightly. "But, I think I get where you're getting at, that I'm very precious not just to you, but to everyone else I know."

"You see? You shouldn't give up on life or on yourself so easily. That'd really be a waste." Greg said to Yukari, who seem elated to hear him tell her this. "Someday, when you get older and seen how much you've accomplished, you'll understand. As the saying goes, 'Give the world the best you have and the best will come back'."

"Greg-oniichan…" Yukari muttered as Greg then made a pose with one of his arms.

"Also, if there are people out there who dare to tell you other wise, all you got to do is point them out to me or Rio-sensei and we'll make sure to give them a Kinezono style punishment that they will never forget." Greg said, causing Yukari to stare at him blankly, before she started to giggle. "Hey, I'm being serious here, you know?"

"But, I can tell you're only kidding when you say that." Yukari smiled. "You're way too nice to do such things, you're not a bully."

"So, you already figured me out, huh?" Greg said as he rubbed his head. "Alright, no argument there, I won't be beating up anybody for your sake, that'd only make ME look like the bad guy now, wouldn't it?"

"Hmm, I'll make an exception for you and Rio only if it's somebody who I don't really like." Yukari said as Greg chuckled to himself as he placed his artificial right hand on top of the young girl's head and gently patted it.

(I guess this is what they mean by innocence being a scary thing, eh?) Greg thought to himself. (She's really a cute and remarkable girl, I'm glad that I made this the decision to stick by her like this, she really needed this kind of company.)

"Anyway, now with that out of the way, we should go back to the studies, before it gets any more late than it is and we won't be able to cover as much as we want to tonight." Greg said as Yukari nodded.

"Okay, but remember we got to revise that book we're studying together before we call it a night." Yukari said, taking up a hardcover fantasy novel that she seemed to have started to take a liking to.

"Yeah, I haven't forgotten." Greg said as he went over to a small couch which was situated at the side of the room with one of Yukari's books as the girl herself came over to sit next to him. "You sure you're okay coming over here to finish your studies? You might get sleepy if you're too comfy with me."

"Mouuu, you're being too unreasonable, Greg-oniichan. I'm okay once I'm close with you like this." Yukari said, pouting at him once more.

(T…too kawaii! I swear, it's as if she's like one of the Hirasawa sisters from that old, popular and extremely moe music anime, _K-ON_!) Greg thought to himself, also recalling another anime he loved, although he was more of a personal Ritsu Tainaka fan because of her loud and energetic, tomboyish personality, looks and her gifted ability to play drums. It was then once more before he yawned some, as the fatigue for the day was catching onto him. "Fine then, suit yourself, ojou-san. Don't blame me if you end up falling asleep on me like the last time."

"Muuu, that won't happen this time. And it seems you're the one ready to fall asleep any time." Yukari pointed as Greg sighed.

"Oh? Wanna see which of us can stay up more?" Greg said, staring closely at Yukari's face.

"This is still part of my study time, I dare you to let your eyes wink for once while I'll stay up and finish tonight's chapter." Yukari said, placing the book into his hands. "Now, start reading, and no slouching."

"Oi, aren't you being a little too fired up tonight?" Greg asked as he started to read word to word from the book to Yukari. "Never mind, let's go…"

Meanwhile, back downstairs, Linn had finished collecting plates with Rio and Haruko, while Seishiro looked at his watch, wondering about how long Greg was gone for.

"It seems he's keeping himself busy with Yukari's studies." Seishiro said as Haruko looked on with a small grin. "Are you sure its okay like that, getting them attached like this?"

"If it will help Yukari get along with people, I'm sure it's a first step." Haruko said. "As Rio mentioned before, Greg's got an outgoing personality, so she should be just fine if she adapts to it quickly."

"Be careful that you don't spoil her too much, though." Linn said. "I really can't say for sure what kind of advice Greg must be sharing with her, but I know he would put her in the direction you want. It's also a good way to make him behave himself at times too if he has a role that important to act out."

"Yes, I'm certain of that as well, he's somehow mellowed down a bit since he started getting attached to Yukari, hasn't he?" Seishiro said as Rio contemplated how true their words were until she broke her silence.

"I'm heading upstairs to get let Greg know it's time to leave and say good night to Yukari as well." Rio said to Linn and Haruko as she turned around and made her way to the first floor area of the Imada house and saw the door to Yukari's room was slightly open as she knocked it gently.

"Greg, it's getting kind of late over here. I think we should already be on the…" Rio stopped midway after she stepped inside Yukari's bedroom and gasped lightly, before smiling to herself at what she was seeing in front of her.

"Awww, they've must have tuckered each other out." Rio whispered, looking to her side, she went across to pick a large enough blanket to put on both a peaceful looking and sleeping Greg and Yukari who were sitting close enough to each other on the small couch as her head was leaning on his right artificial shoulder while her artificial left hand rested on his right's as it was holding a closed book they were reading before together.

Not bothering to disturb the tender moment she was witnessing, Rio quietly returned to where she came before silently closing the door behind her and saying 'Sweet dreams' to the two sleeping individuals.

It wasn't till the next morning after Greg woke up, only to find out that he slept the whole night through with Yukari right next to him undisturbed, as told by not just Rio, who ended up telling everyone else who was staying over at the Imada's house the previous night.

Yuji Naruo, who was asked the night before to pick up Greg and Linn to drop them off to their destination where they will meet their FOXHOUND comrades for the new mission they will be having later that day, heard what had happened and couldn't stop laughing due to the constant reddened look that stayed on Greg's face after he heard this.

"I can't believe this! The ever so composed, Gregory Kinezono slept through the night like a log with Yukari!" Yuki exclaimed as Greg sighed, easily embarrassed by this.

"Like that's something to be making a big deal out of, Uncle Yuji." Greg said as he looked at Rio. "And I can't believe that you went and told everyone about it, Rio-sensei."

"Not just tell, but came back to even taka a few pictures of it too." Linn said, waving something important that looked like it belonged to Greg as his eyes widened.

"Hey, that's my digital camera!" Greg noted as he felt around his jacket where the camera was supposed to be stored as he knew now that Linn had it all along. "You…you had it all this time?"

"Don't think you're the only one who has fast moves between the two of us." Linn warned him as Greg gritted his teeth.

"Just what are you and Rio-sensei plotting this time, hmm?" Greg asked with a wry grin. "It's not common for the two of you to work together like this."

"Nothing really, we just wanted to take visual evidence of showing that sentimental side of yours since all we do see is that roughened, American influenced, rebellious attitude you've got." Rio replied as Greg raised one of his eyebrows at her comment.

"Huuuuh?" Greg asked as he shook his head. "In any case, you'd better not show anybody else what you've taken; my so called reputation as you put it is needed since you know I'm working for one of SouthTown's most dangerous crime lords."

"And keep something this good to ourselves?" Seishiro pitched in, shocking Greg as it seemed he was in this too. "I know, girls, since most people from FOXHOUND are on FaceBook, how about we post these cute pictures for them to see what kind of compassionate and soft person Greg really is?"

"Seishiro-san…not you too?" Greg exclaimed. "And anywhere but FaceBook! Almost everyone I know both outside and inside FOXHOUND and KOF will know!"

"Doesn't sound like a bad idea to me, Seishiro-san." Linn said.

"Oh, man, it will be quite the eventful day when the secret of the psychic, Gregory Kinezono is out, that he's truly a caring person with a younger sister complex." Rio said as Greg's eyebrows twitched.

"You're really starting to rub it in, Sensei…" Greg said as he knew he was the target of being teased once more now that Linn's joined forces with his surrogate family.

"I knew there had to be a weakness that we haven't spotted in our Greg that we haven't accurately pointed out since he joined FOXHOUND." Yuji said as he pointed out to him. "Now, I can personally say this, it's true you do have a thing for the 'moe' type of girl who calls you 'onii-chan', don't you?"

"NANDATTO!" Greg exclaimed, as if the blushing red on his face had already turned more crimson as it is and any more of it would eventually start changing his light dark skin tone. "That's so not true, Uncle Yuji! And stop making references to ero-manga for instances like this!"

"Aw, come on, I know for sure you've become rather attached to the theme, thanks to some of the…historical literature I've told you about." Yuji said as Greg began protesting telepathically, so he wouldn't have Rio and everyone else in the room overhear the conversation he was having with Yuji.

(That's because all you gave me to read when you said that I should start learning to read Japanese was some h-manga, even some of your favorites by that famed artist, Gunma Kisaragi!) Greg replied.

(Didn't I tell before you that everything he draws is pure gold?) Yuji teased Greg as the psychic shifted his eyes. (While _Giri Giri Sisters_ will be a best hit among all perverts, he does have a dozen titles that are just as good.)

(Well, I do agree that I personally enjoyed one shot titles such as _Sakura Rises to the Front, Step Up, Kimi ni Youseihannou _and it sequel, _Positive Reaction to You Sunday Edition, _simply mostly for the stories…, but sadly, not all of the manga he creates follows the same theme, which can be said for most other h-manga artist out there that you've become a fan of.) Greg said, before he stoppedto stare at Yuji with widened eyes.(You on the other hand aren't just satisfied with those and have even got stuff like_, Mai Favorite, Love Selection_ and_ Miss Contest Rhapsody _among things! What kind of example are you trying to set when you have titles like that?)

(You'll never understand until you see things as I do, Greg. It helps to be bold at times, trying out new stuff like that.) Yuji said as Greg shook his head and crossed his arms in the form of an 'X', indicating a 'denied' signal.

(No, thank you, Uncle Yuji, I've learned my lesson after finding out there is stuff out there that are just waaay out of my league. That's why I'm going to stick with the normal, couple, love/confession themed h-manga that I favored very much over the years from various artists like Amatarou's_ Futari no Yume _and _Confession Warning_, Yarii Shimeta's _Sweet Temptation_, Jingrock's _After School_ and _Futari de Obenkyo_, Unagimaru's _Just As Planned_, _Fudotei Student Academy, Your Smiling Face_ and Inu's _Wildly Imaginative Girl, Yukina-chan!_ from now on after this if I need to avoid…) Greg thought to himself as he noticed Rio smiling at him, cracking her knuckles. (Oh, crap.)

(What's this going on here, a secret conversation among perverts?) Rio thought, which made Greg and Yuji realize that Rio too also shares a mental link with Greg, so she was hearing the thoughts they were conveying together all along, which made the two of them sweat nervously.

(Wait, how did she find out?) Yuji asked with a stressed look as Greg replied.

(How, you ask? To put it simply, since I've been with you guys for so long, we've developed this mental link using my psychic powers, so we can talk to each other telepathically on a light scale, but you seem to forget that even while thinking, your habit of expressing your favorite preferences can be heard too, didn't you know?) Greg explained. (And worst yet, I even picked up that habit from you while growing up! How else would Sensei find out?)

(Oh, seems simple enough, now that you said it…) Yuji replied as Rio closed in on the two. (Um, Rio, this isn't what it seems, I was just talking about certain 'adult stuff' to Greg and…)

(Oi, I really wouldn't call what we just talked about stuff like that…) Greg said as Rio tilted her head.

(Saying those kinds of things in front of Yukari like that, you two have no shame for grown men. And Greg, I'm ashamed that you probably read more of those kinds of things since you recall each title and artist so well.) Rio said as Greg cut the mental connection and talked plainly to his sensei.

"I'm not sure about that, coming from you who actually poses and thinks up of seducing techniques and poses in front of Yukari-chan…OW!" Greg didn't get to finish his sentence as he felt a strong punch on his head, as he keeled over, holding his temple area. "Damn it, I should have just kept my mouth shut…"

"I think that's quite enough from you, Greg. Oh, and Yuji…" Rio said, as if a dark tone was covering the atmosphere while Greg began to count from three backwards for the incoming sign of impending doom as he quickly recovered.

"Three…two…one…" Greg said as a looming figure of Rio was over Yuji by the time he was already done.

"Huh, what is it, Rio?" Yuji asked nervously as Rio cracked her knuckles, before she exclaimed.

"SHI-NE, HENTAI!" Rio shouted, as a large cloud of dust began to form and a series of punches and kicks were heard as Rio began to give Yuji a lesson for almost making loud sexual references in the open. As this was happening, Greg gave a nervous laugh as he couldn't make out just how nastily Yuji was getting his punishment.

(While though he's my uncle with a good intention, even he doesn't deserve this sometimes.) Greg thought as he looked at Rio. (And sensei herself…the way she's going at it, I swear it looks more like a 'Distortion Drive' from that old fighting game we'd all play against each other named _BlazBlue_, wasn't it called? That's just overkill, man.)

"My, it seems like all of you are having fun." Haruko said as she walked into the room with Yukari next to her. "I assume you've a good night's rest, Greg-san?"

"Yeah, I had, thanks for asking, Haruko-san." Greg said simply as he looked at Yukari. "I hope I didn't bother you much last night, Yukari-chan."

"No, I had a great night, thanks to you and everyone else." Yukari smiled, all dressed in her school uniform. "Now I think I can deal with this test with ease now."

"That's good to hear; we're all wishing you the best of luck and try your best to apply all that we taught you." Linn said to her. "But suffice to say, we won't be here when you get back to help you celebrate your supposed success later."

"I know, you guys are going back to America today." Yukari said as if she sounded a bit discouraged, but looked up as Greg got on one knee to place his hand on her shoulder.

"You should be a little more honest with yourself, Yukari-chan. I know you're going to miss us already, but like I said, don't let stuff like what we talked about last night get to you." Greg said sternly. "I'll be counting on you to keep your wits throughout that test until I can call you later to hear your results."

"Unnnn!" Yukari nodded as Greg stood up to look at Linn.

"Hey, Linn, how about adding one more picture to what you guys have already taken?" Greg asked as Linn looked back at him surprised.

"Are you sure about this?" Linn asked with a smile as Greg kneeled next to Yukari with a smile of his own.

"Anyway you look at it, this is just another memory that the kid and I will get to share and to add to the list as well." Greg said. "You guys practically conscripted me into doing this from the beginning, which I have no complaint about; we might as well go with the flow for the sake of it."

"Mou, you're so carefree…" Linn smiled as she raised the camera to take a picture of Greg standing close to Yukari's side, as an idea came in her head. "Hey, even though it's just a picture that the two of you will be sharing, how about adding some variety to it?"

"And how are you going to do that, Linn?" Yuji asked as Linn smiled at Yukari.

"Hey, Yukari, why not have Greg give a really big hug around you while you both face the camera?" Linn as the psychic's eyes widened.

"Now wait just a second….!" Greg said as suddenly, Yukari nodded.

"I like the sound of that, Linn-oneechan." Yukari said as the young girl looked at Greg with almost pleading eyes as he felt his cheeks turn red. "You won't do it, Greg-oniichan?"

"You know I can hardly say no to women and children, I'll do it alright." Greg got to one knee at Yukari's side since he was much taller than her and he wrapped his left arm behind her head with his artificial right hand holding onto it over Yukari's chest while the young girl's small, metallic prosthetic hands held onto his right arm. "This is what you wanted, right, Linn?"

Linn swallowed at the cute sight and nodded. "That's right, just perfect. Okay, give me your best smiles, you two."

"Hai." Both Greg and Yukari said at the same time as Linn took their pictures, and some more involving herself and Seishiro afterwards as the time came for Yukari to leave for school and the FOXHOUND trio to leave. After a promise of visiting again soon from the departing party, they made their way to the outside to their waiting vehicle.

"Looks like that's the time we should be heading to the airport." Seishiro said as he opened a transport wagon's door, ready to drive.

"That's right; we don't want to keep the superiors at home waiting any longer." Linn said as she noticed Greg's look while he was seated. "Hey, I'm sure they'll be fine until the next time we're ready to see them again."

"I know, Linn…I was just wondering if there's anything else I could be doing for the kid with the way things are now…" Greg said as Seishiro looked at his surrogate son from the side.

"Even though you said that, you've managed to accomplish a lot so far by having the girl trust in her will to live on, despite what happened to her." Seishiro said as Greg leaned back. "Before when Rio was teasing you about that personality you have, I think she was making it known that you've done your part rather well, Greg."

"You think so, huh?" Greg simply said as he took out a copy of the picture taken before as he smiled. "Well, you could be right about that, Seishiro-san, I made quite the influence, even if it's a little in her life."

"And the same goes for her influence to yours as well." Linn said as she smiled at Greg, who returned her look by fixing his jacket with an uncomfortable look.

"A-anyway, we should hurry on to the airport, I don't want Geese-sensei to chew me out on the account that I stayed back just to take pictures." Greg said as he then remembered the part of the pictures taken prior to that morning. "And even though the two of you were joking back then, I'm dead serious about having those pictures posted."

"We hear you, Greg; it never actually came to mind." Seishiro said. "I advised Maki before that we'd make sure any visual or photographic evidence of Yukari's existence be kept amongst ourselves and not for the likes of the Patriots or any of the enemy groups we're fighting against to find out."

"For now, at least, Seishiro-san." Linn said. "If only the few of us can keep Yukari a secret until we can gain some more trustful allies for an extended amount of time, we should be okay."

"But don't count on it on lasting forever, though." Greg said, placing his hands behind his head to rest on them. "All we can do for now is continue supporting her and her mother from the sidelines, and hope and pray that none of the enemy groups get wind of them for a very, long time."

The trio stayed silent as Seishiro started the wagon to drive off, while Yukari looked on from the door's entrance, leisurely waving off to the wagon, holding onto a copy of the same picture of her and Greg holding each other.

* * *

Back to the present, as Yukari simply placed back the portrait on her dresser after recalling the memory, she then smiled to herself for a bit.

"I know I won't have to wait longer to see him again, he probably must be really busy with his work." Yukari said to herself. "Well, I'd better be doing my part as well and be heading off to school now."

The young girl then proceeded to get herself prim and properly dressed as she made her way to the kitchen to meet her mother after gathering her things.

"Good morning, Mom." Yukari said, as she took a seat and started to eat the healthy breakfast that her mother prepared for her, while wearing a black and white sailor school uniform. "Wow, you really went all out this morning, huh?"

"I just know you have some big tests coming up again, you'll need to get all the nutrients you'll need for when the day comes." Haruko said as she looked at the calendar. "Speaking of which, I'm supposed to be getting a call from Rio soon, it is around that time she and her friends are to visit us."

"Really?" Yukari asked. "Then I won't have to wait much longer for Greg-oniichan to come over to help me with my studies soon."

"Well, he and Linn-san did put a lot of effort into helping you get the second highest of passing marks in your last language test, but I do hope you're learning these things by yourself, Yukari." Haruko warned.

"I am, Mom. It's just that studying is a lot better when I've got friends around to make it fun." Yukari said as she looked at her watch. "Anyway, I'll finish on the way to school, time for me to get running to the train station."

"Watch yourself while in traffic and remember not to talk to anyone weird." Haruko said, kissing her daughter's forehead. "Even though you have a bodyguard to watch over you, just be careful out there, there's plenty going on at Tokyo 3 already that everyone's on edge right now."

"Don't worry, I'll be fine, Mom." Yukari said as she grabbed a toast with her mouth and left through the front door. "Well, then, I'm off. See you later."

Haruko simply waved to her daughter as she watched her run off on the sidewalk with a burst of vigorous energy, it has been awhile since she saw her daughter so high spirited.

"It looks like its going to be an eventful day for her, huh?" A female voice said from behind Haruko as the woman turned to see a familiar face, taking one of the slices of toast and eating it. "Or should I say, for the rest of us?"

"Nagase-san!" Haruko exclaimed as she noted the young ninja's appearance in her home. "Why are you here still? Yukari just left…"

"Relax, ma'am, you're talking to one of my clones." Nagase tilted her small glasses as another one of her clones appeared next to her, also having her fill of Haruko's cooking. "The real deal is already in pursuit of seeing Yukari gets to school safely. We're here on a bit of a recon mission."

"I see, well, don't do such frightening things next time, you had me worried." Haruko said as Nagase tilted her head. "Somehow, I'm not used to having somebody with your skills around to watch us."

"Ah, but it was the boss's idea. I know, it's a hassle to me too, but I'm just doing them a favor." Nagase said, recalling how Greg suggested to Geese to have her act as a bodyguard for Haruko and Yukari while he is out of Japan most of the time. Nagase wasn't particularly fond of kids, but she made Yukari an exception after hearing of her story.

"Well, I must say you're doing a rather splendid job so far, even though the danger's minimal." Haruko said as she sat down. "In any case, any word from Greg-san?"

"Nope, even though I learned that the group he's part of are in Japan for awhile now. Whatever's going on in Tokyo-3 other than the Angels invading that side must be serious to have him holed up there."

"I just hope it's not a sign of things to come…" Haruko said as Nagase sighed.

"Let's not worry too much about it; I'm sure it's just your imagination." Nagase said as she pondered to herself. (Maybe I shouldn't be saying that at a time like this, but with Ash Crimson at large, he could target just about anyone if he's still chasing for power. His recent action from the last tournament when he stole Iori Yagami's flame powers has proven that he's only getting warmed up. That's why I sent the clones around the city to gather info on his whereabouts, but nothing's come up…)

"Anyway, I don't want to take up more of your time, but I need to be going to continue my mission." Nagase stood up as Haruko shook her head.

"Please, if it's not too much trouble, at least stay and we can chat for awhile, I'd like to know more about you, Nagase-san." Haruko said, offering her some warm tea. "This place is too quiet at times without Yukari around until in the evening."

"Hmm, I guess I can spare some time with you, but let's not get too comfortable, shall we?" Nagase asked as she lifted her tea cup and started drinking to relax for awhile.

* * *

"I just hope I'm not late for the train to take me to school…" Yukari said to herself as she then found herself near a park after running for awhile, but something seemed to be happening there as a large crowd of people were formed near the outside auditorium and large fountain. "Hmm, what's going on over there?"

Stopping for a moment, she went across while excusing herself to see what was happening and to her surprise when she saw what was going on, she saw two young men, apparently teenagers, engaging in a martial arts fight. One of them was a brash, yet wild and fierce looking male with a tan skinned tone, with dark blue and long flowing shoulder length hair that was held together by a yellow head band with a tiger stripe imprint while wearing a red, open jacket and a long jeans. He seemed to be the stronger of the two fighters as he was easily landing punches on his challenger.

"What a combination by the ever so powerful Shizuma Kusanagi!" A cheerful girl's voice rang out as Yukari turned to see a blond Japanese girl wearing a school uniform holding onto a microphone and was talking unto it, as if she was the announcer. "Once again, the outcome of this K-Fight has already been determined from the get go, as the favored Shizuma dominates the boxing club's main champion yet again in this K-Fight rematch!"

The youth named Shizuma turned to raise his fists, one of his clearly known facial features is having a single formed eyebrow and a somewhat devilish smile. Shizuma raised his fist upwards in victory.

"Yeah, baby!" Shizuma shouted as the crowd cheered for him.

"K…fight?" Yukari asked no one in particular as she was witness to something like this for the first time when a brunette girl with short hair, who also appeared to be one of the emcees next to her noticed Yukari's stature.

"Oh, this is the first time you've seen one?" The brunette girl asked as Yukari nodded.

"Isn't something like this, um…illegal?" Yukari asked as the blond shook her head.

"Nope, this is perfectly normal for those who attend the Daimon High School. The K-Fight is a system for fights to properly settle disputes between clubs and one another since the school couldn't control them any more. Of course, they can be held outside of school as well as long the fighters stick to the rules." The brunette said as Yukari had question marks over her head.

"Who'd be crazy enough to organize something like that?" She exclaimed as the girl put up a smile at Yukari.

"Why, our own principal, of course." She replied as Yukari tilted her head.

"Now I think I should say I'm glad with the school I'm going to…" Yukari said as she shook her head. "I'm sorry, maybe I'm not used to that sort of thing like you people are, although my close friends and family do say I'm pretty strong."

"Eh, then I bet you'll do nicely, how about visiting our school one day and see how it's like?" the brunette girl asked. "By the way, I'm Tamaki Nakamura one of the emcees here, the one who was just announcing the fight is Natsumi Fujishima."

"Yukari Imada, it's nice to meet you, Tamaki-san." Yukari bowed. "As for your offer, I'll give it some thought."

"Well, I'll keep the offer open whenever you're ready." Tamaki replied.

Yukari then looked over to where Shizuma was standing. "In the meantime, who is that guy?"

"He's the former K-Fight champion, Shizuma Kusanagi. From what I heard, he's in training to build himself up for a rematch against the current champion, our modern day samurai named, Ryoko Mitsurugi." Tamaki answered as Yukari looked on in surprise.

"Wait, the K-Fight's champion is a girl?" Yukari asked surprised. "So you're saying just about anyone can be part of a K-Fight?"

"Yeah, but there are even some other tough ones out there too, not just those two. I've seen them in action myself too." Tamaki said as she watched Natsumi approach Shizuma with her mic in hand.

"Shizuma, what did you think of today's challenge?" Natsumi asked as Shizuma brushed back his hair.

"Heh, that was too easy, if you ask me!" Shizuma said, easily putting up a V sign. "Lately, I haven't been getting the kind of exercise that would get my blood going, maybe I've already gotten too strong."

"So, does that mean you're ready to issue a rematch against Ryoko Mitsurugi?" Natsumi asked as Shizuma glanced at her before answering.

"Well, that depends on if she's ready for one, I've been going non-stop in building up my stamina so I can go all night long if she wants me to!" Shizuma said, causing several of the people in the crowd to react to his comment. "Hey, get your minds out of the gutter, I didn't mean it that way!"

"Well, if the master of the famed 'Honoo no Tora' can boast about his sexual performance in the open like that, I don't have anything to worry about." A coy male voice spoke from the crowd's background as Shizuma looked in the direction where it came from.

"Who the hell said that?" Shizuma asked loudly as the crowd looked back to see a surprising sight walking towards them. "Show yourself so I can teach you to keep your comments to yourself."

"Oi, that should be my line, Shizuma." A Japanese male in his mid twenties with short hair stepped forward, wearing a dark brown jacket that had a flaming circle on its back, as well as on the fighting gloves he was wearing. The crowd and Yukari herself gasped at the person who casually spoke to Shizuma like this. "Or should I say, long time no see, cuz."

"K…Kyo?" Shizuma muttered, as Kyo Kusanagi of the famous KOF Japan team appeared before him. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Just passing through, taking in the sights. Actually, I snuck away from the rest of the guys to be myself for awhile and that's when I heard you of all people causing this ruckus." Kyo said simply as Natsumi jumped at seeing Kyo.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we're witnessing a new event that's never before happened in the history of K-Fight!" Natsumi said. "The King of Fighters' very own flame wielding, Kyo Kusanagi stands before Shizuma as a comrade! Kyo Kusanagi-san, if you may, what sort of relationship do you have with Shizuma?"

"How long has it since the family gathering, cuz?" Kyo simply asked. "A year?"

"Heh, that's right, I remember we held a sparring match with your old man that day to test how far my strength's gotten." Shizuma said.

"Then, does this mean you two are…" Tamaki jumped in, not wanting to waste a chance like this as Kyo responded.

"That's right; Shizuma and I are cousins, but distant ones." Kyo said. "Even though he doesn't show it, Shizuma here has a decent amount of the Kusanagi lineage within him."

"That makes perfect explanation of the flame wielding abilities and fighting style that he used in the previous set of matches!" Natsumi shouted. "What a revelation indeed, folks!"

"Hey, speaking of that, we never finished our match that time, did we, Kyo?" Shizuma asked as Kyo adjusted his jacket.

"Now that you mention it, you're right, we never did." Kyo said as Yukari swallowed, seeing something was out of place here. "Tell you what, how about we settle it here and now, in front of all these people? Seeing you fired up this much has gotten me in the mood to spar with you a little."

"Heh, you just can't deny your fighter's calling, huh, Kyo?" Shizuma asked as he adjusted the bandages on his hands. "I'd like that."

"Then, let's do this!" Kyo said, raising a flame covered right fist, then extinguishing it.

"Hey…is it just me, or has it gotten even hotter here?" Yukari asked, feeling an unnatural heat rise in the area, as was everyone else when they saw an aura emanating from the two Kusanagi males who were facing each other.

Both Tamaki and Natsumi swallowed hard, and almost felt like passing out at the idea of seeing a fight as fierce as Kyo against Shizuma occurred in front of them. The two girls took their positions away from the two men as Natsumi started to announce the fight's progress.

"Everyone, hang onto whatever seats you have, as for the first time, the K-Fight committee proudly presents a new fight between renowned King of Fighters veteran Kyo Kusanagi and Daimon High School's Shizuma Kusanagi in a match to determine the height of their unmatched skills!" Natsumi said as Tamaki followed.

"That's right, Natsumi, and knowing the fighting prowess of each of these particular individuals, this is going to be a hard match to decide who will be the winner!" Tamaki said. "Will these two men go all out with their unique abilities as fire wielders, or as skilled martial artists?"

"Go for it, Nagi baby!" a blond girl, named Sara Himekawa, called for Shizuma who waved back to her as Yukari stood by watching.

"This is…an actual fight…" Yukari tensed as she heard the bell made its clank noise and the match was on.

Battle theme: _**The Chase of Highway**_ from _Final Fantasy 7: Advent Children_.

(Author's note: Oh yeah, even though this is more of a chase scene theme, this song also has 'badass fight coming through' written all over it, I just had to use this one, especially when it has such a sick solo drum part that comes right after the first minute of the song as things really kick off.)

"Ready….fight!" Natsumi shouted as the two fighters squared off at each other. Kyo launched the aggressive first strike as he charged at Shizuma.

"Here I come, cuz!" Kyo said, executing the starter of his chain attacks, from his right fist, the 114 Shiki Aragami, which Shizuma dodged easily. Kyo didn't let up as he continued the chain, now shifting to his left fist this time to the 128 Shiki: Konokizu attack. Shizuma sidestepped that blow as he was already near Kyo's open side.

"I have you now!" Shizuma said as Kyo smirked back at Shizuma as he cancelled into one of the Shiki finishers, by executing his 412: Hikigane, a single standing, spinning roundhouse kick that Shizuma didn't get to block on time, as Kyo's boot met its mark to the side of Shizuma's face.

"Hmph, barely even felt that…" Shizuma grinned, feeling some of the blow that slightly bruised him. "I see you're up to your old tricks, Kyo."

"Not really, I just added some new attacks to my style from the last time we fought." Kyo said as he brought up a flame from his fist. "Why don't you show me what you got, you monkey."

"Oh, now you've got me all fired up." Shizuma said as his aura grew enough that even his hair was resonating. "That was a bad call, man."

"It looks like despite the skill Kyo Kusanagi displays, it isn't enough to faze Shizuma's fiery spirit, as Shizuma decides to take the initiative once more." Natsumi said as Shizuma started to dance on his feet before seeing Kyo advance once more, his fist covered in flame.

"Oh yeah!" Kyo shouted, as he executed his rising, spinning fire infused attack, the 100 Shiki: Oniyaki, but it was suddenly countered as Shizuma pulled out a similar blow, the Akai Kiba, or Red Fang, the two techniques clashing against each other, creating a small explosion mid air from the attack.

The two fighters leaped back to catch their breaths, but Shizuma was still on the warpath. Already set to execute a second Akai Kiba, he then charged at Kyo who side stepped Shizuma's lunging punch made of fire, as Kyo crouched low enough to sweep Shizuma before executing his 75 Shiki Kai rising double kick, giving Shizuma two powerful rising kicks that juggled his body airborne.

"I'm not done yet!" Kyo shouted, igniting his fist once more, ready to let his cousin know he meant business as he spun his body to perform his R.E. D Kick, knocking out some of the wind from Shizuma's body and having him land hard on the pavement.

Most of the people stood in awe to see Shizuma getting beat by Kyo; it was due to the fact that Kyo's been around the fighting ring more than Shizuma has, although the younger Kusanagi was known to store a lot of power.

"Come on, is that all you got, Shizuma?" Kyo asked as Shizuma got back on his feet and charged Kyo once more, surprising the older fighter as he didn't expect his opponent to still have that much stamina going. (This guy's gotten tougher from the last time I faced him…I'm going to bet he's going to be tougher to deal with soon.)

"I give it to you, Kyo, you've gotten stronger, but I can tell when you're holding back your true strength." Shizuma said as he waved his hand. "Those attacks felt like baby punches compared to the last time, or have you gotten soft?"

"Keep talking big like that and you'll live to regret it." Kyo said as he put up his fists. "Let me see more of your techniques, Shizuma."

"You asked for it." Shizuma said, as he then leaped at Kyo, spinning his body with an outstretched leg. "Take this…Guren Sankyaku!"

Shizuma spun his leg as flames started to dance around it, surprising Kyo and hitting his chest area three times, making the crowd scream in excitement.

"Now, it seems that Shizuma has gotten the edge of this fight with the Guren Sankyaku, or to those who don't know, the Scarlet Flame Three Legs attack!" Tamaki said as Shizuma landed on his leg as Kyo was still stunned, ready to continue his attack.

"And to add to it, Guren Senpuu!" Shizuma said, as he now executed a rising, vertical kick also covered in flame. The crowd went wild as they saw the display of martial arts in action.

"That was the Scarlet Flame Gale technique!" Natsumi shouted. "Shizuma's not taking any chances with this fight, is he?"

"No, this fight's gone way past a sparring match, people!" Tamaki said, raising her arm as a pair of cosplaying cheerleaders appeared next to her, cheering Shizuma on, while Yukari stood at the side, head tilted.

"Ah, mouuu….something's very wrong with this school, I'm heading off before I'm late for mine." She said, not wanting to be caught up into something like this any more. As she left to return to her original destination in one direction, another group of people stopped by in the opposite direction when the attraction of the fight grew.

"Are you sure we should be staying around here for something like this, Rumina?" A glasses wearing boy wearing a school uniform asked, as another boy of the same age, dressed in a simple white dress shirt and black pants, wearing a white headband and carrying a wooden sheath for a sword answered back.

"What are you talking about, Ginnosuke?" The boy, Rumina Asagi, asked suddenly, clenching his fists as he pointed towards Kyo and Shizuma Kusanagi. "We just happened to pass here by chance to become witnesses to a fight such as this! And it involves one of my favorite fighters from the King of Fighters tournament, Kyo Kusanagi! We can't just ignore something so splendid to the male eyes such as this."

"I get your point, Rumina, but, aren't you forgetting something?" The youth named Ginnosuke replied as he pointed towards an angry looking American woman with long blond hair, creepily standing behind Rumina as she cracked her knuckles, while another girl shorter than her with short, pale purple hair and wearing a school uniform was standing to her side. She too was giving Rumina a bit of an angry look.

"Rumina…how could you possibly run off from Ruri's side like that for something like this?" The American said as Rumina fidgeted.

"Crap, I almost forgot you were here, Chelsea." Rumina said as Chelsea glared at him. "In any case, you didn't have to tag along with us, Ruri's perfectly safe with us on the outside now."

"Oh, you can't be too sure, you wouldn't know if any of the bad guys we were told about would be on the lookout for her." Chelsea Rorec replied simply. "From the stories about these Patriots and what not that the outside world has, they may prove even more dangerous than how Pairon was."

"I know, I know…but I promised Ruri already that we'd go together to school, isn't that right?" Rumina said as Chelsea came over to place a chop on his head.

"And already you've forgotten the point of why we're doing this if you only plan to be distracted by the side attractions!" Chelsea said as Ruri cut in.

"I don't mind staying here awhile, if that's okay with Rumina. Besides, I like the scenery of this place and the vibes it's giving to the people around here." The girl named Ruri spoke now, causing Rumina to look at her elated.

"Ruri…" Rumina said as he glanced to the side. (Wait, even if these people weren't here for a K-Fight, and it was just me and Ruri here by ourselves, would that have meant we'd have been…dating?)

"What kind of dangerous thoughts are you having now, Rumina?" Chelsea said as Rumina stepped back.

"Anyway, let's finish watch the fight, then we'll be on our way." Rumina said in an attempt to change the subject as Chelsea calmed down to examine the fighting prowess of Kyo and Shizuma Kusanagi. She was highly interested in seeing the 'surface dwellers' battle capabilities while making comparisons to those from the Underground and the Company.

(I was right to assume that these guys are good, but I didn't expect them to have this much talent.) Chelsea said. (Well, it's too early to tell if they can actually match up to anyone from the Underground, but…)

Kyo then regained his stance after receiving a full assault of Shizuma's attacks, but he could tell that he couldn't keep the fight going longer; he needed to finish it soon.

"Aww, what's the matter, Kyo?" Shizuma asked, noticing his condition. "You ready to throw in the towel so soon?"

"Not really, I can go a little longer. I want to get past the basics of sparring and move on up to the more serious stages." Kyo said as Shizuma got the message.

"You should have said that a long time ago, Kyo." Shizuma said as he was ready to let loose his fire based special and deadly technique as Kyo lunged at him, trading a barrage of kicks towards Shizuma. One of them being the Geshiki: Goufu Yuu, a over head heel kick.

Right after managing to break Shizuma's guard for an instant, Kyo then went for another 114 Shiki combination, this time hitting lower around Shizuma's abdomen area with his 127 Yanosabi, then grabbing Shizuma and raising him off the ground with his 125 Nanase grab, making his body combust upon grabbing him.

Shizuma's shirt was heavily burned off, revealing a white vest underneath while the flames from Kyo's attack died off. Shizuma landed on his feet, his chest area now almost covered in burns and ash.

"Did that do the trick?" Kyo said to himself as Shizuma grinned at Kyo.

"No way, I won't be going down so easily after that." Shizuma said, with a fierce smile. "Looks like things are finally starting to…HEAT UP!"

From a distance, another one of Shizuma Kusanagi's fans was watching the match and was even videotaping the whole thing, Daisaku Kamiya, was noticing how Shizuma's personality was changing each minute as the fight grew even more tense than before.

"This...this doesn't look too good." Daisaku said, swallowing hard. "If he's pushed any more beyond this, it will be hard to stop him now…"

"Oi, you'd better quit while you're ahead, Shizuma…" Kyo said as he saw Shizuma took up a familiar stance. "So, you want to use that technique here, huh?"

"Oh, yeah, I'll try anything to win this match, Kyo. Sorry, man, but it's not personal." Shizuma said as a spark of flames engulfed his hand as Kyo responded the same way.

"Guess it's the only way to show you your place, huh?" Kyo said, igniting a flame of his own as the two got ready to attack each other with their most powerful special attacks.

"I hope you can still talk after you've tasted my…INFERNAL TIGER!" Shizuma shouted as he shot a large fireball at Kyo which took the form of a roaring and attacking tiger, as Kyo's body began to glow with a bright fiery aura as he spun the flame he was holding at Shizuma's Infernal Tiger.

"Don't count me out just yet!" Kyo shouted as he hurled his Ura 108 Shiki: Orochinagi Desperation flame attack towards Shizuma's fireball. Both flames were going to collide to each other which were going to induce an explosion until…

"Gale Blast!" A young boy's voice called out as a heavy gust of wind blew in the direction of the two incoming fireballs, extinguishing them both at the same time before they made impact. When the wind calmed down, everyone looked to see Rumina Asagi breathing hard as he held his katana.

"Hey, you guys better watch it!" Rumina shouted. "You could've gotten people hurt back there!"

Kyo, Shizuma, Daisaku, Natsumi, Tamaki, the K-Fight crew that was with them, students, and onlookers all looked on at a serious looking Rumina as they could see some of the dying embers of the explosive fire dispersing in the wind around him and his sword.

(Did that kid just blow away our attack, literally?) Shizuma thought to himself. (And he's carrying a sword…just like her. Just who is this guy, he doesn't look like he attends Daimon High…)

"Kid, don't interrupt a K-Fight when it's getting this good, okay?" Natsumi snapped through her microphone as she observed Rumina's attire. "Unless you want to join in and challenge these guys yourself, since you look like a student too."

"You're right about that. I'm a mid schooler attending..." Rumina stopped as he remembered the reason why he stopped the explosion before when Ruri looked at him with pleading eyes. "Anyway, I'm not here to fight any of these guys, it's just that…well, if you let yourselves get outta hand any further, then normal people would get involved, you know? It wouldn't be a proper fight if one of you gets somebody like that little girl over there seriously hurt now, would you?"

Rumina gestured behind his back to a crying little girl holding onto her standing mother's leg. While the mother did her best to calm her daughter, Ruri, who was being close-by, stepped in and aided in comforting the girl.

"Apparently, your little show scared the girl out of her wits. I know it wasn't intentional, but still…you guys should be more careful next time." Rumina said as Kyo sighed heavily as he dropped his guard.

"The kid has a point. We'll finish our fight next time then, so let's call this a draw for now." Kyo said as he maintained his posture while turning to his cousin. "You've gotten better since the last time we sparred like this."

"Well, I can say the same about you, cuz. Of course, the size of this area only saved your ass because I have to hold back here." Shizuma said as Kyo nodded.

"Back at ya, we need to do this more often when there are less people." Kyo said as he looked at Rumina from a distance, who was panting and now drawing back his sword after executing his technique that dispersed the collided fiery explosion while Ruri, who was close by, supported him.

(Those two…despite their ability to control flames, they're still incredibly powerful whenever they get into a fight, even if it's just a friendly one, I can tell just by looking.) Chelsea thought to herself in amazement. It was her first time to see more of the surface dwellers use elemental powers on par with those from the Underground. (Even Seki couldn't muster an inferno that strong by himself in his training!)

As some of the people grumbled at Rumina's interruption while others sighed, Shizuma was approached by his two adoring fans, Daisaku bringing him a towel and Sara bringing him a bottled water. She even brought Kyo one since he was a good sport and he was close to Shizuma.

Shizuma then went across to Rumina's position as he noticed the friends he had with him and spoke.

"It's Rumina Asagi, huh?" Shizuma grinned to himself as he wiped his brow. "I hope that I get to challenge you someday in a K-Fight, I can tell that you're powerful just by sensing your aura, kid. You carry some serious fighting mojo within you."

"Same here, I can just tell how skilled you must be, but I don't think my girlfriend's too keen about me fighting without a good reason these days." Rumina replied, rubbing the back of his head, while Ruri glared at him and nudged his side. "But still, you both put up one hell of a fight, I'll give you that. I always wanted to meet somebody from the famed King of Fighters, Kyo Kusanagi."

"This guy's nickname used to be the 'King of Fighters' during his days in middle school, he used to beat up so many people who challenged him in the past, that he earned quite the…" Ginnosuke spoke as Rumina quickly covered his mouth.

"I think my reputation already doesn't need more knowing than it has to at the moment, Ginnosuke." Rumina warned him as Kyo chuckled.

"Well, then, I reckon you must be quite the fighter. I hope to see you in this year's King of Fighters soon." Kyo said to Rumina. "I heard that for this year's tournament we're going to be doing something totally different for almost everyone out there to enter, I'm sure it should apply to you guys as well."

"Heh, I'd like to hear more about it. Is that why you're out here taking in the sights?" Shizuma asked.

"The entourage for this year's KOF and announcements for the fights and its related events should be passing through in a couple of days, they're going to be doing it all over Japan and even some have done so in other countries around the world." Kyo said.

"Looks like its going to be quite the event to look forward to." Chelsea said.

"It would be, depending on who's sponsoring it this time." Kyo said seriously. "I just want to advise you guys to be careful in the KOF if you decide to enter, there's lots of dangerous elements and bad guys out there."

"Well, we'll keep it in mind." Shizuma said as Kyo turned his back to leave before he stopped.

"I'd like to stay and chat, but right now, I'm searching for somebody before any of the fights start." Kyo said as he held out a picture of a French male dressed in a red tight body suit, with dark freckles on his cheeks, white hair that dropped over his head and was holding a green flame. "If any of you run into this guy, will you let me know?"

"Someone we should be on the lookout for?" Rumina asked as Kyo nodded.

"Yeah, that's Ash Crimson, a real troublemaker. He's been causing problems for me and a few others from KOF for awhile; he's even the one who set that fire in South Town not too long ago when I was on the hunt for him." Kyo said seriously.

"We heard about the reports on the news, I knew that you couldn't have been responsible for that blaze." Shizuma said.

"Well, I wish the whole world would stop blaming me for these crimes, but it also seems some of my clones are still running around causing their share of trouble in my name." Kyo replied. "Still, I've got to find Ash and clear my name so that way I'll be able to participate in KOF properly. So if by chance you run into him and he wants to fight any of you, my advice to you is don't do it."

"Okay, we'll be on the lookout though I can't make any promises about the last part, but you be careful out there too, Kyo." Shizuma said.

"Tell your sister I said hello." Kyo said as he began to walk away from the group as Shizuma looked at Rumina now.

"So, kid, what are you going to do now?" Shizuma asked as Rumina placed the sword back.

"I have to head to school, now that this event is over." Rumina replied. "I do hope we'll get to see each other again soon, Shizuma, not to mention have a match."

"Rumina!" Ruri protested as Rumina chuckled and Chelsea did a headlock on him as they left. Shizuma stretched his body and signaled to the group he and the K-Fight committee to follow him to Daimon High School, as he don't want his tardy appearance to give Ryoko Mitsurugi ideas that he was involved in a serious fight with Kyo Kusanagi, who was at a distance by himself, pondering to himself.

"Ash Crimson, I'll get you someday before you cause me anymore trouble." Kyo Kusanagi swore silently as he looked up to the clear sky above him as he contemplated about how he should face his newest mortal enemy at the upcoming King of Fighters…

* * *

ShardclawK: Well, that concludes this chapter for this time around, I hoped it met everyone's expectations with some more of the character arrivals, appearances and developments that was portrayed thus far once more in this chapter alone and as you can see, it's still in the time-space of what's been happening since the aftermath of the Mantis arc, there's a bit more waiting time before a new arc can begin based from all that was shown here, in which I'm planning to do since I want things to go at a bit of a slower pace than before for the story to be told better in most aspects, as well as have a number of characters and references turn up before anything major begins.

And as you all saw, even though I had to put everyone through an excruciating wait for my return to fiction writing after so long, I did hold onto my promise of having some of the Real Bout High School and KOF characters show up this time, so I do hope the update was worth easing people's minds about the progress of my stories and such, you know just how tough to remain focused on this sort of thing when life's problems get a hold of you…but hey, I got to manage since I got a reputation to uphold.

Ran: Shardclaw-san, I'm certain no one was bothered of it at this point, they know that you do have other priorities to deal with in real life so they know how it is; they just have to be patient about things, though with your new upcoming revised chapters and story arcs ahead, you're only keeping the readers and fans more in suspense in finding out what's going to happen next.

Shardclaw: You're sure right about that, Ran. Now I know it's going to be troublesome for yours truly to keep up at this rate if even this story has become that popular and still is with all the new anime/manga as well as games being thrown in later on.

Ken: Also, wasn't there something you wanted to tell the fans, something about an addition to the casting list once more?

Shardclaw: Yes, I'm just getting to that, Ken-san. As some previous reviews made mention to adding such games like Rumble Roses and even the anime, Scryed and even recently the anime version of Witchblade as well from Dark-san's suggestions (apparently it was a hit down here in Trinidad for the longest while when it first came out, it was only through Dark-san that made my mind to see the series and hadn't regretted it) I gave it some thought and with Dark-san's suggestions, have finally decided to also include them into the world of COE/SX as well, so I hope that even adds to the growing anticipation of what the fans that already are pleased with the updated cast list will be even more with these new additions.

Youji: I know I for one am anxious to see how this is going to turn out, though readers should take note that Shardclaw-san will just be using the original PS2 version of Rumble Roses as a reference to the story, and not the horribly made, X-360 remake. As for the crossover of the Scryed anime version, storywise it will happen around in the early events of the show.

Shardclaw: Not to sound like James Rolfe AKA the Angry Video Game Nerd or anything, (whose become one of my personal favorite web idols over the hiatus) but truly, it was Dark-san who gave me the heads up about the really bad points of the game if I were to make a 360 purchase soon and after some of the videos of its gameplay I've watched over the hiatus, I must say that it really doesn't measure up to the original one bit as a remake or an actual game. But let's not dwell on that for now, as I also just wanted to say how much of the readers surprised and pleased me with the acceptance of the _**Yume Miru Kusuri**_ characters into this story since it appears some of the readers here are also fans of that famous h-game and of the more popular Kouhei x Aeka pairing judging from the last set of reviews.

Omi: Yeah, it seems that was obvious to anyone who played that game got to everyone who played that route. We just hope that you'll satisfy the readers out there with their request of seeing that couple and the other wonderful cast characters of the game in this story soon and interpret them well enough. Also, we're curious about what plans you got for the evil, Kyoka 'Antoinette' Nanjou and her 'popular' set of cronies consisting of all of Kouhei's and Aeka's former classroom, not to mention, that deliquent Gaito Yakushiji…

Shardclaw: Alright, you guys, I get the picture already. So, you would rather have me write an omake reenacting the now famous Nishi's classroom massacre from the Gantz manga chapters, 288-289, consisting of all of them instead or something just as nasty to make you happy?

Ran: Uh…you best leave that idea for later, man. We'd preferred if you'd stick with your usual 'getting ganged up by your harem girls at the end of each chapter' thing better.

Shardclaw: Huh, okay then. Just a passing thought that I hoped to entertain soon. But to ease everyone's worries about how the canon characters like Kyoka and Gaito just mentioned are going to be portrayed once any of them meet any of the OC cast from any of the authors associated in the COE saga, I'll be careful this time around for reasons intended for fictional purposes on how interactions will be made from now on, aside from how they'll be portrayed in SX later on which will be quite a surprise to most readers. So if for example, if Greg were ever to cross Gaito in his tracks, the outcome would pretty much a bit of the opposite of what people would expect, although I really want to keep that possibility from happening any time soon as I'm still thinking of how to further both of his personalities character wise…

Just then, Greg himself stepped in after hearing his boss say this, while accompanying him were both Kyo and Shizuma Kusanagi.

Greg: Oi, oi, what's this about developing 'BOTH' of my personalities now? Sure, I understand about what you wanted in the revisions ahead in terms of me meeting up with more canon characters, especially if it's a guy like Gaito, and to make up for the awesomeness I could have had from making jokes of him later on which wouldn't have helped much, you made it even better for me by making me look cool enough during that flashback which introduced Yukari-chan and I really appreciate that even more, but something tells me you're having some sort of twisted fun, toying with your starring OC like this.

Shardclaw: I'm doing nothing of the sort, all I did was borrow some influence after completing the _Gundam 00_ anime for both seasons during my hiatus and used a bit of _Hallelujah Haptism's_ dual personality's problem for both your normal and your alter ego's actions during the flashback segment and the last scene of this chapter, not to mention rewatching the _Saiyuki _series a bit that inspired me to use a bit of Sha Gojyo's and Kougaiji's personalities a bit for the 'big brother' role when it came to dealing with Yukari. Just to show readers that sentimental side of you, but of course I got more of that planned later on when I plan to show the readers what you really do while working for Geese...

Omi: That sounds cool, but I hope you're going to advance things after this small part of the story is over soon.

Shardclaw: Don't worry, I won't stick the next time for the update, the next update should be much easier to deal with than this one was since I got certain goals I want to accomplish until we properly kick the new arc off. It's just that as I said before, my job among things got the best of me and I really wasn't able to concentrate on writing for some time, call it another 'massive' writer's block if you will.

Shizuma: Hey, haven't all the new goodies that you found for yourself have been helping you out get out of such a slump?

Shardclaw: Yeah, I've been getting back the vibes to attack this thing like I used to, thanks to some of the new anime remakes and sequels such as _Full Alchemist: Brotherhood, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya 2009_, new rare ones such as the very entertaining _Queen's Blade. _As for gaming, not only I've been busy with the set of Bishoujo and Black Cyc titles I haven't gone through yet, but also a number translated game patches that my good online buddy, Dark-san sent recently for anime based titles like _Shuffle!_, _Kanon_, _Words Worth_ and the epic _Fate/Stay Night_, as well a bunch of others too many to name right now, and console gaming for both current and the second next gen such as the PS2 port of _Fate/Unlimited Codes_, which I finally got by chance not too long ago until I can get _Melty Blood Actress Again_ someday, the _.hack G.U_ series, and American made titles such as _Dead Space_, _Batman: Arkham Asylum_, _BioShock, Mass Effect _and the PS3 ports of the_ Ninja Gaiden _gamesare giving me some boost of inspiration to get things going again, not to mention finally completing and catching up to long anime and games I've been unable to get back to because of time constraints and work

Mysterious Girl's voice: Are you sure those weren't the only things that kept you back from updating recently, Shardclaw-sama?

Shardclaw: Wait, I know that voice, it can only belong to…

Just as I said that, Scryed's Scheris Adjani, along with Alice Elliot and Margarete G. Zelle from Shadow Hearts, Yuya Shiina, Okuni Izumono and Mahiro of Samurai Deeper Kyo, Mei Momozono, Yayoi Kuribayashi, and Hazuki Kakio of the very ecchi anime Mouse and Honey Kisaragi from the anime, Cutey Honey entered the stage, all of them wearing tight sport bras, and skimpy, skin tight bicycle shorts and carrying large canisters of clear, yet sticky and slimy looking liquid.

Shardclaw: Hmm, there's certainly a lot more different choices of girls grouping together this time around…this could prove dangerous if they all 'attack' me later on…

Scheris: Shardclaw-sama, are you really going through the lengths to include Scyred anime into your fic as well, among others? Does that mean you're going to change to what could happen to some of your favorite characters from that series?

Shardclaw: Hey, it's the most I could do for such a lively and uber cute character such as yourself and it's not just that you were presented as one of my elusive favorites that Dark-san sent as one of my previous shipments when I got into this crossover writing gig, until I got to see the series sometime after and I got to see just helpful you can be as an aide and also…how should I put this…'dangerously effective' your Alter powers are…

Scheris: Well, it depends on how you continue to behave, Shardclaw-sama. Mattaku, to make everyone wait this long for a revised update of this story, we deserve some kind of worker's compensation for the time you didn't work on your fics.

Yuya: That's right; you haven't really done much to the revisions and your fanfiction for quite some time, haven't you? Even though you got other things to worry about, that's no excuse to leave your fans out, so you deserve some form of punishment to get you back on track.

Shardclaw: I knew that was why you all grouped together like this, but that's not enough to scare me if you think your combined strengths are gonna work on…hey, now that I noticed it, what is it that you guys have there?

Honey: Well, at first we were going to just gang up on you after having Scheris drain you of your energy to endure our newly gained techniques as a form of payback, but now seeing the awesomeness of you including the songs that you used for this already epic chapter, we thought we'd also give you some of our…'special service' to help you take off any of that extra tension you may have gained while you worked on this chapter.

Yayoi: So, how does a special, super soft, massage service while getting ganged up by a group of girls like us, covered in nothing but body lotion on sounds to you?

Scheris: Of course, I'd be also applying my powers along for the ride, but you already know that, don't you, Shardclaw-sama?

As Scheris said that, Shardclaw couldn't help but swallow in anticipation (and of fear as well) of the results from her newly Altered controlled technique if he were to be on the receiving end of her powers, as well by the other girls' techniques.

Shardclaw: You girls sure know not to hold anything back these days, don't you? Fine then, I'll consider this as a means to prepare my mind and body to get the next chapters for this and COE ready, as well as getting my other delayed fiction off my back, so it's time to get off my lazy butt and get back to work, starting with you girls first, of course and going through the rest of the Black Cyc titles that Dark-san sent, recent second next gen game console releases, as well getting around games such as the finally translated patch for Kanon, Words Worth, and probably one of the greatest visual novels ever made by Type-Moon, Fate/Stay Night, wish me luck on those. Guys, I leave the rest of the closing to you.

As Shardclaw gets carried offstage, Greg sighs as he turns over to the Weiss boys.

Greg: I tell you, one day the popularity's gonna get him more than he can chew, but I can see he's managing somehow until the stories start getting officially updated eventually...

Kyo: I suppose we'll have to do our best as usual to keep the masses entertained through his writing. I'm sure the next revised chapter's going to be just as good as this one was, so I bet the readers would have some things to say in their reviews for the story so far.

Ran: Right, so until then, we'll see you faithful readers again in the next update.


	16. Revolutions, Part 1

Disclaimer: The same as before, I own Greg, Linn, Kari and the story. And I certainly don't own anyone from King of Fighters, which is owned by SNK/Playmore, Full Metal Panic, Spriggan and Noir. With that aside, on to the show!

ShardclawK: Welcome again, dear readers! I was surprised that EVERVYONE who reviewed COE often appreciated the last chapter. That makes me so glad! I couldn't help it, guys...this fic is just too awesome to stop writing. Oh, before I continue, I'll announce that the Weiss boys will be around to help me co-host the next set of chapters. Welcome back, guys.

Ran: It's good to be back, Shardclaw. It seems that DarkFusion couldn't help but enjoy our presence in your story, as well as how Greg managed to beat Schwartz single handedly.

Youji: Yeah...Greg really is an awesome guy. But, I do hope you remember to try to hook me up with a lovely female later in this fic.

Omi: Me too. Most fics about the pairings with us are...well, I hate to say this around you, Shardclaw, are mostly yaoi.

ShardclawK: I figured as much...that's what happens when you leave it up to the female masses to write fics like those. But you don't have to worry about that, you're in good hands around me. Just give me a while till Greg eventually meets up back with you guys later in the fic.

Ken: Okay. And you'd better not be flaunting any hot girls from your growing harem in front of us this time. You'll make a lot of people jealous.

ShardclawK: Now, what would make you think I want to do that again?

Just as I said that, Jam, Millia, Yuya, Miang, Miyabi, Quistis, Terra, Celes, Misao and Helba appeared from the other room, all of them wearing skimpy two piece swimsuits.

Jam: Hey, Kusanagi-sama! We were just wondering if it would be any trouble for you to join us at the pool outside and give our bodies a good rub down with suntan lotion. You up to it?

All of the Weiss guys stare at me with looks of anger in their faces, as I start to grin nervously.

ShardclawK: Hey, it can't be helped! I never asked for so much hot chicks! But then again, I'm insatiable and this is my just reward for updating my famous COE fics!

Youji: At least stick around to read the recap along with us, huh?

Shardclawk: Okay, fine then..."In the last chapter of Soldier X, Greg held his own against the assassin group, Schwartz. Easily defeating the group, he then encountered the arrival of Riku and his partners and Weiss, who had a brief confrontation with before Schwartz escaped. During the confrontation, Greg learned of Nagi being the fourth Schwartz member who had been thought to be KIA. Afterwards, Greg took the time to learn from Riku, Nagi and Tot about their pasts before and after joining FOXHOUND. After Greg manages to find a way to cope with their situation, he then arranges a proper meeting with the leader of Weiss to discuss what Schwartz was plotting for Yuina and Seraph. Then afterwards, Greg had a discussion with Yuina that somehow made some more changes in his perspective."

Ran: I wonder what kind of effects that must have on Greg when that happened?

Omi: Well, we can only read on and find out what it is, as well as finding out the guest characters who will be showing up later really are.

ShardclawK: Now, with that out of the way, on with the story. As always, enjoy! Uh-oh, the girls are getting impatient. See ya at the end of this chapter, guys.

As I get pulled out of the room by Millia and Jam along with the other hot chicks, the Weiss boys start to shake their heads.

Ran: I get the feeling we have to do all the heavy duty work around here...anyway, readers, enjoy the update.

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ShardclawKusanagi presents:

Metal Gear: Soldier X

Chapter 15: Revolutions, Part 1

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Greg's pre Second Impact BMW K1200RS roared as he stopped near in front of the bakery, as Riku's car stopped behind him. The motorcycle was colored an alpine white/orient blue, and it had a powerful motor, customized by Greg himself, with some help from Yuji Naruo and Nanvel Candlestick. As he got off the motorcycle, he got on one knee and inspected the engine closely, as the rap song, 'I'm So Fly', by Lloyd Banks was still playing loudly on his Codec/MP3 player's earphones.

"Man...when was the last time I got this thing checked for maintenance?" Greg asked himself. He then remembered the last time he did that, was some time after he got his ass kicked by Garland Durev, some days before he and Linn were called over to Japan when the 13th Angel came to life in Evangelion Unit 03. He then shook his head after his inspection.

"Riku, the Uruha mansion is supposed to have a garage, right? I've left all my important tools for this thing back with my Harrier in Tokyo-3." Greg asked Riku as he got out of the car with his partners, Nagi and Tot. Yuina and Seraph followed afterwards.

"Sure, Greg. That garage is known to have enough sufficient tools and equipment for your type of motorcycle." Riku replied.

"I hope it's good enough for me. Do you know how hard it is to fix an old treasure like this?" Greg asked, patting the seat. "This thing came out since 2003, and it's almost hard to keep it running like this. Thank God for Nanvel's spare parts and Yuji's help for this thing. Storing it in the Harrier must have misbalanced the shock absorbers too much, and the brake pads are close to wearing it out. Time for a major tune up when I get back."

Before Greg walked in, Nagi called out to him. "Hey, Greg...do you think it's wise to be walking in a public store if the world has seen your face all over?"

"Yeah, Nagi has a point." Tot said.

"What do you two suggest? I should put on a mask and do a hold up?" Greg asked, being sarcastic. "You guys underestimate my genius too much...I can use my 'Double Vision' and appear as someone else to the people inside this place or all around me. And don't worry if I'm using too much of my strength. The emotions around me that are being emitted from all of you will be enough to store enough power and act as a veil over the people around me."

"In other words, you can make your appearance different to other people, while you look the same to the rest of us." Nagi said.

"Yeah, if you want to put it in that way..." Greg rubbed his head. "Anyway, when we start training, I'll let you in on some of those secrets, although, I'd doubt that you can mimic the exact thing. There's still a lot of that new move I have to learn about...but let's worry about when I get that snack for Nanvel."

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Somewhere else from the distance from Maki's house, the injured Schwartz members were still in their car which was heading towards their residence. Crawford grimaced when he was still feeling the mildly deep cuts in his chest area, also the searing burns around the cuts was starting to get serious. He looked over to Schuldich and talked to him, as he saw Farfarello fervently shaking his head, trying to get the images that Greg induced into his mind during the Savage Panther Mauler, then the Divider of Heaven attacks.

"I told you meddling with that psychic is certainly bad news, Crawford!" Farfarello angrily said. "Now, you've created one of the worse of our enemies!"

"Be thankful that he didn't go as far to killing you or anyone of us..." Schuldich said.

"His power is truly something even a normal man shouldn't own! When he attacked me, I swore I felt his flame seeping into my head....damn! My head feels so messed up that before...Kinezono's power has some effect mentally when it's used..."

"No kidding." Crawford said, trying to stay focused while driving his car. "Well, my dear comrades...we may have lost today's confrontation, but that doesn't mean that we'll let it slide. Kinezono now knows about Nagi and Tot, surely he will go easy on them, since I've figured Nagi's good friends with Kinezono by now."

"Crawford...can you imagine what would happen if he starts to trust and train Nagi?" Farfarello growled. Crawford shuddered at the possibility and gripped on the steering wheel tighter.

"Something will be done about this...I can guarantee all of you that." Crawford said. "Anyone humiliates and threatens us at the same time will surely be our most hated enemy for the rest of Schwartz's existence! Let's head back and treat our wounds first, before we get set to exact revenge on Kinezono for this outrage."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Inside the bakery shop, Greg was almost done making up his mind to buy Nanvel her Moxodamari Cream Puff. He looked on at the tray in front of him and saw the other favorite snacks that Nanvel loved, but were expensive too.

When Greg looked at his wallet, he smiled a bit, seeing he had a lot more dough with him than he remembered. He had enough to buy Matsumoti Special Bento, Kamikuma Cheesecake, and a set of Bodiva chocolates all of which were Nanvel's favorites.

"Heh, these people must be on a discount sale to have all of this on sale so cheap." Greg said to himself. "Boy, aunt Nanvel will go crazy when she finds out I got her ALL her favorite snacks at the same time...I might as well surprise her today as thanks for the new ability that the nanomachines were capable of while I was fighting Schwartz earlier..."

From a distance, a young Japanese woman, with long bouncy, blonde hair was watching Greg. She had on a long, blue dress that ended just above her knees, with a white bonnet around her neck area. She had on a blue beret on her head. She squinted her eyes to look at Greg closer.

"Well, I'll be...!" she exclaimed to herself. She tugged at the next female next to her, who was around her height, but had short brown hair, with a long single ponytail that was tied into a braid. She had a tom-boyish kind of figure and facial expression, but her womanly figure made her look especially cute to look at. She had on a tight fitting jeans and a small vested top of a light blue color. "Hey, Yuri...isn't that Kyo? What is he doing here?"

The woman named Yuri looked at her friend and then at Greg. She simply smiled at her friend.

"That's not Kyo, Hinako." Yuri replied. "That must be Greg Kinezono, one of Kyo's fanatics."

"Never heard of him." Hinako Shijou, the uber cute sumo wrestler replied, shrugging her shoulders. "You know him?"

"Uh-huh." Yuri nodded her head, her ponytail bouncing. "I've ran into him some time ago during the battle royals after the last tourney. He's really an interesting and handsome guy, too bad he's taken already."

"How can you say that, Yuri?" Hinako said. "Is he more cuter than your husband, Robert?"

"Well, once you get to know him, he can be. But, he's really not my type." Yuri replied.

"I want to meet this so-called student of the Kusanagi and Yagami-ryuu style that I've never heard of." Hinako said. "Can you introduce me to him?"

"Of course we will. I'm sure he'll be pleased to see me." Yuri walked closer to and poked behind Greg's back. "Excuse me, Gregory Kinezono? Do you remember me?"

"That voice..." Greg turned to see Yuri and Hinako standing in front of him with smiles on their faces. "Yuri!? I don't believe it! Why are you here?"

"Oh, just shopping around for Ryo, Robert and poppa." Yuri smiled as she embraced Greg. Riku, Nagi and Tot were standing close by and were both watching and listening to this unusual meeting. "We're just around here to get some bread, that's when I decided to hail you."

"I see...and may I ask how the guys at the Kyokugen dojo been doing since I last saw them?" Greg asked.

"Pretty much holding on." Yuri replied with an almost sad tone.

"Let me guess...the place is still in bad place after all this time? That bad, huh?"

"Yeah, that pretty much sums it up. But things are working out, Robert is helping us in many ways as he can." Yuri said, then she stared at Hinako. "Oh, how silly of me...this is one of the female participants for the KOF women's teams. Greg, this is Hinako Shijou. Hinako, this is Gregory Kinezono."

Greg took the young woman's hand gently and started to shake it. "Nice to meet you, Hinako. I take it that you're qualified in handling yourself in a battle?"

"Of course. Yuri and I met just before Second Impact and I've been in KOF since that time, so I'm pretty familiar with everyone." Hinako replied.

"I should also tell you, Hinako, that Greg's part of that anti terrorist group, FOXHOUND." Yuri added. Hinako's eyes widened to this.

"You're kidding, Yuri?! This guy's from that group that's in Japan right now, fighting the terrorists in Tokyo-3?" Hinako exclaimed. "Is that why I've never heard so much about him?"

"For good, security reasons..." Greg said, folding his arms. "And if you guys haven't been reading the papers lately..."

"Is it true about what they said about you?" Yuri asked. "You being responsible for Gendou Ikari's murder?"

"No, I wasn't there at the time, but would any of you or from the KOF would care?" Greg replied. "I guess this means that I can't come to the battle royals this year. And Linn can't come either, since she is with my friends at NERV right now."

"I see." Yuri nodded her head, then she spoke to Hinako. "Linn is Greg's girlfriend in case you're wondering, Hinako."

"Okay." Hinako replied, nodding her head as well. "So you're being framed for this...what for?"

"Let's just say that I've managed to piss of a lot of dangerous people since I've gotten here to Japan that make that happen..." Greg replied, as he finished paid for the snacks and received them in gift wrapped boxes, so they would be properly be handled. He then saw Riku and the others watching Greg talk to the women.

"Greg, aren't you going to introduce us to your friends?" Riku asked.

"Sorry about that, Riku." Greg said, turning to Yuri and Hinako once more. "This is Yuri Sakazaki of the Art of Fighting team from the KOF tourneys, and this is Hinako Shijou, who've I've just met. Yuri, Hinako, these three youngsters are from FOXHOUND as well, Riku Hanabishi, Nagi Naoe and Tot, his girlfriend. And these two are Yuina Hatori and this is Seraph. They happened to be civilians who are just around for the ride."

"Nice to meet you all." Seraph shook Yuri's hand, while Yuina shook Hinako's hand. The finger bases were covered by cotton wraps to protect them while in battle.

"Same here. It's good to know that Greg still has some friends despite all of the mess he's been." Riku said, greeting himself to Yuri.

"Just how popular is Greg in the tournaments, Yuri?" Nagi asked.

"Well, when last I saw him, he pretty much showed Shingo Yabuki the ropes." Yuri laughed. "That fight was hilarious. But it was Greg who ended up winning."

"I hope the kid didn't take it too hard when I beat him down..." Greg simply said, rubbing his head.

"Gregory!? I knew I can recognize that face and name somewhere." Another woman's voice called out from his side, as he turned and saw another Japanese woman, with long, brunette hair that was styled like Rio's. She had on a common office uniform which showed her impressive chest size and her sexy figure. Riku and Nagi swore she was a Rio clone.

"Mai Shiranui...it's been a while." Greg said, while looking at her, shaking her hand. Mai returned the smile to him.

"Hiya, Greg. I take it that life in FOXHOUND is doing well?" Mai asked him. After seeing the dead serious look on his face, she only nodded her head. "I've heard from the others back at the tournaments, I don't believe what they say about you and that thing with Gendou Ikari."

"They are looking for a good reason to keep me out of their affairs, but I'll get to them eventually." Greg spoke.

"You mean the Patriots?" Mai asked.

"Yep, them and a particular windbag named Reese." Tot said.

"Lt. Matthew Reese...Michael's told me much about him." Mai said.

"You know Michael?" Riku asked.

"Yes, he and I are old friends. At a time, we were probably much more than that." Mai told Riku, looking in his direction. "One person, who I thought was dear to me, was killed some years ago and it was Michael who helped me coped with it. And the worst part, I've broken up with that man before he was killed."

"Killed?" Nagi asked. "How did that happen?" 

"Who was this guy you're talking about, Mai?" Greg asked.

"I'm sure you remember Andy Bogard." She simply said, with a slight hint of hurt in her voice. Greg's eyes widened to this. He have heard of some mentioning from his sensei, Geese Howard, that Andy was brutally beaten to death by an unknown challenger about two years back just after one of the KOF tournaments. Greg never knew if Andy recovered or not, but at the time, he remembered that Terry was bitter enemies with Geese Howard and one of his henchmen, Ryuji Yamazaki. He remembered that he was even suppose to fight Terry and his Fatal Fury team in one of the battle royals, but the fight got cancelled at the last moment, when Andy got injured. However...

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"The fight's between us and the Fatal Fury team's not going to happen?!" Greg exclaimed, pounding his fists together. "Why is that, Kyo?"

"Like I said before...something happened to Andy just awhile ago..." Kyo spoke, trying to ease Greg. It was during the KOF 2013 battle royal and he was there with Linn, who was wearing a sexy, tight body suit in a light gray color. Next to her were Iori Yagami, Chizuru Kagura, Athena Asamiya, Kim Kaphwan and Yuri Sakazaki. Robert Garcia and Ryo Sakazaki, Yuri's older brother was also there.

"From what the medical examiners told us about Andy's condition, he have received a severe brain injury from the fight...the force of the blows was the same as several sledge hammers slamming into his skull..." Chizuru shook her head.

"Damn, someone must have inhumane strength to do something like that..." Ryo shook his head.

"I agree." Robert said.

"Yes that is true. Before we got a clue to who was responsible for it, the culprit escaped." Chizuru spoke, brushing aside her long, black hair. She was wearing a red and white red blouse, with extended shoulder pads and a slim black jeans. She was one of the famous organizers for the KOF tourneys since the '96 tournament, while her role was to seal away the Orochi is it ever was to resurface.

"Evil will not be forgiven for such a heinous act!" Kim, the ever so loving justice warrior, quoted, clenching his fists. Greg only shook his head, while agreeing with him. Athena Asamiya, the psychic warrior for her Psycho Soldier team began to talk.

"Sounds like that Andy won't make it..." Athena said, as Greg patted the young girl.

"We just have to pray and hope that at least he recovers..." Yuri said. "So, Kyo...what's going to happen now?"

"Well, the royale is on hold for now, until we get word on what happens." Kyo said. "That means Greg and Linn will have to wait until something happens."

"We won't have time to participate by the time Andy recovers." Linn said, then getting up. "That's IF he does."

"Seems like that we have to head back to FOXHOUND and wait what happens..." Greg said getting up, as Linn followed him. As the two stepped out of the room where most of the fighters had gathered to talk to Chizuru, Greg nearly ran into a well developed American male with golden blonde hair. He was wearing a brown jacket with a large star on his back and blue jeans. It was Terry Bogard, and next to him was another man with brown, spiky hair and a skinny built. There was another man that seemed to overpower the two by his height, with a large red hawk mask over his head, he had a bare chest of a wrestler of incredible strength. Terry locked his eyes instantly on Greg the moment he stepped in the hallway, when he faced the Fatal Fury team. (A.N: This is the KOF 2003 team that I'm using for now.)

"Geese Howard's student...so, you are him." Terry glared at Greg. "I've heard much about you."

"Terry..." Greg muttered in a low tone. He did want to challenge Terry as a rival, but not as an enemy and he certainly didn't want to take him on at a critical chance like this. "I would like to say this would be fun, but I got other pressing issues at the moment."

"You're not leaving until you do something for me." Terry spoke in a serious tone. "When you see Geese next time, let him know that I'll be coming after him. So you'd better stop protecting him if you know what is right for you."

"Do it yourself." Greg replied. "The last thing I want is to be your enemy, Bogard. What happens between me and Geese is personal and I surely am not responsible for your vendetta."

"Why you...!" Terry rushed forward at Greg with a simple attack that Greg was able to see coming. Terry charged at Greg with an outstretched fist, energy building at the knuckle area.

"Power Knuckle!" Terry shouted, charging at Greg. Greg simply opened his arms and countered the attack using one of Geese's old counter attacks.

"Too easy!" Greg simply tackled the famous LoneWolf and threw him down. After Terry was knocked down, he charged at Greg once more, but Greg simply dodged his punch and landed a psychic blast near his chest, stunning him.

"Terry! Get a hold of yourself." Joe Higashi shouted, aiding his friend up. Tizoc, the Mexican wrestler dressed as a hawk, helped Terry up too. Greg simply stood unfazed by this turn of event, as Iori came closer to stand next to Greg.

"Yeah, Terry. Now's not the time to be fighting, even if Greg's a student of Geese." Iori spoke. "Besides, you should know better than to challenge one from FOXHOUND with psychic talents."

"No need to cover for me, Iori...I know when I'm not wanted." Greg said coldly, simply dusting off his white jacket. He then turned to Linn. "Come on, Linn. Let's get back to headquarters before Reese gets bomby. We can always come back next year."

"Uh, right. Greg. Anything you say." Linn said, starting to walk out. As he got near the doorway, he stopped suddenly as he turned to talk to Terry. "Bogard...no hard feelings, alright? All I want is a friendly fight from you, not something that you can vent your vendetta against. Besides, I'm one of the good guys, haven't the other folks around here told you that?"

"I know that..." Terry said, getting up. "I just find it weird to know that you're training under him in the first place. Why is that?"

"For personal reasons. Let's leave it at that." Greg replied.

Terry only looked at Greg in silence, before Greg spoke. "You'll do yourself a favor and help out Mai. If things ever get better, I'll challenge you."

"Fine then. Okay." Terry raised a thumbs up at Greg. "We won't fight as enemies, but as rivals when we meet again."

"Good, remember that from now on, because I'd hate it if I have to fight you because of Geese." Greg said, as he walked out the door with Linn.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"What the...Terry's older brother is..." Greg stuttered. "Who did it, Mai? Who killed Andy?"

"Have any of you ever heard of a mercenary named...Shade?" Mai simply said, shocking Greg, Riku, Nagi and Tot.

"Heard of him? I've done battle with that bastard just recently!" Greg simply shouted.

"You did?!" Mai exclaimed, surprised to hear this.

"Yeah, but I didn't kill him...damn!" Greg exclaimed, slamming his fists together. "So...how are you coping with it?"

"Michael helped me with that before and after Andy died." Mai explained. "I was infatuated with Andy for as long as I can remember, but he always ignored my feelings. Then one day, I got fed up of him and broke up with him. Sometime later, he fought with Shade and in his second fight, he got seriously hurt and was put in the hospital."

"I see...I bet Andy was real special to you, huh?" Tot asked.

"While he was still likable..." Mai said, shaking her head. She started to smile once more. "But enough about that...I'm okay now, I'm moving on."

"Good to hear that, but I bet Terry must be having a hard time dealing with this." Greg said. "If I ever get out of this mess soon, tell him for me that I still looking forward to our fight. And tell Kyo and Iori too not to worry about me, I'm pretty much okay."

"Will do. And please tell Michael for me that I miss him a lot." Mai bowed to Greg.

"I know you want to look for him, but I'd recommend to you to wait awhile until things cool down in Tokyo-3." Greg said. "Things are still hot from all those Angel attacks, and the terrorists around, the city's practically on high alert."

"Okay, I'll wait a while. Just tell him for me I said hi, alright?" Mai asked. "Well, Yuri, Hinako, let's get back to Osaka."

"Okay." Yuri hugged Greg one more time. "See you around, Greg. And it was fun meeting your friends."

"Good luck on your mission. Hope to see you in a royale soon." Hinako bowed to Greg.

"Same here, Yuri." Greg waved at Yuri, as she, Hinako and Mai left the bakery waving back to them. With a simple sigh, Greg and the others went outside to their respective vehicles. Greg only rested his right nano hand on one of the motorcycle's pedals.

"Sempai?" Yuina Hatori approached Greg, her long, pale pink hair tied into a single, long braid. She looked at her teacher and guardian with admirable, innocent eyes as she wondered if something was troubling him...again. "Is something wrong?"

"Not really, Yuina...I was just thinking how someone as good as Andy could have lost to Shade like that." Greg spoke, shaking his head. "But I should know...I fought the wankster weeks before and got a firsthand experience how certain people who are evil in this world can be so tough and dangerous at the same time. I knew I shouldn't have gone easy on him...I should have given it everything I got if I wanted to kill him for all the hurt he's done."

"You shouldn't let that affect you, sempai..." Yuina said. "I'm sure that even with your strength, you wouldn't have done much to harm him..."

"Yeah...you're right. I really wasn't planning to waste all my powers on him anyway. I was more concerned on helping you and Lilica, then Mantis." Greg said. Then he looked at Riku's direction. "Hey, Riku...you said you know about Shade, huh?"

"Yeah, my grandmother, Kagero, knows pretty much about him, since he's been around for quite awhile, she even met him more than once during her 'early ages.'" Riku replied.

"How can that be? And what do you mean by 'been around for quite awhile'?"

"She told me once years ago that Shade's been around since the 15th or 16th century, medieval Japan. During the reign of Nobunaga Oda, he was one of his personal and elite shinobi." Riku explained. This caused Greg to simply place a hand on his hip.

"You're kidding? I nearly died fighting an antique?" Greg asked, barely surprised at all. "So, he's like over 400 hundred years old, huh? I'd bet he must have some secrets about the Patriots that he's probably hiding from us."

"Even if he has lived longer than that, I highly doubt it that he may know anything." Nagi replied. Greg simply shook his head and got on the motorcycle.

"Jeez....hearing all this bad news about Shade is making me really fired up. Let's get back to the mansion so I can blow off some steam in the VR rooms." Greg said. "And don't forget, Nagi. You're going to tell Rio and the others as much as you can about what happened before we start training, okay?"

"I got you, Greg. That's okay with me." He said, getting into Riku's car.

"Yuina, it's best that you hold onto these while we get back." Greg handed the package of Nanvel's favorite snacks to her. She gently took it and bowed to Greg with a smile as she got into the car with Riku and company. Greg only shook his head while he started the motorcycle.

(Damn you, Shade...just how many other people's lives have you ruined because of your existence? And who else on Earth can by like you?) Greg thought to himself as he sped off.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Honey, I'm home!" Greg stepped through the kitchen door, with the package of sweets in his hand. Riku and his partners stepped in, while Yuina and Seraph followed afterwards.

"Big brother!" Lilica Ebett ran to Greg and gave him a big hug in front of everyone. Greg simply smiled as he passed his hand on her head. "Looks like you're back, finally. What took you guys so long?"

"Sorry about that. There were some...setbacks while I was at Maki's house." Greg rubbed his head. He then looked to see Rio Kinezono in the same room with him, and there was Umi, Inuko and Tatsuko as well.

"Setbacks?" Rio asked. "What do you mean, Greg?"

Greg only looked at Nagi and Tot, and they smiled as they nodded to him. Looking back at his surrogate mother, Greg stepped up to her.

"I'll tell you and everyone else soon enough, mom. But tell me, where's aunt Maki and aunt Nanvel?" Greg asked.

"Oh, they are in the living room with Neon and her kids. Miki and Aki are there too, chatting to Nastasha." Rio said.

"Okay, I want everyone to meet up in there in awhile. There's something important I want to discuss about Nagi and Tot that you should hear." Greg said, stepping out to the living room. When he did, he saw Maki Kawasaki and Nastasha Romanenko sitting near a coffee table, chatting to two women of Japanese decent. One of them had long pink hair, with strands that stood out at the sides behind her head that ended in a single curl, and had a fierce look in her blue eyes. She had two moles just under her left eye. The other woman had short, blue hair with a slanted look in her eyes. Nanvel was in front of the television, playing Metal Slug X on Greg's old PS1 with Neon's kids, Aoi and Sora.

"Hey, Greg. About time you made it back." Maki saw Greg as he saw him approaching her. Greg leaned forward to give Maki a kiss on her cheek.

"Maki, can you do me a favor and get the other Warrior members gathered around here? There's something I need to discuss with all of you and some of the people at the Uruha residence." Greg said.

"Okay, then...I'll get Maya and Yuji over here. It must be very important." Maki said. She then looked over to the two women who were talking to her and Nastasha. "Greg, do you remember Miki and Aki?"

"Sure, I do." Greg looked at the two women, who seemed pleased to meet Greg once more. They were quite worried since his comatose state about him. "Ms. Aki Ishijima, I hope you and your husband, Domon, are doing well these days."

"It couldn't be any better, Greg." Aki smiled at Greg. "Thanks for asking."

"And Miki...good to see you're still looking as fit as ever." Greg turned to Miki. The woman simply returned the compliment to Greg.

"And the same to you, Greg. You're the most energetic person alive to come out from a two week coma and challenge Kurei to a fight." Miki said. "You must have incredible stamina."

"Heh, my girlfriend says the same thing whenever we're in bed." Greg smirked, walking over to Nanvel, Aoi and Sora. He saw Nanvel was playing Eri, while Sora was playing Fio. They were on Mission 3, on board a train. It happened to be one of Greg's personal favorite stages from the game.

"Hey, Nanvel...present for you." Greg stopped midway behind Nanvel, after seeing her get through one of the most difficult parts of the stages, and that was trying to stay alive, while evading falling tanks, fired missiles, and exhaust heat underneath a large plane. Greg usually still has trouble with that part, especially while trying to got for bonus points.

Nanvel paused her game and looked at Greg, happily getting up. "Oh, really? Hmmm...I wonder what it could be...gimme, gimme!"

"Take it easy, aunt Nanvel..." Greg handed her the package of snacks. "This is thanks for the times you helped me during the trials weeks ago. I hope you enjoy them."

As Nanvel unwrapped the package, her eyes widened as she saw to her delight not only her Moxodamari Cream Puff, but also all her other favorite and expensive snacks being held in her same too hands. She was in total shock.

"Greg! You remembered!" she happily took Greg into her arms and squeezed his head into her chest, while jumping up and down in uncontrolled joy, as her bosom jumped up and down with her. From the doorway of the other room, Riku and Nagi were getting a bit jealous to this sight, but in a way, felt glad to see Nanvel like this.

"Yeesh, Riku...how is it that Greg gets to women like that so easily?" Nagi asked.

"You got me, Nagi." Riku simply replied, trying not to let the burning in his nose get too much as it will cause a nosebleed.

"You two are such hentais!" Tot said just behind them, tapping a harisen in the palm of her other hand. The two young males began to chuckle nervously, as they got serious once more, and looked on as Greg was being smothered by Nanvel's love.

"Oh, and you brought me ALL of my favorites too!" Nanvel exclaimed, still in happy, hyper mode. "But I thought you were just bringing the Cream puff alone."

"Well, I learned about what the nanomachines did about melding other metal unto the nanomachines that are now being used for my new nano arm in order to strengthen it. And guess what, you were right." Greg said. "Just thought I surprised you and thank you extra on that."

"Oh, Greg...has anyone told you that you're the most sweetest, kindest and generous person alive?" Nanvel leaned over and gave Greg another kiss on his cheek. He simply smiled at Nanvel.

"Ah, it was nothing." Greg said, simply waving it off. "Just don't eat all of them in one day, you have to be watchful of that figure of yours."

"Greg, when you said that the nano arm melded another metal unto it, what did you mean by that?" Nastasha said, getting up. Greg simply let out a sigh.

"You guys wouldn't believe what happened before we got here." Greg plopped back on the couch to relax. "While I was Maki's place awhile ago, guess who dropped by to pay me a visit."

"Who was it, Greg?" Maya Jingu asked.

"Schwartz." Greg simply replied, causing everyone in the room to look at him startled. Rio rushed to look at Greg in panic.

"Are you sure, Greg? Are you okay? What really happened?" Rio asked.

"Relax, will you, mom?" Greg patted her shoulder. "I'm just fine. As a matter of fact, I was a bit too disappointed in how capable they were against me. A little more time with them and I would have ended up killing one of them."

"What's that suppose to mean?" Nanvel asked, as Greg simply smirked at her.

"Heh...Schwartz, what a bunch of wussies. I had more fun back in the day in handicap fights in the dark whenever I had VR training with Garland and Michael." Greg simply said, almost laughing. "You should have seen me, mom. I was kicking their asses left, right and all over the training ground so much, I didn't even resort to using my full power...well, maybe on Farfie alone that is."

Rio's eyes glittered with happiness, as she suddenly took Greg into her arms and like how Nanvel thanked him before, Rio did the same.

"Oh, Greggie! My son! You know how to truly make a mother proud!" Rio exclaimed, squeezing the life out of her surrogate son. Greg fumbled in time to escape Rio's hold.

"Jesus Christ, mom! You got to stop doing that." Greg said, while he was starting to blush, and certain people in the room started to laugh.

"I can't help it, Greg. You're talents are no longer limited to FOXHOUND anymore, you know that?" she replied.

"Yeah, I do." Greg said.

"So, how many of them were there?" Maki asked Greg.

"Only three of them, Brad Crawford, Schuldich and Farfie himself." Greg said. "They came over wanting me to join their group. Che, like hell I would be an assassin, I'm not the type. And when they got word that wasn't joining, they wanted to take Yuina and Seraph with them. Can you believe it?"

"But sempai defended me when Farfarello tried to hurt me the moment I stepped to see who it was that came to him." Yuina cut in.

"Geez. Those guys must be persistent." Rio said and then remembered something and turned to Nastasha. "Hey, Nastasha, didn't you say there used to be four of these guys? Do you know anything about the fourth guy at all?"

"Well, at the timing I got this information concerning the fourth Schwartz member, he was reported to be dead." Nastasha replied with a shrug of her shoulders. "So, there was really no way of knowing anything about him. By the time FOXHOUND was fully active once more some years after the Big Shell incident, I learned there were only three existing Schwartz members."

"I can tell you whatever you want to know about the fourth member if you want." Nagi offered, surprising both Nastasha and Rio.

"Nagi...are you sure?" Tot asked.

"I can't keep running away from my past forever, Tot." Nagi answered. "I might as well tell them now then wait till they find out later."

"Do you know the fourth member?" Rio asked.

"Of course I know him." Nagi answered. "He's me."

"Nani?!" Lilica, Rio, Maya, Nanvel, Yuji and Maki said in unison at this. Rio began to glare at Nagi.

"You're kidding, right, Nagi?" Rio asked him, bending forward, and letting the loose vest she had on hang, exposing her somewhat, impressive chest. Nagi only gulped and put up a straight face.

"I wish I was, but it is true." Nagi said in a serious tone. "I was the second psychic and the fourth Schwartz member."

"And does Greg know about this?" Nanvel asked.

"Just about awhile ago, I did." Greg said. "You guys better listen up good to what this is about, because I may not have the energy to fully explain it again. Riku, can you help me out here?"

"Sure thing, Greg." Riku nodded, getting ready to explain what really happened earlier to Warrior.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

About two and a half hours later, Greg was in the VR room with Nagi, Tot, Yuina and Seraph. Greg had his HF Lance, the Ascension in his right hand, as he sat on one of the VR boxes. He felt a big weight was lifted off his back, since Rio and the other Warrior members accepted Nagi and Tot as their comrades. Rio also accepted along with Maki to meet this group named Weiss in a couple of days to discuss about Schwartz and what they are really after.

"Okay, now that we gotten that business regarding Nagi and Tot out of the way, and everyone in Warrior is cool with that, it's time we get started with some training." Greg said, leaning the Lance on his neck and stretching his arms on it behind his head.

"I'm glad that everyone accepted what we told them as the truth." Tot said to Greg.

"Yeah, though it's a bit tough to get used to." Greg replied. "But that means we have to be more aware the next time Schwartz shows up if you're with me. Tot, I was told by Riku before that the Shinsengumi left a complimentary training session before they left after that mess with Mantis, right? That means that you're a bit better with your sword than you're used too."

"That's right. One of my sensei's, Tokiya Mikagami and the Shinsengumi women both aided me in enhancing my swordsmanship a little while you were recovering." Tot replied. Greg only tapped his head.

"Damn...just how much of Riku's family I must have not met yet?" Greg said to himself. This caused Tot to giggle a bit, as he walked to Nagi.

"I guess Tot's covered for awhile, but let's see if Nagi can get any better." Greg said, then he looked at Yuina. "Yuina, if you're sure that you want to join along, just say so."

"Sure, sempai. But would it be okay if I changed first?" she simply said.

"Why, Yuina? You look good just as you are." Greg replied.

"Yes, but Seraph wants to help out too." She said, as Seraph nodded at Greg.

"Okay, you win." Greg shrugged his shoulders. "Show us what you got, kid."

Yuina gave a simple nod, as Seraph stepped behind her, raising her hands over Yuina's temple. With closed eyes, Yuina did the same thing, muttering a 'password' that seemed unrecognizable to the people around her. What happened next was unbelievable and beautiful to look at the same time, as Yuina's single braided hair was loosened to let it become free as it morphed colors into a faint, purple, with only the front of her hairline a mix of pale blond and silver, her eye color changed from purple to near faint purple with thin pupils. Her somewhat almost revealing outfit and her large angel wings that protruded out of her back seemed to stunned Greg and the other people a bit. After the integration, Yuina appeared in front of her guardian and friends with a smile on her face.

"Alright, sempai. Are you ready to teach me?" she asked innocently. Greg could only slap his forehead in frustration.

(THIS...will get a lot to get totally used to...) he thought to himself, shaking his head. (Mantis...what kind of responsibility did you leave me with?)

"Okay, then...I'm set. Nagi, Yuina...let's start with basics. Since Nan-bot is busy guarding Maki's house, we might as well use the VR training poles as practice marks." Greg said. "Let's begin."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Several minutes later into training...

"And...again!" Greg shouted, waving his arm to Nagi. The other psychic focused his strength and projected his energy at the row of targets in front of him.

"Psyche Shot Plus!" Nagi fires an incredible looking energy ball that knocked down all of the targets at once, causing them to dissipate at the same time.

"That's it, son. Hitting them in a row in one shot...I'm impressed." Greg said, folding his arms. "But don't push yourself too hard when you try to advance that attack like just now, or you'll tire yourself fast. You'll need a great deal of stamina to keep at that move often. My advice is to practice it often and let it get into your system, so you can get used to it."

"I get you, Greg." Nagi nodded. "How about I try another attack?"

"Sure, man. Do whatever that suits you." Greg said.

"Okay, how about this?" Nagi said, as he shut his eyes and raised his head, his arms outstretched. A small energy ball formed around his temple and it rise above him. The ball increased in size as it started to leave Nagi's body and headed towards the moving targets that were stacked around each other. He managed to hit at least four of them out of seven.

"Energy projection straight from mental thoughts...who would have thunk that was possible?" Greg said, almost impressed. "But it definitely needs work in being controlled. I can help you meditate on focusing your thoughts to see using your mind, just as how you use your eyes to see as well. What was the name of that move anyway, Nagi?"

"Oh, I call it 'Crow Rising.' Pretty neat huh?" he asked.

"Yeah, it does." Greg replied. "I can help you on that one as well, if you let me."

"That will be great, Greg." Nagi replied. "Anything else?"

"Just repeat the same moves from before, and eventually you'll discover something." Greg replied. "If you want, you can have a break now, there's something I need to check up on in my room."

"Okay, Greg. I'll wait till you get back." Nagi said.

"I won't take too long." Greg said, as he left the VR room. His mind drifted to his thoughts as he left. (I hope Tessa got that message I sent her two days ago, and I'm hoping Jean is still around for me to contact him soon regarding Kari's safety.)

Nagi went over to sit with Tot and Yuina, who herself was still getting familiar with her new powers and abilities.

"That was quite a display before the training started." Nagi said to Yuina. She simply looked at him.

"Why, thanks, Nagi. I really needed that. But..." she stopped for a moment to think. "It's still a bit hard to get used to..."

"Are you kidding? Talents like yours are probably just wonderful to have." Nagi said, then he looked at Yuina seriously. "I bet you're confused about yourself from all this, aren't you?"

Yuina nodded. "Yes, that's right. All of these things happening to me...it's not easy to cope with something like this."

"Yuina..." Nagi stopped before he continued. "It's never meant to be. And I'm sure that's what any other psychic like myself or Greg went through just to be accepted in this world."

"I don't think I understand, Nagi..." Yuina was a bit puzzled.

"What I'm trying to say, Yuina," Nagi continued seriously. "Is that you can't go through life being afraid of what you are. If you do that, sooner or later somebody will come along who'll misunderstand, and you'll have to do something to show him that it's not him that you're afraid of. When it goes that far, it's usually much worse for you--and for him too."

"I see..." Yuina nodded her head. "I think I'm starting to understand what you mean. Like in sempai's case."

"It's always best in the long run to be what you are." Nagi said. "Spending time with Riku's family helped me learn this. While it's not proper to behave as if you were more, it isn't good to behave as if you were less either. Do you understand what I'm trying to say?"

"The whole problem seems to be finding out just exactly what you really are." Yuina observed.

Nagi smiled. "That's the part that gets most of us in trouble at times." He agreed.

"Hey! What is it that you two are talking about behind my back?" Greg asked, stepping in back the VR room.

"Nothing big, Greg. Just giving Yuina some pep talk, that's all." Nagi said, as Yuina giggled.

"Yeah, sempai. He was just being helpful." Yuina said. Greg only smiled at the youngsters.

"Heh, fine then. But don't forget who's your provider of Zen. If you need any expert advice, just come to me." Greg said proudly.

"We won't forget that, Greg." Nagi said, almost jokingly.

"Okay, now we continue training. Yuina, it's your turn to show me what you and Seraph can do with that energy sword. Maybe if my Lance attacks can help you a bit, you should watch my movements." Greg said.

"Okay, sempai. Let's do it." Yuina replied.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

About an hour later, Greg was bushed out from training Nagi and Yuina in the VR room, when he decided to crash while leaning on one of the VR boxes. Greg's new disciples were watching him from just outside the door, as they were a bit puzzled to see Greg still looking dangerous, even in his sleep. He was even clutching unto his Ascension during his nap.

"I wonder what is it that sempai is dreaming about?" Yuina asked, still in her emulate form.

"I'm hoping it's something good." Nagi said. "Come on, we shouldn't disturb him, he needs his rest after all he's been through today."

"Okay, Nagi." Yuina said. As she left, she took a glance at Greg, deep in his sleep. He was mumbling 'Reese' in his sleep.

"Sempai..." she muttered in silence as she left.

Even in his sleep, Greg had his Codec/MP3 player on. It was playing one of his most favorite Guilty Gear X2 tracks, 'Still In The Dark' the theme for the Millia versus Eddie EX battle. (A.N: You can hear it in the options of the game, or in an Eddie or Millia Story Mode. Why not in a normal Arcade or Versus mode? I can never forgive some game developers...) It happened to be his personal lullaby, as well as a 'special' kind of song whenever he is with Linn.

"Reese...I'll make your blood boil when I get my hands on you!" Greg said, as his mind entered a certain mindscape into his dream.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Now, my sweet precious, Linn Aramaki...the time for the sacrifice has come. Rejoice, young lady...when your blood is spilt over this floor, I'll enjoy drinking it from your skull as the ritual to become overlord of this world!" Lt. Matthew Reese said, as he was dressed in a dark overlord's outfit, while Linn was dressed in a long silky, white, dress, torn around her leg areas and the fact that she was drenched in water didn't quite help the obvious that she was naked underneath. She was chained to a pillar, her arms over her head. The location they were at was in Terminal Dogma, just near the LCL pool. Reese had a large dagger in his hand.

"Never! Greg will come and punish you for your evil deeds, you monster!" Linn squirmed about trying to get free, but Reese smiled, holding her face.

"Ha...if he can get past Ryoji Kaji, who I've hired to personally protect me, nothing can stop me now!" Reese raised the dagger over his head. "Such a sweet, young maiden like you should be happy for this one chance..."

"Ahhhh!" Linn screamed loudly, hoping this was not the end for her, until...

'BOOM!" a thunderous sound came from behind one of the large walls in the large room. Reese stopped and turned his back.

"What the...?" he was puzzled to hear the sounds were getting louder and more frequent.

'BOOM!'

'BOOM!'

'BOOOOOOM!' The final explosion rocked the wall so hard, that it came falling down. It landed unto the LCL and from the darkness, came Linn's Prince Charming...it was Greg, riding on his steed, which was his BMW, and holding unto his Ascension. A dead Ryoji Kaji can be seen still strung out in the front of Greg's bike. Greg simply tipped off the bike and as he did, Kaji's corpse fell off. Greg simply smirked at Reese.

"Knock, knock." Greg simply said, as he raised his Lance.

"Greg! My love! You've come to rescue me!" Linn exclaimed.

"Damn right I am." Greg smirked. "Reese...I've come to make sure you give penance for what you've done to me to make my life hell."

Reese stepped in front of Linn with a smile on his face. "Oh, really? Let's see how you fare against my most powerful minion...a hybrid of magic and Angels...this is my very own Cyclops!"

From the LCL, a figure began to rise, as a white, armored figure with a single, large eye appeared. It was about ten feet tall and it had a particularly nasty smell and a grotesque appearance. Probably from the LCL.

"Heh. You won't last a minute against me." Greg said, gripping unto the Lance.

The monster roared at Greg, but before it got close to Greg, he leaped up several feet into the air and spun his body. During the spinning animation, he let go of the Ascension and used his left fist to punch the hilt area, then as it began to spin, he spun his leg to kick it towards at the Cyclops.

"Twisted Fang!" Greg shouted, as the Lance seemed to stun the beast when it descended at him and impacted his chest area. Then afterwards, Greg seemed to use his powers to send it back flying towards him. And he hasn't landed back on the ground as yet. Instead, he landed right back on his motorcycle.

"Ryde or Die, motherfucker!" Greg sped the bike across the makeshift bridge they were on, letting the Lance ignite flame on it's tip. Increasing the speed, he then made a forward dash at the Cyclops, slicing it's mid-section.

"I'm not done yet!" Greg stopped his motorcycle and instantly turned it around to charge back at the monster, this time passing the Lance below his feet, tripping it. Greg then leaped off the motorcycle in a backward flip, kicking with the monster with both of his feet as he fell back.

"How about this...Trigger Slash!" Greg performed a haymaker attack with his Lance that would have sliced the Cyclops into half, but Greg was just having so much fun right now, he will let it live a little while longer.

"Did you like that?" Greg simply said to the injured Cyclops. The only reply was a roar from it's ugly mouth.

"I take that as a yes. Seems that I have to fully satisfy you with this...Flame Stinger!" Greg taunted the Cyclops into attacking him, and when it did, Greg ended up stabbing the monster with a critical slash on its side, then spinning the Lance to vertical slice it's side, then Greg pulled his body, so his back can face the monster, charging up energy. With a single war cry, he gut punched the monster, before the mark turned into a bull's-eye mark. Greg then started to stab the monster repeatedly with quick, mini strikes around it's chest area. About seven strikes later, Greg then pulled out the Ascension from the target, then he simply smirked, as it combusted into flames. The monster became no more than ashes by the time Greg had stepped past him.

"Awww...that ended too soon, and I wasn't even trying too hard." Greg simply said, starting to walk up the stairs. Reese started to tremble in fear. "Now, Reese...time to pay the dues, wankster."

"You'll never beat me, Kinezono." Reese took the dagger into his hands and charged at Greg. But before he can get closer to Greg, the Ascension had already ended up through his neck.

"Out of my way, windbag..." Greg simply said, kicking Reese away from him, so the Lance can get free. Reese crumpled over on the stairs, while Greg stepped up closer to free Linn from her bounds. Linn looked on at Greg with a happy expression on her face.

"Greg! You're just amazing!" she happily embraced him. Greg simply complied and held her in his arms. "I knew that you wouldn't let me down..."

"Now, now...there's no need for these wet works." Greg said, stroking her hair.

"How can I ever repay you for what you've done for me?" she looked at Greg with puppy eye look on her face. She then noticed that she was scantily dressed, (well, just barely) and gave him a sly grin as she got up closer to speak into his ears. "Will my virginity do for now, my love?"

"Woman, you drive a hard bargain..." Greg smiled, as his hand started to reach for her shoulder, slowly moving down the loose dress she had, almost exposing her....

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Greggie! Dinner's ready! Come and get it!" Rio's shouts were so loud that it woke Greg out of his sleep, and back to reality. He started to shake his head, trying to get his senses in order, while he stopped the 'Still In The Dark' from playing for awhile.

"Damn...another REALLY fucked up dream..." Greg said to himself. "At least it was a good one though...damn, I got to stop watching those old Bastard anime tapes and playing so much Onimusha and Devil May Cry..."

He got up and started to dust himself, then he picked up the Lance. He had a very tough day, he might as well spend tomorrow in bed as well to let his energy gather fully. Doing four Divider of Heavens in several Roman Cancels while sparring against Kurei, then fighting Schwartz, and then learning the truth about Nagi and Tot really worn him out. He deserved a very long night to himself.

(I do hope tomorrow won't be as eventful as today, or else I'll just leave Riku and his buddies behind and start my hunt.) Greg thought to himself. (The sooner I get through with this, the better it is so I won't have to be delved into so many dilemmas.)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Somewhere else in Japan, near the crime scene at Rio's ramen restaurant, a American male stepped out of his taxi and started to observe the area. He began to grin as he thought of meeting Greg soon.

"I've arrived, Greg." The man spoke to himself. "I do hope you're wise enough to listen to what I have to say. Once I find you, we'll inaugurate our discussion for your revenge against the Patriots. "

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Somewhere else in the world, in the large, underwater submarine, which acted as the military base known as MITHRIL an independent army. Inside a high commander's office, a young woman who was barely 18, stepped inside, holding unto her cup of coffee. She had a brown uniform, with long, white hair that was braided into a single ponytail that lied on her left shoulder.

"Ahh...another hard day with the papers." The young girl simply yawned, sorting the papers. "There's never any rest for the weary..."

After she moved several sheets, her hand stopped on what it seemed to be a single sheet of paper. The message on it didn't bother much, until she saw the addressee.

"Huh...? This is..." the woman started to read the sheet.

"Hey, Tessa. Sorry if I caught you at a bad timing, but as you may have heard, I'm in a jam right now. I need your help, well sort of. I can't say more than that, but if you got the chance, please contact me using my Codec frequency. You should remember it. I'm willing to listen to you, even after all that's happened. I do look forward to seeing you again, Tes."

Teletha 'Tessa' Testarossa stood up with a shocked expression on her face. The captain of he MITHRIL assault submarine, the Tuatha De Danaan, had encountered wild things before, but this tops her list.

But, still...

With a simple sigh, she smiled as she sat back down and picked up her phone. "Seems like I have to repay Greg that favor now."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

ShardclawK: And that's the end of this chapter. Seems like things for Greg are starting to heat up a lot. With all these characters as Greg's oldest associates and new enemies along the way, this story is no where close to being finished any time soon. Hoped everyone liked the guest appearances too, because the next couple of chapters will have even more of them along the way.

Ran: Yeah, this was a truly awesome chapter, but what I don't get is that very weird dream sequence....what's up with that?

ShardclawK: Hey, I couldn't help it! I have Bastard!, Devil May Cry and the Onimusha games to thank for, as well as Greg's ever so 'creative' perspective of imagination.

Omi: So, those attacks that Greg did with the Lance are actually real moves?

ShardclawK: Damn skippy! Once I get the rest of the appropriate ones in, I'll be sure to send a movelist to my fan's ways, like DarkFusion, Tempest Dynasty, GreyWolf4 and Rune. Oh, and thanks to DarkFusion for even more dialogue inserts and goodies. Please correct me on the Full Metal Panic references if you see any mistakes, okay?

Youji: I wonder, what kind of business Greg has with Tessa?

ShardclawK: You guys ask too much questions...anyway, you'll just have to see in the next couple of chapters, where more guests, both normal and surprise ones and even more plot twists than you can shake a Pocky stick at! This will be one of the most craziest story arcs yet!

Ken: Not only that, but someone unexpected gets a moveslist...no, make it two!

Ran: Kusanagi, you'd better not flaunt any more hot chicks in our faces like the last time to end this chapter...Shardclaw?

Youji: Too late, Ran...Jam and Millia and those other women came and took him seconds ago while weren't looking.

Ran: Oh, geez...well, that's all the time for this chapter. We'll see you all soon in the next one. As always, review and send Kusanagi more goodies and...girls?!

Omi: Looks like this fic is bringing him the chicks too every time he updates, just like in COE.

Ken: Hey, Ran...you think our chances of landing hot girls like that will happen if we start writing cool crossover fics like Shardclaw does?

Ran: Don't even think it...

Collis aka ShardclawKusanagi.


	17. Revoultions, Part 2

Disclaimer: The same as the previous chapters. Now, without further ado....

ShardclawK: Another chapter to this fic is finally here. Thanks to those who reviewed and enjoyed the guest character appearances. There are sure to be more on the way, I guarantee you that. And a big thank you to DarkFusion for more inserts, and information, as well as those helpful FMP and Noir links. I do hope I'll be able to portray those characters right, as I know they may be among your favourite characters.

Ran: And whenever you do a good job when you update, you always end up getting goodies and more girls to yourself because of him.

ShardclawK: I guess he was feeling nice to do that. I hope he keeps it up, Kagura and Sakaki from Azumanga Daioh are cute chicks, though I could use that chick in the glasses, Kozomi. And Seras from Hellsing is surely helping me get my work done, thanks to her wearing this...

As soon as I snapped my finger, Seras Victoria steps in, wearing a skin tight, see thru outfit, complete with mini skirt. Sakaki and Kagura walks in and huddle me wearing very tight P.E shirts and shorts. Once again, the Weiss boys look on in jealousy as Seras begins to lick the nape of my neck.

Seras: Oh, Kusanagi-sama, you look so tasty. Would you mind if I take a bite of your godly presence?

ShardclawK: No, Seras...no! No nibbling! No nibbling....ohhhh...

Kagura: Excuse us, boys...but Shardclaw needs us to be around him while he works, so we can 'help speed' things up.

Seras: Let's take him to the bedroom, girls!

Youji: Have fun, Shardclaw. Anyway, while the author is occupied, time for a brief recap. In the last chapter, Greg got to meet some of his old friends from the King Of Fighters, and learned a bit about Shade. After he returned to the Uruha mansion with Riku and company, Nagi and Tot revealed to Rio and Team Warrior about their pasts with Schwartz and what had happened before. Later that evening, Greg got the chance to train Nagi and Yuina, some of his attacks with the Lance is revealed as well as some outside allies that may seemed to be concerned about Greg's status.

Omi: Well, nothing much did happen in terms of action, though that dream sequence in the last chapter was rather radical. I hope this chapter will be better in terms of events and more appearances.

Ken: It will, as there are things ahead that will surprise a lot of you. Anyway, as Shardclaw got taken away by those lovelies around him, we hope you'll enjoy this offering to his famous fic.

Ran: We really have to do something about Shardclaw and his harem, but we can't to a damned thing, can't we?

Omi: Yeah, he's the boss around here. But we can all discuss that after the chapter is done. As for now, dear readers, enjoy as always.

* * *

ShardclawKusanagi presents:

Metal Gear: Soldier X

Chapter 16: Revolutions, Part 2

* * *

"Heh, Linn, you look so good in that bunny suit...I want to do you while you're wearing it!" a twisted Greg Kinezono spoke up from behind Linn, who was wearing a silky, blue green bunny outfit, large white ears and tail to boot.

"Oh...Greg! What are you doing...?" Linn Aramaki protested, as Greg's hands found their 'marks' and started to fool around. The beautiful Indian Japanese woman started to fluster in amazement. "What if someone catches us?"

"Heh, come on now, Linn. You how much an audience watching us gets me..." Greg continued, letting his hands go lower. Linn's hands couldn't resist as well, with her back against his chest, one of them found themselves around his belt of his jeans.

"Oh, Greg...you horny, monster..." Linn panted, as she turned to lock lips with him. After kissing for awhile, she broke off the kiss and smiled at him.

"Linn..." Greg held her face, as she started to kiss his neck, and proceeded to go lower to his pants. (Almost there...)

"I'm going to make you so happy, Greg." Linn winked at him, licking her purple lipstick glossed lips.

Greg then shuts his eyes, as whenever he is with Linn like this, he ends up being sent to heaven. Taking a deep breath, he anticipated Linn's getting closer giving him a wild time...

* * *

'BUZZ!'

That is until Greg's internal clock woke him up before anything can happen. He suddenly opened his eyes, staring at his nano-arm and covered in sweat. He slowly and groggily got up, still feeling the fatigue in his body.

"Dammit! Having a dream like that can only mean one thing...I must really miss Linn." Greg said to himself as he stood up. Stretching himself, he reached for his t-shirt and put it on, and the first thing he headed for was the door to the bathroom. After a shower and getting his senses proper, he then headed out the door. The first person he met in front of him was Umi.

"Hey, Umi...good morning." Greg yawned as he talked to her.

"Same to you, Greg. But hate to break it to ya, but it's really 2:30 in the afternoon." The rabbit cosplay referee told Greg, which made him stop yawning and look on in shock.

"Nani?!" Greg replied. "How come? Why did I sleep for so long?"

"Well, we would have woken you up earlier, but with all that snoring, and the Linn name calling..." Umi smiled at Greg. The psychic only twitched while staring at her, then he waved it off.

"I understand, I needed the extra rest anyway." Greg replied. "So, did anything happen while I was out cold to this time?"

"Nothing important, everyone's at their usual routine and are trying to make sense of what Nagi and Tot told your family yesterday." Umi replied.

"Gotta agree on that. But right now, that's small fry compared to my problems..." Greg simply replied.

"Oh, and another thing..." Umi said. "...Roy Campbell called earlier, as well as the rest of FOXHOUND. They wanted to know how are you going and what are going to do about Reese. They left like over five messages telling you to contact them as soon as possible."

Greg looked at Umi in silence. He then nodded his head. "Okay, Umi. I'll contact them myself and tell them what's happening. But I need you to do a favour for me." 

"Sure thing, Greg. What would it be?"

"Get the maids ready to prepare both my breakfast and lunch and have it brought over to the garage. I have some repairs to my motorcycle that has to be seen about." Greg said. "And tell them not to forget a large, ice filled mug of lemonade. This heat's probably the reason why I fell asleep like that."

"Right. Should I tell Riku that you're up?"

"No need to. I'm sure he'll come to me sooner or later to introduce me to more people around this place I'm betting I haven't met yet." Greg replied. "See ya around, Umi. And thanks."

Umi simply waved to Greg as he went downstairs. Surprisingly, he noticed how the people of Warrior was occupied with their activities with the Uruha household. Yuina and Seraph were playing Metal Slug 3 on Greg's PS2, with Tot. Nothing of out of the ordinary, expect...

"Seraph...your hair!" Greg stopped his tracks to talk to the biodroid. "It's blonde like mom's!"

"Yes, and it is indeed a suitable colour. Do you like it?" Seraph smiled, passing her hand through it. Greg only rubbed his head.

"Yeah, I'm not mad that you changed your hair colour. It's not everyday a beautiful and tall woman with silvery hair can be seen walking among us." Greg said with a grin.

* * *

Somewhere in an alternate universe, at a small, comfortable home for the Morisato residence...

"AHHCCHHOOO!" A tall, and attractive slender woman with long, silver hair sneezed loudly, while drinking her saki, spilled over. She had a single marking of an upside down triangle between and over her eyes. She looked around, with a dazed look on her face.

"What the...Did someone just mentioned me? she thought to herself. She simply shrugged her shoulders and continued to drink the saki, without a care in the world.

* * *

"It was Rio who assisted me with preparing this change." Seraph said.

"I see. Well, you look better with that colour anyway..." Greg said, then looking at the screen. "Geez....I hope you guys got the patience to beat that game. By the time you're done, you'll lose all the blood playing that game for about an hour and a half to beat."

"An hour and a half just to beat?!" Tot exclaimed. "How can people even play through this game good without making much of a mistake?"

"That's the question only your skills can answer." Greg said while smiling. "Have fun, girls. Any of you wants me, I'll be in the garage."

"Okay, sempai." Yuina said, getting back to her gaming.

Ten minutes later, Greg's hands were covered in oil, sweat and smudge, as he was still busy maintaining the status of his motorcycle. He reached for a somewhat, dirty glass for of his lemonade and drank half of the icy, cool lemonade. He was deep in thought with the songs that he liked which were playing in his Codec/MP3 player, while he did his mechanical work. The Codec was playing Wolverine's song from one of Greg's all time favourite games, Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter.

It was just then, he heard it rang. He let the Codec pick up the signal and realised it was a three way call. One connection was from Tokyo-3, while the other was from Washington, D.C. Greg simply sighed as he reached for his call button.

"Panth...Gregory Kinezono here. State your call." He said almost rudely.

"Greg!" Linn's face appeared on one of his screens, since he let it go on multi-view mode for now. He sensed a lot of people will want to talk to him. "I can't believe it...you're alright!"

"Don't let it get to your head. It's a miracle I'm still even breathing..." Greg said, then he began to smile. "Hi, Linn. Missed me?"

"You...you promised me that you would call me first thing after that fight with Mantis!" Linn cried from her screen.

"Hey, it couldn't be helped if I didn't. It was so bad in terms of how it ended up, that I nearly made it out alive, much less still able to carry Mantis out of that place before it caved down." Greg said.

"You never cease to amaze me, Greg." Roy Campbell's face appeared with alight smile. "Thank God that you're still alive to see us again."

"Roy, it's no big deal." Greg said.

"No big deal?!" Naomi Hunter's voice shouted through the Codec. "There were erratic readings of your immune system, as well as the function of your nanomachines, Greg!"

"Good to see you too, Naomi." Greg simply said.

"This is not funny, Greg." Naomi said, shaking her head form her screen. "Why didn't Rio contact me before she allowed the empathic barrier of your powers to be broken?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Greg simply said, changing the styles to Ryu's theme of the same game. "If I didn't had that boost of my powers, I wouldn't have even survived that fight with Shade, and surely especially when I confronted Mantis! It was her call, not mine's. She was doing the best thing possible to make sure we got Lilica back safely."

"And was your mission a success?" Maggie Thompson's face appeared from her screen.

"Oh, Boss Lady..." Greg simply grinned. "Well, someone with my kind of ability must see things through to the end, right? Anyway, why are you guys calling me? You basically got what really happened with me and Mantis from Riku while I was asleep for two weeks, and I'm not wasting any of my strength to go over it again."

"Same old Greg." Garland Durev's face appeared from his screen. "We were just concerned for you, that's all. Considering all the confusion that has been surrounding you since Reese put you through all that mess."

"Reese...because of him, he's making me hide out at Riku's family home, when I'm supposed to be out and about hunting him and the Patriots down." Greg said, wiping his brow of the sweat from it. "Whatever happened to the old wankster anyway?"

"Just before your fight with Shade, he took off from headquarters." Mei-Ling explained. "All of your records are no longer within the databases, I fear he must have either took them with him or he must have deleted them."

"In other words, he's probably in hiding right now." Michael Hansen spoke from his screen. "No one has any ideas on where he could be on the planet."

"That will make things harder for me to track him down..." Greg said, adjusting his brake pads some more.

"At least you're still alive, Greg. That's what important right now." James Masterson answered from his screen. "So, what are you going to do about this, Greg?"

"Are you coming back to FOXHOUND to sort this out?" Roy asked.

Greg simply smirked at his fellow comrades and simply replied. "Heh, no."

"What?" Naomi exclaimed. "Why not, Greg?"

"You guys don't know this, but it was because of Reese, and the Patriots...my life...they ruined it from the past and present." Greg said bitterly. "He's the one who brought misery to my life since the Patriots and Dr. Clark murdered my family to get what they want from me. And if that wasn't enough, Reese had to manipulate Mantis into doing what he wanted and he killed an innocent to get to me. He almost had my mother killed, and at the end, Mantis died. Don't any of you understand this...? It's because of me....my family, and now, Yuina's aunt and Mantis himself had to die, while I still live, their deaths on my conscience for the rest of my existence. It's up to me to make Reese suffer for making this happen. I'm sure he had to affect other people's lives just as how he messed up mine, but now...the Patriots are mad for what I've done to protect everyone I care about so far, they won't accept the fact that their so called 'weapon' has rebelled against their will, so they decided to make my life miserable."

"Greg..." Linn said in a low tone, as he began to simmer down. "...it's not your fault that these things are happening to you."

"Yeah, right. Tell that to the one who you tried to help when he returned the favour for doing the same for him, before those Patriots bastards blasted his brains from the inside." Greg said coldly. "I was there...when it happened. I can still feel his blood and skin, hitting against mine's at the point when it exploded....even up today, I can not get those screams of his agony...his pain from the depths of my mind. I may have survived the fight against him, but in reality I got spared to endure this punishment. So, the best way to live with that is to make sure Reese feels the same way I did because of him. And coming back to FOXHOUND to endanger all of you because of that is something I'm not willing to let happen."

"But, Greg...we're only trying to help." Garland said.

"If you want to help, then you should just let things be and let me do things my way." Greg replied. "It's bad enough that Riku and his partners insisted that they help me on this, but I'm not allowing anymore of my friends to get involved."

"You're going to get yourself killed if you only rely on yourself, Greg." Micheal told him.

"The only way I'm letting myself to die is AFTER I get Reese." Greg said.

"Greg! You don't know what you're saying!" James said.

"I know what I'm saying, dammit. And I could care less about what happens to me." Greg said. "I'm 'expendable' right? I'm only a living weapon that was artificially brought up to satisfy our enemies. Well, today the table's have turned. As my local Trini saying goes, 'I run the grease engine, things don't run me'."

"You're serious about this, are you, Greg?" Maggie asked.

"Dead serious."

"Don't let it get to your head. You think you alone can stop Reese and the Patriots?" Garland asked.

"I'm may be arrogant, but I'm certainly not stupid." Greg said. "I'm going to do this my way, one way or the other. I don't you guys to get involved anymore, this is now my problem."

"Greg, all we want is to help. Just let us." James said.

"You got your problems, deal with them." Greg replied in a cold tone. "I'll deal with mines."

"What happened to you, Greg? You were never like this..." Linn answered.

"You want to know what happened? I'll tell you...if people like Reese didn't exist, my life wouldn't be so miserable and Mantis didn't have to die a horrible death courtesy of him and the Patriots. And surely, Yuina's aunt would still be alive." Greg explained. "I...wasn't able to help and protect any of them...even with these powers..."

"Greg, it's not your fault. Stop kicking yourself." Roy said.

"I know...I know...." Greg said, almost close to tears. "I'll try to keep my head up, though that's going to be hard...."

"So, are you really coming back to us, Greg?" Garland asked.

"I...I made up my mind. Even if I wanted to, I can't come back to FOXHOUND, not ever. Not after what Reese put me through." Greg said, with his head turned.

"But, Greg! There are people here that needs your support." Micheal said.

"I know...but even if I did come back, everyone will be against me. I'm branded as the one who killed Gendou Ikari, right?" Greg said.

"That's not true. Raiden was there when it happened." Linn spoke. "We can have him tell everyone who don't believe you understand your situation."

"Heh, nice try as always, Linn. But I don't think the rest of the world will appreciate his statement alone." Greg said.

"Greg, there are a lot of people here at NERV who will support you too, but you just have to come back to us." Naomi said.

"Sorry, everyone...but...I just can't!" Greg said. "This is something I alone have to sort out, just tell everyone at NERV for me not to worry. I'll be back soon, but not right away. The Patriots may be just waiting for me to show up so this mess can start all over again."

"Okay, Greg. We won't pressure you anymore." Garland said. "But remember, you have your duties here. Those terrorists can strike any time without a warning."

"Yeah, yeah...I know." Greg replied lazily. "Of course, it all depends on how much I have to go through to find a way to get my name clear..."

"If there's anything you need from us, don't be afraid to contact us." Micheal said.

"Actually, there's this one thing...Shade and his regenerative abilities." Greg stated. "I'm sure you must have attempted to kill him before, right, Micheal?"

"That is true, I came close several times to finishing him off, but he always ends up healing afterwards." Micheal said. "The only thing I'm sure of is the damage to his face which may have been a result to severe burns."

"You mean those scars on the right side of his face?"

"That's it." Micheal said. "I should also point out that he's nearly 500 years old, rumours have pointed out that he even served as a personal shinobi to Nobunaga Oda during that time."

"Yeah, Riku already told me about that." Greg replied.

"I've also heard that he had an attempt on his life once by Oda himself, but it failed." Micheal continued. "How or why he has lived for this long is beyond me, but I advise you to be more careful with him the next time you run into him."

"Right. At that time, I'll try flaying him first, then set him ablaze, afterwards, beat the living shit out of him till he's a pulp, impale his ass, cut off his head and finish the job by frying him bad enough that he won't have time to recover." Greg smirked.

"You're truly have gone psycho, Greg. But that's good, at least you're still alive to talk to us." James smiled.

"Hey, that reminds me...Micheal, I ran into Mai Shiranui yesterday." Greg said. Micheal looked on at Greg in surprise.

"Mai is around in Japan?" Michael asked.

"Yep. It seems there' a KOF tournament in Osaka, but because of the present circumstances, it seems that me and Linn won't take part this year." Greg said. "Anyway, she told me to tell you that she misses you and she is looking forward on seeing you again, though I advised her that she'll have to wait till things cool down over at your side first."

"I get you. Thanks for telling me ahead, Greg." Michael replied. "You'll be okay?"

"I got Riku and his partners helping me out in every way they can. My mom and Warrior is trying too, as well as the people at the Uruha mansion." Greg said. "I'll be fine." 

"What about your nanomachines, Greg?" Naomi asked. "The sample you left before you left Tokyo-3 indicated all of the contaminated cells had disintegrated since your encounter with Mantis."

"I may be guessing here, but they must have been eliminated since my power was on full drive during my fight with Mantis. I have him to thank for that." Greg said. "So, as of now, except for the nano-healing capabilities in my body and a slight attitude change, I'm okay and normal."

"Well, at least I won't have to worry about you so much, but please, Greg. Do try to stay out of trouble." Naomi said.

"Can't be helped, it seems that I'm automatically a magnet for stirring up trouble." Greg replied. "Hey, can you tell Kari and Mana for me that I'm doing alright?"

"Sure thing, Greg. They were pretty much scared stiff considering what had happened." Garland spoke.

Greg looked at his watch a bit. "Listen, guys, it was fun. But I got some training to do with Yuina, a responsibility that Mantis left me. She's an okay kid, but I don't want to ruin her innocence too much. There's something about her that kind of...well, I don't want to get into it as yet. Let's just say I've found better encouragement thanks to her."

"That sounds like a good thing, Greg." Linn said. "I do hope you take good care of her...and yourself."

"Linn..." Greg muttered. "God, you have no idea how much I miss you."

"All the more reason to come back to us, but you've decided." Linn nodded her head. "Just don't scare me like that again."

"Sorry, it will never happen again, I promise." Greg said with a light grin. "Anyway, I got to disconnect, my motorcycle needs the be done repaired and I got to develop more adjustments to my High Function Lance."

"Greg, I do hope that just because you've gotten a power boost, means that you'll get to beat me." Garland said.

"Sounding scared, Garland?" Greg said. "Good. Stay that way till I get back, and if all else fails, I'm brining my cheerleaders to back me up. There's no way I can lose when we spar again."

"We'll see, Greg. We'll see." Garland smiled at Greg. "Good luck to you and Riku."

"Contact us often, even tough you may be booted out of FOXHOUND, you're still family." Maggie said.

"Yeah. That's the truth." Greg said. "Well, I'm logging off now. See you around, people."

"Greg?" Linn called out to Greg.

"What's up, Linn?"

"I love you. Be safe for me." Linn smiled at Greg.

"Heh, I love you too, Linn. Make sure to take good care of the Harrier till I get back." Greg said. "Sayonara, baby."

As Greg turned off the Codec, he raised his head to breath deeply. (Now the only thing to do is wonder what I'm going to do about getting to Reese and how to approach this situation?) he thought to himself. (I hope either Tes or Jean contacts me soon before I spring into action.)

Shaking his head, Greg preferred to think about the next time his name is mentioned. He reached for the glass of ice cold lemonade, when it stopped mid way and reached for Greg's back pocket. Greg instantly took out the hilt for the Ascension and let in materialize as soon it touched his right arm.

"I may be living at a place full of ninjas, but I can clearly sense your emotions, even from the shadows." Greg said, without turning his back. "Show yourselves."

From the shadows behind Greg, Riku Hanabishi stepped out wearing casual clothing. With him were two adult males, one of them had long, dark hair and was wearing a traditional ninja's outfit of a black and white vest and a head protector. The other male with him wore an unusual outfit, it was a black and white armour. He was carrying an unusual spear himself, though it was more oddly shaped compared to Greg's straight and fierce looking Lance. Greg simply sucked his teeth and rested the Ascension, and simply turned his back to Riku to continue maintaining his motorcycle.

"Jeez, Riku. How long have you been there, eavesdropping on me?" Greg asked.

"Only since the conversation started." Riku replied. "And I wasn't eavesdropping on you, I was pretty much looking for you, since you've slept most of the day."

"Well, I'm up. What is it that you want to talk to me about?" Greg turned to look at the older males. "Let me guess, it has to deal with these two, right? I don't think we've haven't met before."

"Excuse our intrusion, Greg Kinezono, but we can assure you, we're not your enemies." the man with the spear spoke. He then saw Greg's Ascension started to dematerialize before his eyes into the hilt Greg was holding and he simply put it back into his pocket.

"Okay, if you're Riku's family, I'll believe that." Greg said, shrugging his shoulders. "So, Riku, who are these guys?"

"These are Kurei's most trusted and closest allies and friends." Riku showed Greg to Joker. "This is Joker, and the other is an assassin for the Uruha, Raiha."

"Nice to meet you, Greg Kinezono." Raiha showed a hand to greet Greg, but Greg stopped him.

"Wait a sec...appetite coming up!" Greg suddenly took up the bowl of ramen next to him that he hadn't eaten yet, and as soon he picked it up, he slurred all the contents down. Even with his greasy hands, he picked up a rice ball and started chewing down.

"Ewww. Greg, aren't you afraid of your own hygiene?" Riku asked.

"Normally, it's the other way around." Greg said, pouring another glass of lemonade. After drinking from it, he looked back at Joker and Raiha, studying them. "So, what is it that you want to discuss to me about?"

"We're speaking on Kurei's behalf about an alliance the Uruha group has with your foster family, Team Warrior." Raiha said. Greg only raised an eyebrow at this.

"Alliance? Wait a minute, you guys helping my family? Why is that?" Greg asked.

"It is known both you and Riku are faced with danger all the time in your missions from FOXHOUND, and Kurei thought it was best if things got out of hand, we shall lend you our assistance." Joker said.

"I'm sure you guys mean well, but I think it's a little too late for that." Greg replied.

"Um, Greg? There's something that you should know about this." Riku cut in. "Rio and Maki had already agreed on this term years ago. They had already formed this alliance in the case that if something happens that is beyond our control, they will be willing to help."

Greg only rolled his eyes. "Riku, sometimes I wonder how many other people in your life are you willing to let them throw themselves in the line of fire just for my sake."

"Hey, I was kind of upset when I heard about this, but we have no other choice but to go along with it." Riku answered. "They could have helped us with that ordeal with Mantis, but you just had to play hero and almost get yourself killed."

"Har-har...I'm very honoured, Riku." Greg responded with Class A sarcasm. "Get used to it."

"Greg, all we're doing is lending a hand." Raiha said. "If you let us assist you, it will be no trouble to you."

"It seems every time I turn around, someone wants to help me, but it is I who always ends up putting their lives in danger." Greg said, cleaning his fists. "No matter who they are...no one is safe from the problems I bring along with me."

Greg then stood up, picking up the tray of empty food. "I got some training to do right now, fellas. As much as I'm aware of the Uruha and Warrior allying themselves, you can do pretty much whatever suits you as long you stay out of my way."

Before he stepped outside the garage though, he stopped his tracks to think for awhile. He then turned to Riku, Raiha and Joker.  
  
"Sorry about that, guys. My head's not cooperating with me today..." Greg said. "Like I said, whatever you feel to do that can help us at a time like this, feel free to do, but let me say this first...I sense there will be more enemies than Reese and the Patriots waiting at the sidelines. When you're someone like me, you tend to attract a lot of bad news around you."

"We understand, Greg. We're willing to help you on this matter." Raiha said.

"Just don't let it get too much to your head, revenge is never a good thing." Joker added.

"Heh...whatever. It's my life, I can do whatever the hell pleases me." Greg said. "Oh...I almost forgot...Riku, can you do me a favour and show me where Mantis is resting? Its' time I have a small talk with him."

"Uh, sure. Joker, Raiha and I will show you the way." Riku said.

"Why all of you?"

"You'll see for yourself, Greg." Joker replied simply.

"I got a weird feeling about this..." Greg said, then he took up a bottle of sake that with him as part of his meal. It was unopened and he decided to leave it for a special use.

"Okay, then. Lead the way." Greg said, holding the sake bottle next to him.

* * *

Some moments later, a distance away from the Uruha mansion at the located gravesite for other fallen Uruha members, Greg stood in front of a grave maker, where Mantis's kanji was written on the stone. With a simple sigh, Greg kneeled down in front of the grave.

"Hey, Mantis...it's me, Greg." he spoke as if this was hardly affecting him. "Yes, I'm still alive, thank God for that. Man, you were really heavy when I carried you out of that place before it caved us under."

Greg looked up into the sky, it was close to sunset, but it still looked like a clear, bright day.

"I hope you're resting well, despite all the crap we both have been through, because of Reese." Greg spoke. "Leave everything to me, I promise to take care of everything. Yuina included. Yeah, she's a good child, but I sense she has some difficulty trusting me."

After a few moments of silence, Greg spoke once more.

"You think so too, huh?" Greg said to himself. "Give her some more time to adjust? That's what I thought. But the last thing I want right now is to put her in more danger if I just sit around doing nothing."

More silence, as Greg sat down in front of the grave.

"Yeah...I should stop doubting myself. I'm strong enough to help her..." Greg said. "And I should be strong enough to help everyone else...but how long will I keep that up?"

Silence once more, as Greg stood up.

"Well, only time will tell just how long I can last in this fight. But then again, we both know the answer to that, right?" Greg smirked, as he opened the sake jar and started to pour the wine on the marker stone.

"Tips to a fellow psychic homey. Rest easy, Mantis." Greg lifted the bottle over and drank the remaining half from the bottle. "Leave the safety of this planet to me. I'll take care of everything from now on."

Greg rested the bottle to do a quick prayer, before he started to walk a distance away from the clearing and into the pathway leading into a forest, where Riku, Raiha and Joker were standing there.

"Okay, I'm done." Greg said simply. "Now, I get the feeling you guys want to know about what I'm going to do about this, right?"

"Certainly." Raiha asked.

"Well, for one thing, I'm going to make sure Reese is going to regret the day he ever messed with me." Greg said, cracking his knuckles.

"I whole heartedly agree that this Reese deserves whatever it is you decide to do to him once you catch him." Raiha said. "However, it would probably be a good idea to extract whatever information about the Patriots from him before you do that."

"And how do you guys think we'd get information from Reese?" Greg asked. "If you're going to suggest torture, while that bastard deserves it, it probably won't work, and I seriously doubt bribery would either."

"There are other ways to bribe people, Greg." Joker smiled slyly. "I know of certain concoctions that can make someone feel very good. The only trouble with them is that after you've used them a few times, you have to keep on using them. The pain of stopping is really quite unbearable. We could own Reese within the space of a week and have him do anything we want him to do."

"Oh, sure...torment the old wankster using drugs..." Greg smirked. "If all else fails, I can resort to transferring my powers and feed Reese the pain me, Mantis and Yuina went through because of him. I'm sure he'll be talking a lot if I did that."

Greg then looked serious, as he turned around to see Mantis's grave once more.

"Are you sure no one will be able to disturb Mantis' rest?" Greg asked. "I doubt a bunch of traps will keep people like the Patriots out of here."

"You don't have to be worried about that, Greg." Joker replied. "We've made certain modifications to keep the Patriots out of places like this."

"Like what?" Greg asked.

"Have you wondered why the Patriots haven't bothered us any while we were at the mansion?" Raiha asked. "It's because the mansion is protected with almost the same stuff that protects this gravesite."

"More traps?" Greg assumed.

"Alot more than that, Greg." Riku said. "We've surrounded the place with both an illusion created by genjutsu and a barrier created out of kekkai no jutsu. The illusion basically makes intruders get lost and eventually either wander back to the entrance they came in from or a trap. The barrier just plain keeps them out."

"Speaking of which, what kind of traps did we avoid on the way here?" Greg asked.

"Let's see..." Joker said as he tried to remember. "Oh yeah, a few pits with sharpened stakes at the bottom, some conveniently placed dens full of poisonous snakes, a couple of bushes with very sharp and very poisonous thorns, and some nets that have a lot of poisoned hooks on them." He then turned to Raiha. "Did I leave anything out?"

"Aside from the automated gun turrets hidden in some of the trees, along with a couple of trip wires and infrared sensors that would automatically detonate some explosives, I think you got them all." Raiha answered.

Greg would have stared at Riku and his relatives with a blanched look on his face, but this was nothing new to him. Since his fight with Mantis, he pretty much cared less for what surprises him nowadays.

"Heh, what a bunch of sickos." Greg simply smirked. "Well, that's what I call a security system. At least I can rest easier knowing Mantis will be safe and rested peacefully."

"We were doing our part, on behalf of your and Rio's requests." Joker said.

Greg only nodded his head. "I see. Well, let's head back then. It's time for me to get my exercise on. But tell me something...you guys trained Riku as well, huh? So how strong are you guys?"

"I'm sorry to admit it, but we're not as strong as you, Greg." Raiha replied. "After all, you managed to face an Angel and lived, which is something it would take the whole Uruha to do."

"I agree. Though you'd probably put up a better fight then I would, Raiha." Joker added. "After all, your madogu's one of the strongest the Hokage clan ever made."

"You've got that right." Riku agreed. "Uncle Raiha's Raijin madogu is powerful enough to make Fortune's rail guns look like cap guns."

"I see..." Greg replied, his hands in his pockets. "Well, I kinda got lucky to even live after the Angel tried to blast me to kingdom come, so I really wasn't expecting much of the encounter. I was just following my instincts at the time. But what about Kurei? I got a feeling that my match with him really didn't show all of his talents."

"I'm afraid, Kurei's a lot tougher opponent than you think, Greg." Joker said. "One time, during the Urabutosatsujin tournament, he took on and defeated five expert fighters at once in a matter of seconds. The cleanup after the fight was pretty easy; all that had to be done was sweep up the ashes of the enemies."

With a simple grin, Greg really didn't take on that comment. "Oh, really? I'd better try my best not to make him mad when I have that rematch with him anytime soon. Of course, I've been making use with these VR rooms around here for a while and I think I can pretty much come close to end my days as Garland Durev's punching bag when I have my rematch with him if I ever get back to Tokyo-3."

"And what makes you so sure of that, Greg?" Raiha asked with a light grin.

"Haven't any of you heard of the law of history?" Greg said, raising a clenched fist. "It's called, 'I don't lose so easy.'"

Riku, Raiha and Joker started to laugh at this, as Greg started to laugh along with them. Their walk back to the mansion was turning out to be an enjoyable one as Joker and Raiha took the time to learn more about Greg.

* * *

A while later after returning to the mansion, Greg had his fill of dinner before he stepped out to go into some VR training. With the Lance in hand, he was about to enter, when he heard a familiar shout from inside. Greg stopped walking and looked from the screen that showed the room. To his shock, he saw Nanvel Candlestick in her Warrior suit, holding unto an oversized, mechanical gauntlet of a pink and back colour. She was on one of the various weapons mode for Raiden, which seemed to be Handgun mode.

"Aunt Nanvel?!" Greg muttered in shock.

"Take that! Tractor shot!" Nanvel's voice rang out as her gauntlet fired an energy shot at one of her distant targets. The target dissipated with the '50' point score display.

"What on Earth is that?" Greg said to himself. Just then, Rio and Lilica stepped up from behind him to watch. "Hey, mom, Lil...you guys getting this?"

"Uh-huh. Nanvel is surely looking good there." Rio Kinezono nodded her head.

"Triple Burst Shot!" Nanvel aimed her gauntlet and fired three consecutive shots at three targets, all of them dissipating at the same moment they are hit. Nanvel suddenly turned around and suddenly to Greg's amazement, she rose off the ground she stood on and aimed her gauntlet while rising upwards, as the target circling and rising around her were hit.

"Rise of the Machine!" Nanvel cried out, spinning her rising body in an uppercut form.

"What the...? Since when Nanvel can do that...?" Greg asked in a bit of a surprise.

"Well, Greg, since you've been in the coma, she pretty much took her time to analyze the data from your fights with Nan-bot, Shade and Mantis and she put them all together to create her new invention." Lilica said.

"Nani?" Greg asked. "Nanvel wants to fight?"

"I wouldn't call it that, the gauntlet is pretty much doing all the work for her." Rio said.

"Why would she even try something like that? She doesn't have the right combat experience to set on par like the rest of us." Greg said.

"She knows that, that's why the gauntlet is making up for all of that." Rio said. "Greg...she created that thing because she felt in a way, guilty for what has happened to you."

"I'm not blaming Nanvel or anyone else from my family for what happened." Greg said, with his arms folded.

"We know that, but..." Lilica looked at Nanvel training on with a smile on her face. "Not only she wants to make up for all that's happened, but to at least be strong enough to try and help you too."

(Great...if this carries on, that means I'm gonna have an extra person to protect.) Greg rubbed his temple while thinking.

"And guess what, Greg?" Lilica's voice interrupted his thoughts.

"What is it, Lilica?" Greg asked her.

"I've developed a new attack that will surely surprise you." She smiled, and pressed the intercom to talk to Nanvel. "Hey, Nanvel. I'm coming inside with Greg to show him something."

"Okay, Lilica. You can come on in anytime." Nanvel, who seemed to be deep in training her attacks, simply called back. As Greg and Lilica entered, Greg was still amazed to seeing Nanvel like this.

"Aunt Nanvel...why are you even doing this?" Greg asked.

"Hey, Greg." Nanvel stopped once she saw Greg and continued on with her attack. "Isn't it obvious? I'm doing what it takes to be capable of protecting you if something like what happened before starts up again."

"I know that. But..."

"Greg, don't worry a bit about me." Nanvel smiled at her surrogate nephew. "This automated, energy gauntlet can protect me 100% from any types of damage inflicted on this sweet, young body, while it's really good at dishing out some major pain if I wanted to."

"How long were you working on that thing?"

"Just shortly you gone into that coma weeks ago. I took the time and made it perfectly." Nanvel looked at her creation with sullen eyes. "I don't want to come close to ever losing you, Greg. You don't have to bear all of that anguish inside of you by yourself."

"Geez...what is it today? 'Empathy-pity-and-give-Greg-a-hand-day?" Greg said, folding his arms. "Really, Nanvel...I know you want to pitch in after all that's happened, but..."

"Greg, I'll be alright. You have my word on that." she said, holding his hand. "Besides, I may be needing your help at times too, you know. I can't always depend on my science to keep me safe and protect those I care about."

"Alright, alright...you win. Just try not to get into anything too dangerous for you." Greg smiled, as he kissed Nanvel's cheek. Then he turned to Lilica. "Okay, Lil, what is it that you got to show me?"

"This!" Lilica ran towards a target that Nanvel didn't hit and performed her Warrior mode, Warrior: Swing! at it. The attack made the target flicker, as Lilica flipped backwards into the air when the background change colour. She performed an air dive kick at the target and landing behind it. After she raised an arm, she glares at the target once more before dive kicking it again, this time causing it to combust.

Greg started to clap his hands. "Incredible, Lilica! I've seen that you've been training as well."

"Got that right, big brother." she panted, raising a thumbs up. "I call that, 'Lilica's Revenge."

"Heh, I can guess why exactly you named it that." Greg said. He then raised up his Ascension. "Hey, I got an idea...."

"Oh, no! Greg, don't make us have to spar with you!" both Nanvel and Lilica said in unison, huddling together. Greg only sweat dropped anime style.

"Let me finish, will ya?" Greg sighed. "Since Nanvel needs work on her aiming, I'll help her. I did score the highest scores from Raiden's VR missions while I was part of FOXHOUND, so the tutoring will be helpful. What do you say, Nanvel?"

"That will be great, Greg." Nanvel smiled at Greg.

"I'm also sticking around to see what are you doing with your Ascension so far, Greg." Rio said. "Show me your skills."

"One thing at a time, mom." Greg smirked at Rio. "Okay, Nanvel...start telling me how you work that thing?"

* * *

The next day, Greg made sure to wake up early this time to complete repairs on his motorcycle. After about only an hour in the garage, the engine purred better than before like a gentle kitten, and it's powerful roar seemed to shake the windows around the garage.

"'Take good care of your motorcycle, and it will take good care of you'." Greg said, cleaning his hands. (A.N: That is a similar comment Megumi Morisato made in an Oh My Goddess manga, graphic novel Number 15. The title of the story is named, 'Two hearts beat as one.' Lovely race scenes! )

After making sure his hands were cleaned enough, he went to the kitchen, where he met Kurei, Neon, Riku and Nagi.

"Good morning, Greg." Nagi told Greg, as he sat near the counter. "I take it that your motorcycle's doing better?"

"Heh, that machine is like a third girlfriend that needs to be taken care of." Greg simply said, drinking his coffee, served by one of the maids. "While Linn can take of herself, the Harrier is another matter by itself."

"Greg, can I ask you something about your buddies from KOF?" Riku asked, sitting next to Greg. "I didn't want to say anything to interrupt your conversation earlier since it obviously was important, but how good a ninja is Mai?" Riku asked.

"How did you know she was a ninja?" Greg asked.

"Like the saying goes, 'It takes one to know one'." Riku replied. "Also, do you know which ninja clan she's from?"

"For your first question, Riku...Mai is extremely good in her natural hand to hand and attack skills with a folding fan, she has a technique of sorts that allows her to ignite on impact."

"Ignite?" Nagi asked. "You mean she has powers like you and Riku?"

"I think it's more of a technique her clan has learned since ancient times. Yes, it's more magical than natural or scientific." Greg said. "And I think if I remember right, is that her clan may have rumoured to be either from the Hatori clans or just the Shiranauis."

"I see..." Riku said, nodding his head. "I take it that she and the other ninjas in KOF would make popular statuses if their abilities made them quite formidable."

"You must be talking about Lin and Eiji Kisaragi?" Greg asked, thinking of their names. "Yeah, I've done some fighting with and against Lin some time before. Very cool guy once you get to know him. Eiji...well, let's not go on that matter."

"What about Eiji?" Nagi asked, sounding interested. "Tell us what happened, Greg."

"Okay, since you asked. The last time I ran into him, he tried to kill me, since I was an ally of Iori Yagami." Greg explained. "It happened more than once, but that feud's ended."

"But wasn't Eiji was on the same team with Iori?" Riku asked.

"Yeah, but at the end of the '95 tourney, Iori tried to kill him and the other partner that was part of their team, Billy Kane." Greg said, folding his arm. "And the most funny part is, that Billy was a former henchman for Geese at the time."

"Is Billy still alive?" Kurei asked.

"He's working alongside with Yamazaki and Gato when last I heard of them. So I can say how sure I am about if he's part of Geese's underworld organization...he's mostly concerned about his sister, Lilly and a life of crime can really get to a man who's a brother to someone pure and sweet to Lilly." Greg was about to continue, just when Seraph and Yuina entered the room.

"Greg, there's something that Yuina wishes to discuss with you on." Seraph said.

"Sounds private, isn't it, Seraph?" Greg asked, as he looked at Yuina. She only nodded her head.

Greg only raised an eyebrow as he stood up and walked towards her. "Okay, Yuina, Seraph, we can step outside for awhile."

"Alright." Yuina replied as she followed Greg outside. As soon as he stepped outside, he turned and started to talk.

"Now, Yuina...what is it that you wish to tell me?"

"Umm...I was wondering..." Yuina's eyes drifted from Greg's face. "When you said that we'll go back to my home, did you mean it?"

"Of course. You can't just ignore your old home and family like that." Greg rested his hands on her shoulders. "You're sure you're ready to go back and face what's left? There could be some painful memories."

"I...I don't mind, sempai. I'm ready to face any horrid memory, as long you are there to help me cope with it." she said. "Please, sempai...I'll show you where I'll live and all you have to do is just watch over me."

With a simple sigh, Greg nodded and kissed Yuina's forehead. "It's a deal, Yuina. How soon do you want to go?"

"As soon as possible." she simply replied. "It's quite far from where we live, it's in Tokyo-2."

"Okay, then. I'll get the bike ready. You sit in the back, and I'll get a side car for Seraph." Greg said, turning around to get back inside.

(I'd better carry my Ascension with me this time...just in case I run into Shade or Schwartz again.) Greg thought to himself. (But of course, I can't afford to fight any one as of this moment, or else Yuina might start to worry about me like she always does.)

After Greg stepped back inside, he grabbed his Kyo '03 jacket. He then turned to the people in the room.

"Everyone, I'm stepping out with Yuina and Seraph for a while." Greg said, putting on the jacket. "This won't take long."

"Want me to come along with you?" Riku asked.

"Thanks, but no thanks, Riku." Greg waved him off. "The last thing I need right now is more people babysitting me. And if anything happens again, I can pretty much protect myself, Yuina and Seraph while I'm at it."

Riku put up his arms. "Okay, Greg. I'm only watching your back like I'm suppose to be doing."

"There's no need to. Someone gets me on my bad side, I can pretty much be unforgivable when start to rain punishment on that poor cretin." Greg said. "And don't even think of following me either. I can sense your emotions like a bloodhound."

(Damn. So much for trying to help Greg with that.) Nagi thought.

(I heard that, Nagi.) Greg said as he closed the door behind him.

* * *

"This is it." Yuina said, while holding unto Greg's back from behind. Greg stopped his motorcycle and parked it in front of a decent two story home. After he got off, Yuina handed him her helmet while Seraph got off her sidecar. Before Yuina started to walk off into the yard, Greg can sense a dread feeling around the area.

"Yuina..." Greg called out to her, as she suddenly stopped and turned to look at him.

"What is it, sempai?"

"Don't run off on your own." Greg said, stepping closer to her. "Come on, we're going inside together."

Yuina nodded her head and took Greg's nano hand into her small right one. With a deep breath, she and Greg went up to the front door, which was bound in 'Do Not Cross' tape.

(Have the police come to this place already?) Greg thought to himself, as he let Seraph and Yuina enter without breaking it. A while after he stepped in, he glanced around a bit, seeing Yuina's family pictures. Greg took one of them and saw a woman with a strong willed look on her face, she had short black hair with square framed glasses on.

"Is...this your mother, Yuina?" Greg asked.

"No...that...was my aunt." she said from a distance, her back turned against his sight. Greg looked at Yuina, and noticed she was crying. "She...she died...right over...there."

Greg walked over to where Yuina pointed and his face became etched with horror at the sight. If Greg Kinezono was the kind of man to lose his food to sights of death like the habits of his girlfriend, he would be doing it at that moment. But for some reason, he hated himself even more that he couldn't do that. All he can do is keep the expression to himself.

Almost the majority of the wall in the living room was nearly caved into one huge crater, dried blood was smeared all over and inside it. The fresh scent of blood was still fresh, even after all this time since Yuina had been captured. Greg can see a trail of dried blood all over the carpet, which only led to another crater, smaller than the larger one. Greg swore he can see tiny pieces of a human skull lying about from where he stood.

"When Mantis attacked...my aunt tried to fight him off..." Yuina said, her tears flowing more frequent. "He threw her to that wall first...I thought she would have died instantly. But...Mantis...he took her and....he slammed her against this wall... then...he..."

"That's enough, Yuina!" Greg took the young girl out of the room and into his arms. "You...don't have to tell me more if it hurts you so much...."

"But...sempai..." she sniffed, while crying.

"Hush, Yuina. You've gone though enough..." Greg spoke, tears coming out of his own eyes himself. "I...for some, sick reason...I can sense what she went through...and what you went through...that is enough! If it pains you so, just...don't look. You hear me, Yuina? Don't ever look back!"

Yuina's only reply was a tighter grip around his body, as she cried her heart unto Greg. Greg only passed a hand onto her head.

"I'm sorry, Yuina..." Greg said. "So sorry, that I wasn't there to help you when you and your aunt needed it. But I promise you...I'll make it up to both of you. I promise!"

* * *

After ten minutes of sharing their pain and regrets together, Yuina was okay to move about a bit, though Greg had to be careful not to be forceful on her fragile state of emotions. In another half hour, she has prepared her necessary clothing that wasn't confiscated by the law and packed them into a large suitcase. She made sure she packed her school books, and favourite toys, as well as her precious family pictures.

Just before she left the house, she turned back bit and glanced back at it one more time.

(Auntie...please, trust Greg.) she thought with a light smile. (He's all I have to trust in this world, so please...leave him a blessing.)

"Are you ready, Yuina?" Greg asked, while sitting on his motorcycle.

"Anytime, sempai." Yuina ran towards him, hopping on the seat. "Hey, before we go back to the mansion...let's get some ice-cream!"

"Well, someone's quite chipper than before..." Greg smirked. "Okay, then...ice-cream it is! My threat."

"Yaaay!" Yuina huddled against Greg as he started his motorcycle.

(At least she's smiling again...I guess it's all worth it.) Greg thought to himself as he sped off with Yuina and Seraph in tow.

* * *

A while later, Greg has on his third pistachio ice cream cone, while Yuina and Seraph were still eating their snow cones in front of a local ice cream parlour.

After Greg had gobbled down his ice cream cone, he licked his lips. He was still in the mood for just one more ice cream cone, and he was certainly enjoying Yuina's and Seraph's company.

"Yuina...can you do me a favour and get one more cone for me?" Greg said, as he adjusted his green tinted sunglasses. "Just this one time?"

"Sure, anything for you, sempai." Yuina smiled happily as she took the money Greg offered her and ran off back inside the parlour.

"On the outside, she's trying to cope with the pain, but inside, she's braking apart slowly." Greg said to Seraph. "Kind of like me, isn't it? Trying to deny a cold truth of what really happened and sealing it inside you, as it starts to slowly dissect your very being, piece by piece."

"And...do you think if Yuina's state of mind continues like this?" Seraph asked, while eating her cone.

"Well, it's up to me to see to it that doesn't happen." Greg said, lifting off his sunglasses. Just as he got up, he saw an American male in his late fifties, with grey hair and brown eyes. He had a beard and had stocky appearance, his average clothing of a business man made Greg hard to describe who he really was. It was when he got closer, Greg noticed him.

"What the hell?" Greg stuttered, as the man approached him with a grin. "General Drake?!"

The American male simply walked closer to Greg and smiled at the young psychic. "It's been a long time, Gregory. How have you been?"

(Do you know this man, Greg?) Seraph asked telepathically.

(General Drake, as is known in FOXHOUND while I was still part of it. I never knew much of him, except he's a lot more tolerable to be with compared to Reese.) Greg replied telepathically. (Still, he's quite a questionable character, I have my suspicions about him causing some kind of trouble, until Reese took the spotlight.)

(Be very careful, Greg.) Seraph said, stepping back. (If you want me to, I'll stay inside with Yuina and wait until he is gone.)

(You do just that.) Greg replied, seeing Seraph leave the area he was with Drake. Then, Greg turned to speak to him. "Drake, what the hell are you doing all the way here in Japan? Let me guess...Campbell demoted you to field duty or something?"

Drake let out a small laugh. "Now, now...I'm just here on business, that's all. And mostly to see you, Gregory."

"Why would a man like yourself come all over here to the most dangerous place on Earth right now, when you're supposed to stay at headquarters, doing paperwork?" Greg asked.

"As I said before, just to see you. Is there any harm in that?"

"A lot." Greg replied, gritting his teeth. "The last group of men dressed in business suits that came to me, looking for my 'assistance' tried to hurt my apprentice when I refused them, and then tried to kill me. A bad call on their part."

"I can guarantee you that I'm not one of them and I have other good reasons to be here with you right now." Drake replied. "Why not switch to nanocommunictaions and continue this talk?"

Greg only replied with a hesitating nod, and went to Codec mode.

"State your reasons." was Greg's reply from his Codec screen.

"I'm quite aware of the predicament that Reese has put you in." Drake said.

"So, what about it?" Greg said. "You think you can help me get back at him and the Patriots for all the pain and misery they caused?"

"Yes. That is a promise, if you let me." Drake spoke, nodding his head.

"I don't think you have an idea for what I have gone through, so why should I listen to you anymore?" Greg was about to leave the area to get to Yuina, but Drake's next words stopped him.

"Because...I knew your father very well, Greg." Drake said. "And knowing what he did make what happened to be accomplish today, his death certainly was unforgivable and Dr. Clark's betrayal certainly was the be all, end all."

"You...knew my father?" Greg asked.

"He was an honourable and dedicated person. A very good friend with so much ambition in his work and at such a young age too..." Drake said. "I know how deeply connected you were with him and your other family members, especially your younger sister, Candice."

(How the hell did he get the names of my family members' so easily?) Greg thought to himself. (Does he think he can try to fool me by knowing how I feel? It will take a LOT more than that, old man.)

"Just where are you getting at?" Greg asked, turning back in front of Drake to face him.

"I know Reese has been hated for as long as the new FOXHOUND has been reformed. And especially, by everyone of it's new members...but, I've always have my expectations of you, Greg." Drake said. "I mean...who else on Earth is strong enough to fend off Angels, and fight off against other powerful psychics like Mantis to live another day? Your abilities can be of great use in the right set of hands..."

"In case you haven't realised this yet, but that's how the Patriots wanted me to be in the first place." Greg replied, his hand in his pockets. "I'm just a freelance nigga who's out for some payback right now, feel me?"

"And where, I may ask, will you start?" Drake asked. "Do you know who to even start with? Or better yet, how?"

(Son of a...) Greg thought to himself. "...no. I have not much of a clue where to begin."

"There's your problem. You lack information and aid." Drake said, his smile getting bigger. "I can help you with both, while no other source you may be seeking help from would only give you minimal intel."

"I got enough aid than you ever think...General." Greg said. "As for information, I'll leave it up to my hunting skills to do the work."

"You intend to seek Reese and his likely accomplices using the hard way?"

"I'll get more exercise and experience that way. "Greg replied.

"All I want is to see about your welfare, Gregory..." Drake said. "There are over a large number of Patriots spies on the lookout for you and are possibly after your comrades at FOXHOUND as well. All I'm doing is directing you to who they are and stop them before they become potentially dangerous."

"...I'll consider it." Greg said simply. (Though, I highly doubt I actually do dirty work just for Yuina's sake.)

"I see. I won't pressure you then." Drake fixed his tie, before he logged off from Codec and turned around. "Well, I'll be taking my leave now. If you're interested, I can leave this with you."

He threw a cell phone at Greg, which he caught in time. "What's this for?" Greg asked.

"That phone is your only contact with me. I have made extra precautions to see that the Patriots won't tap any of our conversations from now on." Drake said.

"Fine, then. But let's get one thing straight.." Greg warned Drake, opening his nano fist to let a white flame cover it. "Try anything that could endanger my friends and families lives, and I'll change my mind about you. Changing plans during mid-mission is totally uncalled for, and I have my own methods of pursuing and dealing with my enemies. So, if I get as much as a hint of a trap you're plotting for me, start begging for your life."

Drake only smiled at Greg. "We'll see about that, Greg."

As Drake walked off, Yuina and Seraph came out of the parlour and to Greg.

"What was that man talking to you about, sempai?" Yuina asked.

"Che. You have not a thing to worry about, just an old friend from FOXHOUND." Greg replied. "Come on, let's get back to the mansion. We got a long drive."

"Okay, Greg." Seraph agreed, but before she sat on the sidecar, Greg called to her and Yuina.

"Hey, can you two do me a favour?' Greg asked. "If Riku and the others asked where we have been and who it was I just met, don't mention it."

"Why, sempai?" Yuina asked.

"Not to sound harsh, but Riku and his buddies are the type that wants to know everything what happens to their loved ones or close friends." Greg said. "I'm doing what I think it's best and follow the saying, the less you know, the safer you are."

"I think you have a point, but be careful that it will catch on later." Seraph said.

"Yeah, that's something I have to be aware of from now on." Greg said, revving up the motorcycle. "Okay, Yuina and Seraph....hang on!"

As Yuina and Seraph were both taken by surprise and excitement by Greg's motorcycle skills, Drake stood in on area, smiling to himself.

(Caught him, hook, line and sinker.) he thought to himself as he walked off.

* * *

ShardclawK: And that concludes this chapter. I've decided to tone down on the action bits a little and focus more on the story developments and the characters in this fic. But I can assure you that when the action starts up again, it will be crazy for all readers alike. It will be just for this arc of the story anyway. Also, I couldn't help but not put the little Oh My Goddess references there, just a little touch to add to the humor.

Ran: I don't mind a chapter with little action as long as it's good. I enjoyed the scenes with Nanvel's attacks though.

Omi: And scene with Greg hugging Yuina to comfort her...man, Shardclaw! You're talented beyond your years.

ShardclawK: Well, what can I say? There are people who adore me and others who worship me. It's fans like that who encourage me to do better in my fiction. And DarkFusion is one of those. He's been so kind to me sending me goodies and girls, I seem to be unstoppable. And I must thank GreyWolf4 for that bit with Drake while I'm at it. If there's anyone who hasn't got the movelist for Greg's Ascesension attacks, as well as Nanvel's own as yet, let me know now in the review or mail.

Youji: I can imagine what girls he got lined up for your next COE update...but I shudder to think what he might send for this chapter.

ShardclawK: That's the least of my worries right now, because before I just finished this chapter, my recently new IM buddy, Tempest, promised me that he's sending three of Hakufu's female friends over to me with some bonuses.

From the stage door, three very hot chicks in torn and revealing school clothing appear and start to huddle around, pressing their massive bosoms against me. They were Ryumou Shimei in her hot maid's outfit, the ever so cute and vibrant Ukitsu, and a sultry Kannwu Unnchu.

Ukistu: He's mine, I tell you! I get to have him first.

Kannwu: No, he's mine for the taking.

ShardclawK: Girls, girls...there's enough of Shardclaw-sama to go for everyone of you, so let's not fight. Can't we all get along together?

Ryumou: Oh, yeah? Well, I know what we can do to share him. Tempest delivered a Jacuzzi tub in the master bedroom, filled with enough K-Y jelly to supply for a very, long time. We can all try out our 'hidden attacks in there.

Ukistu: Also included are the standard reloads for the stunner rifle, whipped cream, butter, and other...toys.

By this time, I was drooling uncontrollably with all the thoughts that creped into my mind that I want to try with these trio of chicks, while the Weiss boys stare in shock.

ShardclawK: Well, you know the scene, guys...the orgy beckons me. It's the only way that I get better ideas for my fics.

Ran: This is not over by a long shot, Shardclaw!

ShardclawK: Too late! (Gets mugged by the trio of chicks and is carried off to the bedroom.)

Youji: Ran, we should really consider taking up fanfiction if we want to land chicks like Shardclaw...

Omi: In the next chapter, more characters show up, as a particular Geese Howard returns, Greg and Warrior meets Weiss once more, and then...more surprise plots and appearances. Stick around for another wicked chapter to this side story, it's going to be a blast.

Collis aka ShardclawKusanagi.


	18. Revolutions, Part 3

Disclaimer: I do now own any of them except for Greg, Kari, Linn and this story.

ShardclawK: Welcome to another update to this story. Thanks to all who reviewed the last chapter, even though it had little to deal with more developments, expecting that meeting Greg had with Drake and that scene with Yuina. Man, I got teary eyed when I was writing that part...

Ran: I'm sure there's more stuff like that to turn up later, but this is supposed to be a humour fic. Why at times this is more angst than comedic?

ShardclawK: Well, for one thing, Greg may be the comic relief of FOXHOUND, but he also has the tragic side to him that makes him so empathic towards the readers. Also, I usually have fun making his life as miserable as it gets.

Omi: Can we get the fic started instead of discussing the element that made this story so good?

Ran: Okay then. In the last Solider X chapter, we got to see Nanvel reveal her new fighting techniques, while Greg gets to do a ton of things around, like conversing to his buddies from FOXHOUND, visiting Mantis' grave, meeting Joker and Raiha and helping Yuina with her problems. Also during the chapter, Greg got to meet another one of FOXHOUND's officials, simply known as General Drake, who offered him a chance to help Greg in exacting revenge on Reese and the Patriots.

Youji: The last thing Greg needs right now is another Reese and even more problems to be dealing with already. I wonder what Drake has planned for Greg, and what will happen in this chapter?

ShardclawK: We will all have to just buckle up and hope for the unexpected. By the mean time, these three lovelies that DarkFusion sent me for the last SX update will keep me 'busy' while this is going on.

With a snap of the finger, a large number of chicks entered the room, all of them wearing scantily clad white, lace, see through nighties that showed a lot of skin. They were Scryed's Scheris Adjani, and Alice Elliot and Margarete G. Zelle from Shadow Hearts. Also with them, were Azumanga Daioh's Yomi Mizuhara and Negima's Shizuna, Nodoka Miyazaki, Asuna Kagurazaki, Ayaka Yukihiro and Konoka Konoe. And right behind them, were Saber Marionette J's Luchs, Panther and Tiger.

Margarete: Hello, Shardclaw. I do hope you're enjoying Shadow Hearts and watching this, slim and tall, slender body get around, especially to you.

ShardclawK: I have both DarkFusion and GreyWolf4 to thank for recommending that game to me. I'm having a time of my life with it, but it will get better when I start to perform my 'experiments' on all of you in bed.

All the girls mobbed me and pulled me off the screen, while the boys of Weiss just shrugged their shoulders.

Ran: Well, there's nothing anymore we can do about it. Anyway, let's just run the new chapter and allow Shardclaw to have his fun while this goes on. Enjoy as always.

* * *

ShardclawKusanagi Presents:

Metal Gear: Soldier X

Chapter 17: Revolutions, Part 3

* * *

At the Schwartz residence, Crawford had checked his wounds to see if there were any lethal effects. As this was going on, Schuldich was giving himself a glass of iced tea, while his head was wrapped in a bandage. Farfarello's chest was strapped in cloth, since the burns that Greg laid on him was enough to do some serious damage.

"I told you before...Kinezono is no ordinary man." Farfarello gloated, tearing away the bandages from his chest violently. "And for your insolence, we could have gotten killed if I haven't reacted quickly to save our hides."

"Okay, I take back whatever doubts of Greg Kinezono." Crawford replied. "He is not just any normal human being, it's no surprise that the Patriots would put him in this amount of disarray."

"Not to add that he's friends with Hanabishi, as well as his partners." Schuldich spoke. "I'm guessing that by now, Nagi must be acquainted with that man. Seems to me that you've lost your student to another psychic who is much stronger than you, Crawford."

Crawford glared at his smirking partner, before the glare quickly turned to a grin. "Just remember that even you couldn't pick up his powers, much less defend yourself from his somewhat incomprehensible telepathic power. You were the first to be beaten."

Schuldich began to growl at Crawford, before he composed himself. "So...what should we do about this then? By now, Kinezono must have not only learnt of Nagi's past with us, but he also has learned of the existence of Weiss and their alliance to that Hanabishi boy."

"That is a profound theory, Kinezono may have bought himself some new friends, but that won't hamper my plans for that Hatori girl." Crawford spoke. "No sense going back to that house we first met Kinezono...and had our near death experiences thanks to him...that robot of theirs is most likely to be watching that house like a hawk."

"Any idea of where he could they could be now?" Schuldich asked.

"It's more than likely that Kinezono is currently residing at that mansion in that place where we first encountered Hanabishi." Crawford surmised.

"Shall we make an assault on that place then?" Farfarello asked.

"No, we shall not do that even as a last resort." Crawford answered.

"What's wrong, afraid of him?" Farfarello asked mockingly and instantly regretted what he said when he saw the cold stare his leader gave him.

"Unlike you, Farfarello, I do not allow my emotions to rule me." Crawford said in a calm and cold voice that almost frightened the Irishman. "I must include that Kinezono almost ripped open your chest while setting you on fire, using his bare fists alone. I'm sure as skilled as he is, he may have killed you at that time, but he was simply punishing you for trying to harm Ms. Hatori, a rule I made obvious to you not to disobey before we met him. If he was in an even worse mood, he would have actually made you bleed to death using those attacks."

Farfarello simply turned his head to the side, as he stayed quiet remembering what Crawford said. He knew he was right, but the part that made him silent the most is the fact that Greg would have killed him if he wanted to, he was simply having fun with his powers.

"I would guess you don't remember, my friend, that guy who nearly burnt off your hand two years ago, and who also apparently owns that mansion, is a relative of Hanabishi." Schuldich said. "Which means there's probably more guys like him living there, since ninja clans tend to be mostly close friends and family."

"Two flame masters, not counting Kinezono, are trouble enough." Crawford said. "And I for one, do not believe charging into a whole nest full of people like that is a good idea."

"A change of plans is in order, then?" Schuldich asked.

Crawford simply smiled as he stared out of the window of his office. "I think if we go to someone who would knows about the truth behind Kinezono's strength, we might just overcome the odds." Crawford said. "That is why I have arranged a meeting with Revolver Ocelot to discuss this."

Both Farfarello and Schuldich looked at Crawford in shock.

"Are you actually going insane, Crawford?" Schuldich asked. "Or have that Kinezono finished screwing up your head during that fight we had with him?"

"Relax, will you, gentlemen?" Crawford said, fixing his glasses. "I have this under control. It may take a little persuading, but it can be done. Once we learn more of Kinezono's secrets from Ocelot, it will be an advantage over that psychic loudmouth. Just trust me on this."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Meanwhile, somewhere else in the same old Tokyo area and in an abandoned apartment building, Shade had just finished practised his martial arts training. The images of his fight with Greg weeks ago in the sewers was still fresh in his mind.

(Kinezono...I can say that you're an extraordinary man, but the worlds' not big enough to have two kinds of people like ourselves to fit. One of us is destined to prove himself in this world and it certainly shall be me.) Shade thought to himself. (And also...that I'm certainly am not a Mid-Boss!)

"Wave Crush!" Shade threw his chakram to a wall column several metres from him, as it turned into a dark energy chi and smashed the column in half. Catching the chakram when it returned, he took in a deep breath, before he suddenly turned his head, his leg raised above his head, only to stop near the edge of a pointed katana.

"I don't like unwelcome guests." Shade said to the intruder wielding the blade. "Who the hell are you?"

"You can relax...I'm not your enemy, Shade." the stranger replied in the same tone as the cyborg ninja spoke, which was very hard for Shade to make out while he spoke. The stranger stepped forward form the darkness and showed himself, it was the new cyborg ninja, Mr. M.

"A ninja?!" Shade exclaimed. "Why are you here and how did you know of me?"

"Your name, history and reputation precedes you." Mr. M spoke. "It's not that hard to find one like yourself."

"So, what about it? Is there something about me that you require?" Shade asked.

"You do want to exact odds against Kinezono, then finish the job of eliminating Michael Hansen, as well as his comrades?" Mr. M asked.

"How would you know of all of that?"

"That is not important. I'm just pointing to you to an opportunity that will help you overcome these difficulties that you face courtesy of Kinezono." Mr. M said. "I know that my associates will take pleasure of having on such as yourself joining our ranks."

"Associates? Are you saying that...?"

"That is correct. The Sons of Liberty wants you as their newest member." Mr M said. "If you come now, you can learn much of Kinezono and his abilities. You can gain an advantages if you join us."

"What makes you think I'll join that easily?"

"There's no need for you to be suspicious." Mr. M said. "Unless of course, you want to stay hidden from the truth of Kinezono's powers."

Shade looked on at the mysterious ninja in silence. (How does he know so much? Who or what is he really? I guess the only way to find out is to tag along and learn as much about Kinezono from him and then if he tries anything, I got to take him out and whoever his superiors is. It will be worth the shot.)

"Okay...I'm game for now." Shade said seriously. "You'll show and tell me what I need to know, and I'll do whatever I can to return the gesture."

(Think nothing of it, this is just part of a grand scenario that is far from being started...) Mr. M thought as he disappeared from Shade's view. The mercenary looked back and saw a map of Japan, with a red marking that was crossed near SEELE headquarters.

(That was not there before.) Shade thought to himself. (What really is going on here?)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Greg felt tired all of a sudden as he off the motorcycle he rode back to the Uruha mansion. Yuina playfully held unto Greg when he did get off, her arms still wrapped around his waist.

"You can let go now, Yuina. We're home." Greg said to the young girl. Yuina looked at Greg as she took off her helmet, while Seraph got out the sidecar and took of her own helmet. "So, did you enjoy the ride?"

"Of course I did, sempai." Yuina smiled. "But, personally, I think you drive a little too fast."

"I agree with Yuina as well, but nothing is wrong with your skills of riding, Greg." Seraph replied, as Greg started to rub the back of his head.

"Heh...sorry if I'd scare you two. I just miss my Harrier so much, I don't want the rush I'm so accustomed with to just leave me like that, you know?" Greg replied nervously. "I'll be more careful next time."

"Sure you will." Yuina giggled.

"What's that suppose to mean? You think I'm lying?" Greg asked, his arms on his hips. "Hey, cut that out, Yuina!"

Both her and Seraph started to laugh at the same time, making Greg shake his head at them. He wished he knew what they were laughing at, but in a way, he already does.

"Yeesh...you two are too much." Greg said, as he took Yuina's suitcase that she had from when she left her house earlier. "Why don't I take this to your room for you, Yuina? You must be really bushed from all that riding."

"Thank you, sempai. But I will be okay with this." She took it back from Greg and started to walk off to the mansion.

"No, Yuina..." Greg called out to her, as she stopped to look at him. "I insist. Let me...let me help you, okay? You got to stop regressing your sadness like this from people, because...you're starting to remind me of myself."

Yuina looked at Greg with a sudden, sad look in her eyes. She knew what he was saying is true.

"What...what did you mean by that, sempai?" she asked.

"I was just remembering....about earlier." Greg said seriously. "When we were at your aunt's house...something about how much you felt when you had to endure seeing what happened to your aunt just touched something inside me, you know? I think even after all the hell I've been through since the Patriots have ruined my life since they killed my parents and younger sister all those years my pain to yours'....it's not even close. I mean...how to really put it?"

Yuina stood and looked at Greg in silence, before he looked at her and began to speak.

"There was a quote one of my good friends from FOXHOUND used to tell me often while I was still part of the group. I never really paid attention to it much, but now, I think I understand." Greg said. "He used to tell me, 'You know everyone...everyone carries a burden in life, that's just how it is, your burden is no heavier and no lighter then anyone else's'."

Greg paused for a moment before he spoke. "I think what he meant is that, yes, it's true we both have responsibilities, due to the costs of the lives of people we hold dear to us, but I'm sure the pain we have to go through is probably no different. Yuina...I know inside of you, somewhere, you may be hitting yourself because you weren't able to help your aunt, it's the same with me when I tried to help Mantis, even though he tried to kill me."

Greg stepped up closer to Yuina and placed a hand on her shoulder. "That is still haunting me as of now, but whenever I look at you, I only see myself trying to hide the fact that what I went through in incomparable to some other people, if not, everyone who has lived in this world."

"Sempai...I just...." Yuina looked back at Greg for a moment. "I just don't want to be a bother to you or anyone of your friends."

"Since when did you get ideas like that?" Greg asked. "Listen up, kid... like I said before, don't sweat any details that you're responsible for what happened to me. You just can't be everywhere at once, trying to save a desperate life. But under my tutelage, I can at least help you learn to take the pain away. How about that?"

"I would like that." Yuina replied. "I'll remember what you told me from now on. But can you tell me a little about this friend who told you that?"

"Oh, his name is Michael Hansen." Greg replied. "He's the best strategist for FOXHOUND, and he is also one excellent fighter. I usually spar with him time and time again, but he'd rather a game of chess at times. Personally, chess puts me to sleep at times."

"He sounds like a good person to be with." Seraph spoke. "Riku also mentioned his close friend, Garland Durev."

"Wait a minute...by any chance Riku mentioned how I always get beat down because of Garland?" Greg asked.

"He certainly did." Seraph replied, making Greg hang his head.

(Someone...please shoot me in the head...) Greg thought to himself. The last thing he wanted was Yuina learning about that there was someone better than him in combat.

"Is something wrong, Greg?" Seraph asked.

"I was certainly hoping we can get through this without having to bring his name up..." Greg rubbed his head. "Okay, I must admit that I lost to him every time we sparred, but there's a good reason. He had experienced so much forms in combat, that it's almost hard to accurately estimate how many he has mastered. So, technically, he has more experience than me, and there's...that monster that lives within him."

"Monster?" Yuina asked curiously.

"It's hard to describe it, but I'll simply say that the reason why Garland is practically more powerful and better in fighting than me, is because he has an alter-ego within him, an unstoppable Berserker Demon that indulges on rage to deliver punishment to his enemies." Greg explained. "I had encounter that thing more than once in my times in FOXHOUND, and I know not to take on something like that."

"And you happen to be friends with these people?!" Yuina exclaimed.

"Don't worry...not all of them are that bad, Garland included." Greg said. "I just hope I can get to beat him...just once...to prove to everyone that I'm strong enough to protect people like you, Yuina."

"But you are, sempai. I have seen you take on those Schwartz group and that's enough to show me that you're strong enough to guide me." she replied. "I'm sure whatever happens the next time you spar, you get your wish."

"I just don't want an unfair battle...for Garland." Greg smirked a bit. "Maybe if I ask mom to help me change my aspect for my powers a bit, I can surely surprise Garland and everyone else. Thanks for the suggestion, Yuina."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The conversation shared between Greg and Yuina has increased both Yuina's confidence, and the strength of Greg's Panther and Lance signature attacks.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Hey, we got a meeting with Weiss soon, might as well grab a bite before we all head over to where they are." Greg said. "Come on, Yuina and remember what to tell Riku if he asks where we have been, okay?"

"Okay, I got you." Yuina replied. After they entered the living room of the mansion, Greg spotted Nanvel playing GGXX on the large screen television. Right behind her was Riku, Nagi and Tot. Nanvel was playing Mission 44 with a poisoned Zappa against Potemkin. The condition was set to beat him using an 11 hit combo, using normal attacks.

"This is hard..." Nanvel shook her head, handing Nagi the control.

"I'd like to try, but it's impossible to get even a hit on that guy..." Nagi said, then Greg came closer.

"Need help?" he simply said.

"Greg, since when did you come back?" Tot asked.

"Not so long ago..." Greg simply waved it off, taking the control from Nagi. "Here, I'll show all of you how it's done. It never hurts to have luck on your side for this kind of thing...."

When Greg started the mission, he let Potemkin hit Zappa on purpose. This caused the three ghouls to appear.

"Oh, I must be really lucky today to get those early..." Greg then got close to Potemkin and used a Dust move to lift him into the air, as Greg started to perform an air combo using the ghouls. Before Potemkin landed on the ground by the time Greg had inputted a 10 hit combo, then pressed Punch one more time to deal the opponent to beat the mission. Greg simply handed the control back to Nagi, as a pic of Dizzy in shorts can be seen.

"Wow, Greg. I never knew that was possible with Zappa..." Riku scratched his head.

"I just had practice, that's all." Greg replied with a smile. "So...what's for lunch?"

"Before we do that, we want to know where you, Yuina and Seraph had been earlier." Nagi asked

"Yeah, you three have been out for quite awhile." Tot asked.

"All I did was took Yuina shopping, that's all." Greg replied, shrugging his shoulders while he looked at Yuina. "Isn't that right, Yuina?"

"That's right. Sempai went to through much trouble too to get me a new dress that I wanted." Yuina replied with a nervous smile.

Riku looked at Greg for a moment, before he got up and talked face to face in front of Greg. "You're lying, Greg. You were somewhere else, weren't you?'

"So what if I was?" Greg replied. "Are you going to try and stop me from seeing about my personal affairs from now on?"

"I didn't mean it that way, I respect your privacy." Riku said. "But, sometimes I get the feeling that you're up to something that we shouldn't know about, even after what me, Nagi and Tot insisted days ago about going after Reese."

(Oh, boy...I already have an idea where this talk is heading...) Greg thought to himself. "Didn't we have this conversation before, Riku, because I already know what you will say."

"And what I'm saying is that whatever you say won't change our minds." Riku replied.

"Just because I can't see about my personal life, while I have to worry about how my friends will be concerned about me, you don't have to jump to crazy conclusions every time." Greg explained. "Of course, what's the use of explaining my situation to you when you know things will get more crazy very soon?"

Just as Greg began to walk to the kitchen, Riku called to him.

"Oh by the way, Greg." Riku said. "Don't even think about trying to ditch us so you can deal with Reese yourself. Nagi, Tot, and I knew fully well what could happen to us when we threw our lot in with you and none of us regret that decision. It was our choice to make."

"Heh...fine then. I won't hold anything against you on that, but please...don't let yourselves get too involved in all of this." Greg said without turning his back. "I'm doing what it takes to protect all of you too, and so far, it appears that I'm not doing a good job of it so far. Now, if we had enough talk...I'm starving and I need a bite before we head off to wherever Weiss operates. I hope you guys are ready."

"Oh, we are." Nagi replied. "I do hope Rio and Maki are alright with what we want in agreement with Ran over this situation."

"Right." Greg said, as he entered the kitchen. As he did, he encountered Rio, Maki, Neon, Miki and Aki.

"Hey, Greg, you're back." Rio waved at Greg. She was pleased to see him looking well. "And just in time to head off to wherever this Weiss is working. But tell me something...do we really have to meet these guys, Greg? There are assassins, for Christ's sake!"

"Assassins for Philanthropy, Rio." Maki cut in. "According to Riku, they have been handling minor operations that Solid Snake would consider too much of a bother to him outside the organization. So, you can say that Philanthropy, FOXHOUND and Weiss happened to be affiliated in almost the same thing."

"They may need to know what important details they can use in this fight against the Patriots, while I'm busy looking for Reese." Greg said, after getting a hero sandwich from one of the maids. "But the last thing I need is having more people being dragged into this, no matter how skilled they are. And that includes you guys."

"Aw, come on, Greggie." Rio sat closer to Greg. "All I want is to make sure you are safe and that these problems that come courtesy of Reese and the Committee don't get the best of you."

"I know you are concerned, but who was the one who poked her nose into FOXHOUND business and almost got killed for it?" Greg replied.

"I can't believe you're saying that as if you don't care what happens to me anymore!" Rio pouted.

"Of course I still do, mom. But..." Greg stopped to take another bite and think for a moment. "I just think...there's something bigger to all of this, you know? We never looked at the possibility that the Patriots could be brewing something big soon...something that could affect all of us, and I'm not referring to what they did to me years ago to start their 'Angel Slayer' project."

"Greg...you're starting to scare even me." Rio said.

"Sorry...but, then again, it can be true." Greg spoke. "Aw, hell...all of this worrying is getting me even more hungry. I can use another hero sandwich, and then we'll head off to where Weiss is located and finish discuss things there, okay?"

"Fine then, Greg. I'll find Lilica and ask her if she's ready." Rio gave Greg a peck on his cheek before she left the kitchen.

"You know, Greg...allying yourself with Weiss will bring benefits later." Neon spoke to him.

"I know...I'm just kind of suspicious of whoever I meet these days." Greg said, as he finished the first hero sandwich he had and started to chow down another.

"That is understandable." Miki replied. "But Weiss are good people, they should help your problem, Greg."

"I don't know...something within me is bugging me..." Greg said, in a serious tone. "There's more to this than meets the eye and it's highly possible that I may run into more enemies sooner or later."

He then looked at Maki for a moment, before he spoke.

"Aunt Maki, can you do me a favour?"

"Sure, Greg. What is it?" she asked.

"If something happens to me that will somehow prevent me making contact to FOXHOUND in Tokyo-3, I want you to go there for me." Greg said. "And make sure to carry along Warrior with you, and the data Lilica uncovered when she was captured."

"But...why there of all places, Greg?" Maki asked stunned. "You know how dangerous that place can get whenever an Angel strikes."

"I know...but at least NERV is more protected than any other place on the planet right now, at least until it is attacked, by the way..." Greg said. "You guys will be safe for the time being there, until I give the okay for you to come back to ramen restaurant. That is as far you'll go for trying to help me on this."

"Okay...I'll have to find Naomi first thing and have to explain things to her about it." Maki nodded her head. "I guess you are doing this just to protect us, aren't you?"

"Using whatever means necessary." Greg replied. (Actually, I'm only doing this so Drake won't act so desperate to as even get close to you guys if you go back to your homes. Tokyo-3 may not be so safe all the time, but at least it's got enough people there I can trust to watch over you until I get back.)

After he came out of his train of thought, Lilica entered the room with Rio. She had a towel around her neck and her hair was let down, to run down behind her head.

"What happened to you?" Greg asked Lilica, patting her head.

"I was only training, big brother." Lilica replied. "Is something wrong with that?"

"Not really...I just don't want you spoiling yourself too fast." Greg replied. "But you are getting stronger, I can sense that."

"So, Greg...about Weiss? Are they trustworthy enough?" Lilica asked.

"So far from when last I saw them. All we have to do is wait and see what help they can offer us." Greg replied. "For now, let's get to the garage and get our vehicles ready, while I go get Riku and his partners."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Later after lunch, as Rio's Warrior transport van stopped after Riku's parked car in front of the flower shop named, Koneko no ie Sume, Greg stopped his BMW motorcycle right behind Rio's van and got off with a curious look on his face. Rio, Maki, Lilica, Seraph and Yuina then got out afterwards.

"Hey, Riku...did we take a wrong turn somewhere?" Greg asked.

"Why would you ask that, Greg?" Riku asked.

"We've stopped at a flower shop." Greg pointed his thumb at the building. "Having a date later with a hot chick, so you've decided to stop here first?"

"Um...as I wished that was true, Greg." Riku replied nervously, then got into a serious tone. "But really...we're standing in front of Weiss own base of operations."

"You're joking, right?" Greg asked.

"No, I'm not."

"And they named it, 'Kitty In the House' in Japanese?" Rio asked.

"It's not them who gave it the name, the owner of the shop, Ms. Yamaguchi, is the owner of this shop, so she named it." Nagi said.

Greg tried his best not to be so surprised. (A bunch of good, pretty boy assassins work at a flower shop as their base of operations....what is this world coming to?) he thought. "Oh, well...whatever. Let's see if anyone's inside. Oh, and mom..."

"What is it, Greg?" Rio asked.

"The people we're going to meet are...well, the kind of type that will make girls like you swoon at their sight, so try not to be attracted to them." Greg warned her.

"Aw, come on, you know me better than that." Rio waved it off. "Besides, the only kind of guys I go for are people like you and cute, single and very rich guys!"

"I guess I shouldn't be worrying then, but we are at a time with a lot of fighting and conspiracies and falling in love is out of the agenda until I get this mess with Reese cleared up." Greg said, opening the door. As he did, he met a roomful of flowers strewn about on their stacks...and a group of women clustering three of the Weiss guys, buying flowers from them and admiring their good looks.

"Whoa, this place is packed as always." Riku said, rubbing his head.

"I'll say...I can guess why these guys are popular with their looks." Lilica said.

"If I knew selling flowers would bring so much dough, I would have considered it." Rio answered. "And the amount of cute guys that will flock to buy just from me!"

"Mom!" Greg shouted. "We're here on business, so stop with the funny ideas already."

"Joy-killer." Rio said, as she sulked while she and the group stepped forward to the counter. One of the Weiss men noticed Riku, Nagi and Tot instantly. It was Ran Fujimiya.

"Ah, Riku. Seems you've caught us at a timing. Greg, it's good to see you again." Ran said, busily wrapping the separate set of bouquet flowers that three of the females wanted. "Can you wait until we made our sale? This shouldn't take too long..."

"I got you, Ran. But just don't keep Greg and his family waiting." Riku replied. "It would be okay if we go check up on Aya?"

"That's no problem, this may be a good chance for her to meet your friend." Ran replied. "She's in the back if you need her."

"Who's Aya?" Greg asked Riku.

"Ran's younger sister." Riku replied. They followed Riku past the crowd of women customers and entered a small office room area, as Aya was busy preparing refreshments. Inside the room with her were two attractive Japanese women with her. One was dressed in red, with long, red hair that had big, curly locks, while the other had short brown hair in a light blue business suit. They all then noticed Riku and his partners, then Greg and Warrior behind him.

"Riku, you guys are back." Aya wiped the brow of her head. "Hey, who are these guys with you?"

"This is one of our good friends from FOXHOUND, Gregory Kinezono." Riku said, showing Greg to Aya. "I see that both Manx and Birman are here as well."

"I thought I heard that name somewhere..." Manx thought for a moment. "Wait a minute...are you the same Greg who took part in those King of Fighters battle royale tourneys?"

"Yeah, how did you know?" Greg asked in surprise.

"I've been to a couple as a spectator. From what I heard from my sources, there were rumours that there was a fighter from FOXHOUND who had taken up both the Kusanagi and Yagami-ryuu style of fighting into his own, but it was never made public, since the security of that fighter has to be protected." Manx said. "You must be him, are you not?"

"Yikes! How did you know all of that?!" Rio exclaimed. "The only people who knows of Greg's arrangement with Kyo and Iori are those three and Geese Howard himself."

"My, my...this is getting more interesting." Birman smiled slightly to this. "Not only he is part disciple to Kyo and Iori, but he is a disciple of the famous Geese Howard."

"Hey, when my mother asks a question, I expect it to be answered." Greg said rudely. "How did you know of this?"

"Relax, Gregory Kinezono. Your secret's safe with us. But we never would have believed it until we saw the man ourselves." Manx said. "Birman and myself serve as Weiss contacts and the ones who provides them with the intel for the mission. Also, I happen to have heard much about you from your superior, Roy Campbell."

"FORMER superior, don't you mean?" Greg asked, folding his arms. "Sheesh...how many times you guys have to be reminded that I'm not part of FOXHOUND anymore because of Reese?"

"How did you know Col. Campbell?" Maki asked.

"I've had personal meetings with him more than once, and he has told me much about the new FOXHOUND and how much they have to deal with." Manx explained. "He also speaks highly of a certain psychic soldier who tends to cause trouble and break some rules to get the safety of his comrades and the innocents involved in a mission as his priority one, even if it means risking his own life."

"I'm not surprised someone like yourself knows about me. I'm quite popular nowadays." Greg smirked.

Just then, two other people entered. It was Ken Hidaka and a young, attractive woman was beside him. She had long brown hair and she was wearing a skin tight biker's outfit that covered her entire body. She was holding unto a motorcycle helmet.

"Hey, it's Riku and his partners." Ken said, then seeing Greg and Warrior. "And Greg, I was expecting you to show up. My girlfriend wanted to ask you something."

"Sure, that's no scene." Greg said, then looking at Ken's girlfriend. "And you are?"

"I'm Yuriko Asou." she held out her hand to offer a shake. "And I must ask...that BMW outside...is that yours?"

"Sure is. That's my joyride alright." Greg answered. "Is something wrong with it?"

"No, it's just that it's different than what I usually see around on the streets. It's so stock on the outside, but it must be more powerful than it appears." Yuriko said.

"Ha! You couldn't have said it better!" Greg said, pointing to the air. "I used a pre Second Impact carbon fiber muffler, that came along with a stainless steel exhaust pipe! And I would have used alloy wheels at first, but that's for serious drag racing types. I had customized the shock absorbers and the paddle fixtures to make it stir hard enough in certain tough corners, even at high speeds. And don't get me started on what turbines I had to install that baby with..."

"You seem to know much about motorcycles, Gregory." Yuriko replied.

"Not really, that just happens to be part of my nature, I guess." Greg smiled. "If you need any problems fixed on your bike, I'll be always glad to help. Like my mom told me some time ago, my skills and abilities are no longer limited to FOXHOUND anymore."

"I would like that very much." Yuriko replied. "And I'm sure Ken will take some lessons from Greg, wouldn't you?"

"Ah, of course." Ken replied, rubbing the back of his head. Just then, Ran, Omi and Youji entered the room afterwards. "Yuriko, can you and Aya be kind to manage the shop a bit until our meeting is over?"

"Sure thing, Ken." Aya replied. "It was nice meeting you, Greg. The same for your family as well."

"The pleasure all's mine." Greg replied, bowing to her. When he did, she stole a glance and spotted the flaming 'X' on the back of his jacket.

(Hmm...a Kyo Kusanagi cosplayer...what kind of friend Riku has got himself mixed up with?) Aya thought as she left the room with Yuriko.

"Good, everyone's here." Ran said, looking at Riku. "Okay, Riku...are these people with Greg the famous Team Warrior I heard about so much?"

"That's right, though it's only part of them." Riku said. "This is the point leader for Warrior, Rio Kinezono, Greg's sensei and foster mother."

"Nice to meet you, Mr Fujimiya." Rio said, as Ran and the other Weiss boys stared at her. "What? Is there something on my outfit?"

Greg noticed their looks and turned to Rio.

(Mom...these guys are staring at you.) Greg telepathically warned her.

(I know. I'm only torturing them mentally with my good looks.) she replied.

(God, help us all...) Greg held his head and snapped a finger in front of Ran. "Ahem...if you four are done gawking at my mother, I want to introduce the other members of Warrior that is present before I sense any of you getting any funny ideas."

"Aw, come on, Greg. It was nothing like that." Youji put up his arms in surrender.

"Anyway...this is the captain of Police Town, and the leader of Warrior, Maki Kawasaki and this is Lilica Ebett, a famed hacker of that group."

"It's a pleasure to meet all of you." Maki said, shaking Ran's hand. "Riku has explained all of about yourselves and your connections with Philanthropy and FOXHOUND. I do certainly hope there's a way we can work together on whatever problems we may face courtesy of our enemies, such as Reese and the Patriots."

"The same here." Ran replied. "Let's fully introduce our resources for providing intel, before start to discuss business, shall we?"

"Some of us have met Greg before you came in, Ran." Birman spoke. "I'm Birman, by the way, and this is Manx."

"Are those happened to be codenames or something?" Greg asked.

"Yes, they are." Manx replied. "If we have to tell you our real names, Weiss just may have to do something about it."

"Heh...very unlikely." Greg scoffed. "Anyway, I've already met the most important people of Weiss...let's get down to some talking. Is there anything you wanted to ask me in specification?"

"First, tell us about the status in FOXHOUND right now." Ran asked. "According from what we heard, Gendou Ikari was killed some time back, and the Patriots pointed the guilt to you. Can you explain your side of the story, as well tell us the developments of what your team discovered so far and been up to?"

"Geez...this is so going to take awhile..." Greg scratched his head. "Okay...it's best I'd start when Arsenal Gear landed in Japan over the old sunken areas of old Tokyo...(A.N: Feel free to make references to COE and also the link for the Arsenal pic I left in the review.)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

About an hour later, Greg had finished telling Weiss, his family and Riku and his partners about what had happened in terms of major developments in FOXHOUND just before he left Tokyo-3. At the end, Ran and his group was rather interested in finding out a bit more of Greg and what relation he could have to the current situation at NERV.

"And that's it." Greg rubbed his neck with his right nano arm. "From concluding what I discussed, the Patriots have Gendou killed, and framed me for that crime, thus giving them a chance to possibly strike at NERV if I'm not around to protect them. Of course, Dead Cell's licking their lips at a takeover to this as well, but they are busy holding SEELE in their captivity. I may not know what really is Dead Cell is planning for NERV or SEELE, but from what I can tell, I happened to be a big part of their scheme. Apparently, things didn't go as they planned...."

"What do you think those mass produced Omega RAY's were built for?" Riku asked.

"SEELE was probably planning to use that against NERV..." Greg replied. "But Solidus and his group got to them first. In a way, whatever nasty plans that organization is plotting's for NERV on hold right now. The real worrying is what Dead Cell can do with SEELE's power, secrets and technology against FOXHOUND, Philanthropy and NERV altogether."

"But didn't you say that Arsenal Gear is now part of NERV's own weapon?" Maki asked.

"Yeah...I'm guessing it was left in our possession intentionally." Greg said. "If Solidus doesn't need it anymore, he's after something bigger."

"That's the Ultimatum Gear you've mentioned before..." Ran said.

"Yes, though it's just a rumour that we heard from Raiden that it can outdo Arsenal when it is activated. He learned about it from Gendou before he was killed." Greg said. Then he looked at Rio. "Hey, mom....that was around the same time Mantis almost did you in, right? You guys never really told me about what was your purpose for butting into the whole thing in the first place."

"Well, since you asked, I might as well tell you what I've learned so far." Rio shrugged her shoulders. "Things seemed to be out of hand a bit in the areas of old Tokyo, I thought something big was going on. It wasn't until when you showed up at the restaurant before Arsenal Gear came over to Japan."

"What is it that you meant by 'out of hand?' Nagi asked.

"At first, the underground seems to have been moving rapidly in their dealings in some of our unsolved cases, that it was hard to keep it up." Maki explained. "Since you came back to us in so much time that has passed since we've seen each other, it must be some kind of urgent matter."

"Hey, all I did was trained a bit with Rio to see if I was strong enough with my psychic powers....wait a minute, was the reason I sparred with you was to test the limit of my abilities, mom?" Greg asked.

"That's right, although, we never knew that Reese would have known about this and sent Mantis to where we lived." Rio said. "And to point out while Greg was preparing for his confrontation with Mantis that it would turn out bigger than we originally thought."

"With the Patriots involved, it's never simple." Greg replied. "So, you guys thought this sudden increase of crime activity was the Wisemen's doing?"

"Most likely." Maki replied. "They were doing this to buy themselves some time, so Snake and his group won't get into investigating into what really happened at SEELE."

"And guessing from what Greg went through, they must be happy with their so-called results." Lilica said.

"Is there anything about this you need for us to assist in, Greg?" Ran asked. "We have done some reconnaissance for Riku and his partners in the past, we can find information that can tell us exactly what Solidus and his group is plotting."

"You think that's a good idea? I'm betting that the Patriots are looking for suspicious looking people, me included, all over that damned city of Tokyo-3 who wants a piece of the action." Greg said.

"We can pretty much conceal ourselves very well from their eyes." Youji said.

"You can trust them to do an excellent job, Greg." Riku said. "What do you say?"

"The last thing I need is worrying about these guys and more of your friends, who I'm sure I have yet to meet soon, getting involved in places as big as NERV. They take their business very seriously." Greg warned Riku.

"It wouldn't be fair if they won't help out, since they are part Philanthropy." Nagi said. "Besides, they can help Snake and our friends in this if they knew who they're up against in advance."

"Right...while I get to worry about my problems and see about them." Greg shrugged his shoulders. "Well...Riku may just insist they help us if I said no, anyway. Okay, you guys are free to check up on Snake and company, but I will give you some warnings."

"Go on ahead." Omi said.

"One, since the new FOXHOUND's got some familiar and new recruits, they won't just accept strangers like yourselves too lightly. Pray that none of the most dangerous combatants like Garland and Michael don't get to you first." Greg said.

"Greg, you just mentioned new recruits, right?" Riku asked. "Who are they?"

"Oh, there are two girls, one's of true Japanese nationality and the other is half French, half Japanese." Greg replied. "I'm sure you've heard of the first one, her name's Mana Kirishima."

"I knew I heard that before, from Col. Campbell years ago." Riku replied. "Michael is supposed to be her guardian and martial arts instructor, am I right?"

"Dead on." Greg answered. "If I remembered right, it had something to do with Mana's uncle who was involved in some sort of agency years before Michael joined FOXHOUND. I really never knew much of what happened then, though, I highly doubt you've heard of the other recruit, since her past is pretty on a low profile as requested by her father. I promised him that much of her past will be a secret that only FOXHOUND will know of. I just hope that I will be able to keep her safe from that wankster, Reese."

"What is so special about Kari that you're worried about her?" Tot asked.

"Well, since we're in deep with the conversation, I guess I shall tell all of you what separates Kari from some other recruits in FOXHOUND." Greg said. "She's the only daughter of the French Spriggan, Jean-Luc Mondeau."

"Wait a minute...did you just say, Spriggan?" Manx explained in surprise. "The last time I heard of those, were just before the Second Impact, where somewhere in the Tibetan mountain ranges, a great catalyst of uncontrollable weather had erupted from that point. And two men were responsible for saving the Earth at the time. An organization known as ARCAM, which was created to safe guard religious and historical artefacts from the wrong hands. One of those happened to be Noah's Ark."

"ARCAM?" Riku asked. "Are they like FOXHOUND?"

"Only bigger, plus the fact that selected soldiers with incredible, inhumane skills make ARCAM famous." Birman said. "Those warriors are called Spriggans and they have been around for quite awhile. Who knows... half of the destructive forces that could have ended the world in the past has been halted thanks to people like them."

"So, Greg, you're actually friends with these people?" Ran asked.

"Only to Jean and the Japanese Spriggan..." Greg stated. "He's the star of ARCAM, his name is...."

Just then, Greg's Codec rang before he finished. "Ugghh...who could be contacting me at a time like this?"

On the other Codec screen, a man in his late twenties with spiky, black hair and slanted, deep eyes appeared.

"Hey, Greg. I do hope I haven't interrupted in anything important." the man asked.

"Yu? Nah...just about to tell my friends a bit about you..." Greg answered.

"Your buddies from FOXHOUND?" Yu replied. "I thought you were supposed to keep that a secret."

"I would have, but some Japanese people are quite insistent in getting their noses deep into my personal life, but they are good people." Greg replied. "So...what's this about, Yu? Why isn't Jean doing the talking, I personally requested that I speak to him."

"Sorry, Greg, but he told me to tell you that he is on vacation from a very tough mission, he almost didn't make it." Yu said.

"What? Jean's having problems? He must be getting old..." Greg smirked.

"If he heard that, Greg, he would come after you and teach you that he isn't." Yu replied with a smile. "Anyway, it must be urgent that you contact only him and not tell me about what has happened."

"So, you've heard too, huh?" Greg asked. "You believe any of it?"

"No, I'm sure the Patriots are trying something to get you angry....or have they done that already?" Yu asked.

"Yeah, and it's a long story I can't get into now. I'm still in the middle of a meeting."

"I see...well, if you want to know, Jean's resting in France right now, at his old home." Yu replied. "Is there anything you wanted me to tell him?"

"Tell him that his daughter could be in trouble because of Reese, but not to worry. Snake and everyone else from FOXHOUND's there as well, but we all can't be too careful." Greg said.

"I got you. But I don't think he'll stand around and do nothing if this escalates into something out of even your control." Yu said. "Just watch yourself out there, Greg."

"I know, I know...don't worry about me. I'll be sure to find a way to contact Jean and tell him what's going to happen." Greg said. "For now, you be careful yourself."

"Nice talking to you, Greg. Hope things turn out for the best for you." Yu replied, signing off. Greg sighed as he looked at his friends. "That was the Japanese Spriggan, Yu Ominae. I ran into him and Jean not so long after I joined FOXHOUND while Linn and I were travelling around in France. Roy had intel that pointed to some French extremists that were holding Jean's daughter as one of their hostages. Eventually, Jean turned it into a personal matter, and we had a run in of sorts."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"What's with that man?" Linn shouted, smashing a gun butt into a soldier's face. Greg and Linn were in deep the underground train tunnels. It was mid 2012 at the time. They were dressed as civilians who went undercover to peacefully resolve the situation, but when they spotted a French national with long, blonde hair started a ruckus with a few of the guards near the Eiffel Tower, they took action.

"I don't know...but it seems like he wants to be a hero." Greg replied, taking apart a few of the hostiles weapons using his psychic powers. "If we don't do something, we might as well have more casualties we can't help prevent."

Linn simply shrugged her shoulders, while she and Greg entered after the mysterious man. Before they realised what was happening, Greg and Linn saw blurs of the man's colour of blue and white flash before their eyes, taking out several of the sentries with simple martial arts.

"What in the world...?" Linn exclaimed. "He moves fast as Garland!"

"What is he?" Greg said. "...hmm?"

Before Greg can realised it, he saw a young girl being held by another of the hostile that the mysterious attacker missed, she had short brown hair and had a rounded glasses on. The hostile had a gun pointed to her head.

"Okay, any one of you tries anything else, and she gets it!" the hostile exclaimed in French. Greg, Linn and the mysterious attacker faced the hostile.

"Daddy! Help me!" the girl cried out.

"Hang on, Kari! I'll get you out of here safely." the man replied.

(So, this man's her father...makes sense.) Greg telepathically told Linn. (Should we do something about this, Linn?)

(It's not like you got any other choice, do you?) Linn replied using mental thought.

With a simple sigh, Greg nodded. (Of course, that is true.)

As Greg made a step forward, the gun was pointed at him instead. "You know...I despise cowards, really."

"What!?" The hostile shouted angrily.

"You can just use innocent kids as a shield to hide the fact that you're not man enough to face me." Greg said as he continued to walk further to the man.

"You'd better stop now, or else the kid gets it!" the hostile dared Greg, but the black psychic simply grinned at him and approached him closer.

"Go ahead and try...but what can you do when the rest of your fallen comrades have their weapons pointed at you?" Greg said.

"What do you mean by...?" as the French hostile turned his head, he sighted to his fear, several handguns and assault rifles was pointed directly at his face. He let out a slight gulp.

"And don't even think of flinching to pull the trigger, I've already made sure the safety for it is on, even from here and at the instant you've stepped in." Greg said coolly.

"Why you...!" The hostile pointed the gun at the girls head and attempted to release the safety, but Greg was already on him. He simply snatched the gun from his hand and knocked him back, but as he attacked him, it actually went off and the bullet passed through his right hand, blood rushing out of the wound. But this didn't affect him, as he simply punched the man face with a bloody palm. This stunned him to release the girl, and as he stumbled back, Greg leaped over him to grab his uniform collar, and throw him against the staircase, knocking him out.

"Arrivadoichee." Greg said, as he landed on one knee. "See, I can pick up French. No prob."

The man fell into a slump as Greg went over to the girl, while Linn came over to check the wound.

"I thought you said you took care of the safety for that gun..." Linn said.

"Well...I lied." Greg rubbed his head. "I was just going on a hunch to see if he had enough balls to shoot her."

"You what!?" Linn exclaimed.

"Hey, I can't stay in control of all of those weapons at the same time, can't I?" Greg argued, but was interrupted when the girl was reunited with her father.

"Daddy!" the girl cried out, hugging the man.

"My precious Kari...I'm so sorry to have carried you to this place." The man replied. Then he faced Greg and Linn. "Okay, you two need to tell me what is it with you two? What's your reason for being here?"

"Almost the same as yours, but really, you don't want to go there." Greg replied. "I'm not so surprised to see someone who moves faster than our vision can keep up...you're not just any normal father, aren't you?"

"You saw right through me, but I can say the same for yourself." the man replied. "Alright then...since you've risked yourself to save my daughter's life, I'll tell you what you need to know."

"Right. Don't skip any details." Greg replied.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Things got off to a good start then, and we became good friends since then, though we hardly contact each other." Greg explained. "I promised that I would help him and Kari in any way possible for what they went through, because Kari wanted to fend her herself when the time came. Also...it was relevant that she picked up some of her father's abilities just a while back."

"I see...so Reese can pick that up in an instant and use it to his needs." Maki nodded. "But, I'm sure she will safe as you say she is..."

"I certainly hope so, but I really wanted Jean to rest easier knowing Kari's in good hands." Greg said. Then he thought for a moment. (Hmm...might as well tell them a bit about MITHRIL while I'm at it. I'm not certain if Riku and his partners are certain about having them along for the ride, but it's worth the shot.)

"So, Greg...any other of your old friends that you may be worrying about you want to let us know?" Riku asked.

"I knew you would point that out sooner or later." Greg said. "Just how much of you have heard of...MITHRIL?"

"I've only heard a bit about them." Riku said. "Aside from the fact that they're a bit like FOXHOUND, and that they have pretty advanced equipment in their arsenal, I don't know much about them."

Nagi then began to speak.

"I've heard Crawford mention a group by that name once during a conversation with someone." Nagi said. "It was about a year before I joined FOXHOUND with Tot. He was talking to someone on a cell phone about something that was obviously important. I wasn't really listening, though. I had something else on my mind."

"We've heard about that name more than once in our connections with the UN, but that's about it." Manx said.

"Heh...goes to show all of you why the Patriots want me so badly..." Greg said, while folding his arms. "Aside from the fact that I'm their personal weapon, I got unlikely allies as well as enemies. Okay, you guys can remember what really happened to the Japanese headquarters for FOXHOUND?"

"All I heard was that all major operations were moved to the States after rumours went about that it was brought over from another organization." Birman spoke. "Is there something about it we should know?"

"Yeah...MITHRIL happens to own that base now...and I know the leader...quite personally." Greg said seriously.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Somewhere else in the country, Drake was in the middle of his conversation with his subordinate, Thorn. He had already told him the details of what had progressed in his discussion with Greg.

"So...he's refusing to accept the offer?" Thorn asked from his cell phone end.

"It seems so. Greg is not the type to willingly do this type of work for us." Drake replied.

"You'll be pleased to know that my newest creation is finally prepared for battle." Thorn replied with a sadistic smile.

"Good...use your work to try and persuade Greg into considering my proposal." Drake spoke before he disconnected. Thorn put away the phone and came closer to a large containment tank, about seven feet tall.

Inside it, was a large lion-like creature, but it had a ghastly appearance, it had large spikes growing out of its' back and part of its' mane was red and yellow. It growled at the sight of Thorn, but the scientist simply smiled as he knew he was protected and had plans for the chimera.

"Yes, Shiju...it will be time soon enough." Thorn smiled. "Once we get shipped over to Japan, you can begin your hunt...your hunt for the so called weapon that the Patriots went through so much trouble to produce, Gregory Kinezono."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Meanwhile, back at the Uruha mansion, in the garden areas...

Umi, Tatsuko, and Inuko were chatting with Yuji and Nanvel outside about Greg and Warrior. Just a while afterwards, an American male in dirty blonde hair approached them. Nanvel stood up in shock at the man.

"Eeek! I don't believe it!" Nanvel exclaimed. "What are you doing here...Geese?"

Geese Howard simply smirked at Nanvel. "Now, now...all I did was come to check up on my student. Anything wrong with that?"

"Well, you have some nerve putting him through something like that!" Yuji inquired. "How did you find us anyway?"

"Didn't that idiotic student of mine tell you? I was coming by to pay him a visit." Geese smiled. "But first things first...take me to your leader, Kurei. I have some unfinished business to discuss with him."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

ShardclawK: And that concludes this chapter. I know, I know...there wasn't any or much action, but bear with me, people. This part of Soldier X is kind of important to the future of Greg and possibly COE, but it will be more of Greg's situation though. And this crazy plot hasn't even gotten more twisted. And when the action starts once more, it will be unlike anything you've ever seen.

Omi: There's a lot of questions that was raised from this chapter alone, but I guess we will have to wait until the next update or two and see what happens.

Ran: And knowing Shardclaw, he may just throw everyone off and surprise them with even more shockers, because that's his job!

ShardclawK: What can I say? I'm rather good at what I do...I do hope I still portrayed the other Weiss characters well, as they will still showing up in the next couple of chapters, as well as some other surprises.

Ken: Anything else you want to include, Shardclaw...before Tempest sends in the shipment of chicks for you for this update?

ShardclawK: Just want to mention to those reading this, have to see the Arsenal Gear pic from my recent COE review. Yes, it is quite huge and the depiction of it from the pic has '9-11' written all over it. I've read in the forum for the pic that Konami was to show a lot of other scenes that would be very controversial not only to the United States, but will go along with the attacks four years ago. Even if the attacks never occurred, Konami would have put themselves in big trouble if they already included that scene. But still...damn those terrorists from preventing us to see one hell of a sequence!

Youji: Okay, Shardclaw...don't lose it now...

ShardclawK: Sorry about that...just had to voice my opinion. Anyway, on a lighter note, the reason why I took so long to update this thing is because the PS2 version of Viewtiful Joe has taken most of my life away. It is highly addictive, you'll find yourself immersed in no time. To those who never played the GameCube Joe, grab a copy for the PS2 Joe and try as hard and fast as you can to unlock Dante. But I must warn the hardcore Dante fans first of some...changes he got. (I just got him last night, so I should know...) One, without VFX, get used to seeing him run around in a black thong. Also, his and Trish's dialogue are nothing but gibberish and mixed dialogue from both DMC and DMC2. Why Capcom didn't do better on this, man? I love Dante in DMC, but at least keep the speech the same in VJ, dammit!

Ran: At least the subtitles there for you to understand what he says, though it's funny to look at.

ShardclawK: Now, that's out of the way...time to close this chapter. And what better way to finish it off is leaving you four by yourselves, and getting into bed with two of my favourite hot chicks from Naruto that Tempest went to so much trouble to capture...

As soon as I said that, Mitarashi Anko and Tsunade appeared and started to huddle me, their hands moving about my body. Anko was wearing nothing but her body net suit, with slits revealing her sexy spots, while Tsunade was wearing a very thin and skin tight, hot pink negligee.

Anko: About time you updated, Shardclaw-sama. Are you ready for a very hot time in bed with Tsunade and me for another great update for this fic?

Tsunade: Included with this update's shipment from Tempest is a tanker filled with the necessary provisions for you to use to...serve us on. Like the whipped cream, strawberry fudge, butter, chocolate syrup, ice cream and cake sprinkles...

ShardclawK: Yow, baby! Now, I have enough of that to go around for any more of the Negima girls DF sends, and especially for Nel Zelphr of Star Ocean 3 just in case for this update! See you around, guys! Now, you two...who's wants to be the one covered in whipped cream and sprinkles, while the other is covered in butter and fudge?

Both hot chicks carry me off to the master bedroom, while Ran and his friends sit frustrated.

Ran: He's starting to overdo it....

Omi: Can't be helped...maybe we should just hang around until he pairs me and Youji with some hot chicks of our own...see you all in the next update.

Collis aka ShardclawKusanagi.


	19. Revolutions, Part 4

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these guys, expect for the star of the story, my very own bad ass OC, Greg Kinezono, his girlfriend, Linn Aramaki and the daughter of the French Spriggan, Kari Mondeau. Now with that out of the way, on with the fic!

ShardclawK: Well, folks. Here we are with another update to this story. Thanks again to those who has been reviewing and helping me with this fic thus far for this story arc, DarkFusion and GreyWolf4 with their suggestions and dialogue inserts. Thanks to wingwingxs for reviewing my work as well. I'll be sure to review you 'Rockman and Chi' fic soon one of these days. So guys, please hang on and bear with me a bit longer. The action I promised that will come later will happen, I'm just not sure if all of you will be able to handle it...

Ran: By the meantime, just sit back and enjoy this chapter as we'll see some more interesting developments turn up for Greg and company. Since Shardclaw won't reveal to us what's happening so far, we'll run a recap.

Youji: In the last Soldier X, Greg and Warrior along with Riku, Nagi and Tot made their way to Weiss's own base of operations to discuss what should happen in the trials ahead. During their meeting, Greg revealed to Ran and everyone else involved about his Kari Mondeau, the daughter of the French Spriggan, Jean-Luc Mondeau. Meanwhile, Shade considers an alliance with the Sons of Liberty, while Schwartz plans an alliance of their own.

Omi: I got a feeling things are beginning to heat up for this story. And that I'm getting hooked up with someone is not too far away.

Youji: The same here as well. Let's hope Shardclaw pulls this off well so we can be happy with what he done.

ShardclawK: You guys worry too much. It will happen and I'm sure DarkFusion will be pleased with who you two be hooked up with. Knowing him, he's got a houseful of hot and cute chicks just waiting to be sent to serve me as their master, just because I write great chapters for this and COE! Now, that's what I call a friend!

Just as I said that, Welch Vineyard, Nel Zelpher, Ropponmatsu 1, Ropponmatsu 2, Tynave, Farleen, Clair Lasbard, Maria Traydor, Hyatt, Excel, and Misaki appear. They were all wearing hot, tight body fitting black leather suits with lots of zippers for the 'right places'.

Welch: Ah, Shardclaw-sama. There you are. Sorry if we were interrupting you from something important, but there's this new enhancement to the personal carousel you got for Hyatt that I just added to the bed and I wanted you to test it out with me, while the other girls wait their turn.

I start to gaze at Welch's cleavage long enough to get a nose bleed, before I look at her.

ShardclawK: Welch, you got yourself a guinea pig! And when you're through, Excel gets her chance to be 'disciplined' while getting 'ridden on'. Come on, girlies. Fellas, you know the usual scene...take care of things for me, will you?

As I get carried off by the number of girls, Ran twitched his right eyebrow.

Ran: I should really consider taking up fiction like he has...anyway, time to start the chapter. Everyone, enjoy as always.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

ShardclawKusanagi Presents:

Metal Gear: Soldier X

Chapter 18: Revolutions, Part 4

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Are you certain this is the place, Crawford?" Schuldich asked his partner. Himself, Farfarello and Crawford had travelled to a secluded location, just around the outside radius of Tokyo-3, just several meters from SEELE headquarters. They were able to evade any signs of the authority that could have spotted them, thanks to the intel Crawford had that made this possible. "How can you be certain this is not a trap?"

"While Ocelot is not the kind to be easily trusted, his partnership with us in dealing with Kinezono should make things a lot easier." Crawford replied, as they stepped into an open conference room. "You should be ready if he pulls anything, though. I'm certainly am not in the mood to pick any fights with either him or Solidus."

"Solidus Snake!? The leader of that group is still alive after what happened in the Big Shell incident?" Schuldich asked in a tone of surprise. "So, the rumours about his death was exaggerated..."

"My death was expected in the first place, but certainly, anyone is a fool to think I would stay that way." A voice spoke from the shadows behind the Schwartz group, as they peered and saw Solidus Snake come towards them, his double katanas strapped behind his back, while he wore his own Sneaking Suit. His remaining right eye glared at Crawford and his group in silence, before Ocelot came out from behind him.

"Brad Crawford, it's been a long time since we've met last." Ocelot said coolly. Crawford started to grin a bit at his old rival.

"The same here, Shalashaska. Seems like you've been busy." Crawford simply replied.

"Hmph. I told you before not to refer me by that name, Crawford." Ocelot warned him. "You'd best watch your tongue before you lose it."

"My, my...and here I thought things on your end were going well for you." Crawford spoke. "With an organization like SEELE under your thumb and Gendou Ikari dead, practically leaving NERV defenceless, you should be pleased things are turning out the way you wanted."

"That's just the beginning phase of our plans, but there's a clog in our wet-works." Solidus said. "A certain FOXHOUND recruit named Greg Kinezono has been somehow causing a lot of attention to the Patriots and their current plans."

"Ah...so, is he causing you that much of a pain?" Schuldich asked with a light grin.

"We wanted the Patriots to expose themselves sometime after the Commander of NERV was killed by their hands." Solidus spoke. "However at the time of his death, Psycho Mantis had attacked Kinezono's family and he eventually learned of what the Patriots could do with the new Metal Gear. That caused them to seclude themselves even more from us."

"You wanted Kinezono to smoke them out for you?" Farfarello asked.

"We'll leave it up for him, it will make things a lot easier for all of us." Ocelot spoke. "Now, Crawford...what's this about an alliance between our groups?"

"Kinezono alone is frightening to deal with, and he has enough allies and comrades that could possibly interfere not just with you plans, but ours as well." Crawford said. "I'm certain with what you know about him, we can certainly turn the tables around if you allow us to exterminate him and his group for meddling with such affairs."

"Why would you want that, Crawford?" Solidus asked. "If it's all for gaining the glory of becoming part of the Patriots' roster, consider yourself our enemy at once. Our mission is to seek revenge against them, and allowing Kinezono to ruin some of their plans seems to be part of the reason we're laid back in this situation."

"Besides, how would you feel if one of your former comrades, your very own student no less, is now under his tutelage? Is this why you want to become part of our group?" Ocelot asked, causing Crawford to growl in anger.

"This is not about revenge!" He shouted.

"Oh, it certainly is." Another voice spoke from behind him. The mysterious cyborg ninja appeared. It was Mr. M. "You've been defeated and humiliated by Kinezono, knowing just how dangerous in ability and strength he is, and he has taken your protégée from you. That is enough reason for you to consider this as a last act of desperation."

"That's not true. I'm just taking the necessary precautions that..." before he finished, another new voice spoke from behind.

"Crawford! Only a whimpering coward like yourself would come to these people and beg for help."

"What the...?" Schuldich looked behind him and stepped back in shock, as Mr. M and another figure that was also in the shadows appeared. It happened to be a pissed off Shade who was glaring at the Schwartz group.

"I should be killing you now for how you tricked ne two years ago!"

Shade snarled at Crawford.

"Please calm down, Shade." Crawford replied. "I only did it out of necessity; there was no malicious intent."

"Using me as a measurement tool for your student's powers, and then putting a bomb inside my Harrier so I couldn't follow you." Shade said looking at Crawford with absolute hatred. "I don't give a damn if there was any malicious intent involved! I'll kill every last one of yourgroup!"

Shade lunged himself at Crawford, but suddenly, Mr. M stepped in front of him.

"What are you doing?" Shade asked angrily.

"Possibly stopping you from causing a grave mistake." Mr. M said. "Besides, an experienced soldier like you should consider that you're standing in front of the leaders of the Sons of Liberty. They went through the trouble of getting me to find you, knowing you're potential as well, your own run in with Kinezono."

"I'll kill you if I have to get to them!" Shade raised his hands, but a gunshot was heard from one of Ocelot's colts.

"Gentlemen...we did not come here to fight amongst each other. Vamp and Fortune won't tolerate this if this became a norm among us." Ocelot spoke. "Now, Shade...I know you want to repay Kinezono for beating your skills, but there's more to him than meets the eye. The same goes for you, Crawford and your partners. You both know nothing that could help you against Kinezono and he will take action for what has happened to him thus far."

"In actuality, we won't be needing the extra set of hands, but in this case, both factions will become useful use we're able to get deep in unveiling the truth about Kinezono." Solidus said. "The reason being so, he has been spotted around with other likely and dangerous people that could cause problems to us later. The Sons of Liberty will not fall easily to just one psychic and his rag tag group of specialists."

"If you say so...we'll give your proposal some serious thought while we strategize what should we do next when we encounter Kinezono and his friends again." Crawford said in a tone of approval. However, Shade did not take this too lightly.

"I could care less about what the famous Sons of Liberty care...I WILL eliminate Kinezono, and his comrades without fail." Shade told the group. "And I'll do it by myself. They all have yet to taste my real power."

With that, Shade glared at the Schwartz group one more time before he dissipated into the thick darkness. Mr. M simply looked on, as if he was smiling to himself.

(Oh, you'll certainly be running back to us, Shade.) Mr. M thought to himself. (I, for one, am certain of that.)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Back at the Koneko no ie Sume, Greg was just getting into telling Weiss, Riku and his partners on how he ended up knowing about MIRTHRIL.

"Greg...what is it that you meant that you know the leader 'quite personally'?" Riku asked.

"Hey, before you get any ideas, it's not what you think, okay?" Greg shrugged his shoulders. "I sort of bounced into her a time just before I came to America to join FOXHOUND. As much as I can tell you now, I was offered a shot of joining, but I had to turned it down."

"What for?" Ran asked, as Greg simply looked at him in a serious way.

"Is it really that important that you should find out?" Greg replied. "Look...all I'm saying is that I have some friends in that group that should help us in this, but I'm just hoping that they will still open up and tell me that's it alright that they would help in any way."

It was then Riku knew Greg was holding something back from them when he changed the subject about knowing the leader. He began to ponder a bit. (What is it that Greg won't tell us exactly about how much he knows the leader of MIRTHRIL?) Riku thought.

"...hmm. Seems that you're capable of handling yourself beyond your group's help." Manx spoke with a light smile.

"Hey, a nigga's got to do what he can to survive in a world like this, right?" Greg answered. "I'm just glad that I get to protect a small world like this, because there are times it would pay me back with such good people...like my mom and the rest of Warrior."

"Greg! How nice of you to say things like that about me!" Rio blushed in front of everyone, holding her cheeks. Everyone else laughed as Ran stood up.

"Greg, I was wondering if you would like to see more of our base of operations, not to mention each of our etiquettes in battle." Ran told Greg.

"Sure, man." Greg replied in a simple nod. "Maybe while we're touring, I can give you more details about my own specialties, although, I got quite a long list."

Ran only smiled at Greg. "Well, we got enough time to listen to you."

As Greg and Ran went their way across the rest of the shop with Riku, Nagi and Tot behind them, Yuina and Seraph followed in tow, while Lilica, Rio and Maki followed Omi and Youji. They stepped into the weapons' room for the group, and on a table before them, were ranges and different types of throwing knives and mostly darts.

"Are all these darts of yours poisoned?" Rio asked as she looked at the various dart types in Omi's collection.

"Most of them." Omi answered. "That's why I wear gloves to protect my hands while I do this. It wouldn't be a good idea to prick your finger with most of these; they're that deadly."

"No kidding." Rio agreed with a shudder. "You got any antidote for any of those?"

"You mean like if you shot yourself in the foot?" Omi asked. "Please don't do that. You'll probably be dead before you even knew you had an accident."

"Scarree." Rio stood back from Omi instantly. The young assassin only grinned at this. This meeting with Warrior and Greg is turning out to be better than he expected. He didn't want to scare any of Greg's relatives, but he was enjoying their company.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Afterwards when both of the groups met back together, Greg and his surrogate family had learned a good bit of how reliable Weiss is. When they met back, Greg was telling Ran, Riku and his partners about his involvement in KOF. It was then Riku cut it to speak when Greg had finished talking.

"You know, if we had the time to, it would be nice to give a tournament like that a try." Riku said and then grinned wistfully. "I wonder how Nagi, Tot, and I would do in that." He then turned to Greg. "Hey Greg, you and Linn have fought in a few of these before. How do you think the three of us would do?"

"Hmmm....you three alone can become famous after a couple of matches. Maybe when after this mess with Reese is over, I can ask Chizuru to squeeze you in for a match against some good fighters." Greg said with one eye turned in their direction. "Though, I must advise you to keep my relations with the King of Fighters a secret from Garland."

"Why is that, Greg?" Tot asked.

"Isn't it obvious? There won't be a KOF anymore once he enters, he will most likely decimate everyone who challenges him, bossed included." Greg smirked. "Hey, the tourney must have limits, am I right?"

"I guess you got a point." Nagi agreed with Greg. "But what I don't really get is that you actually are a student of Geese Howard."

"Yeah, I'm still in a bit of shock from hearing that myself years ago when you first visited the Uruha mansion years ago." Riku shook his head. "But tell me, Greg...was training under Kyo and Iori a way to get stronger against Garland?"

A sad and serious look came across Greg's face. He looked at Rio for a moment, and she simply replied by nodding her head.

"Go ahead, Greggie. You can tell them." Rio replied.

"Okay, then." Greg said, focused on Riku, his partners, Yuina, Seraph and Weiss. "The real reason I did that, was not to get stronger in any way. The powers are already doing that for me, and that's where the problem lies. The first time I got my pryo-kinetcic ability, things...got out of hand. I was too young to handle the emotional traffic that my body was automatically drawing in, not to mention I got the nano-mesh for the right arm at the time. This power of mine was driving me insane, much like Iori's famous Blood Riot...only this was based on people's emotions. My head felt like it was thrown into a blender at the time, and my body felt like it could have combusted any moment. But thankfully enough, that wasn't the case. It seemed more of an initiation of gaining my powers, while it was a torture at the same time."

Everyone in the room stared at Greg in silence. They never knew the truth of Greg's powers to this day before. It saddened some of those listening to his story.

Greg simply shrugged his shoulders and grinned. "Training under Geese sort of helped me, though. What he thought me was that I could sustain a great deal of mental and psychical pain without showing much signs of weakness. It was hard. Compared to the drill training we have seen in FOXHOUND from people like Garland and Michael, Geese's...was different. Personally, there were times I thought I was actually going to die under his tutelage, but he wasn't not that cruel. Just cruel enough to save the punishment till the next training session."

"And...you did what you had to do with that man just to keep your powers in check?" Ran asked nervously.

"Yep." Greg replied simply. Then he faced Riku, Nagi and Yuina. "You three better start thanking God that you're not me. Even up to today, my body and mind are still at war at each other, because of Reese and the Patriots. Now, because I'm still alive, they will stop at nothing to prove how influential they really are by making a life such as mine quite hard to live."

"And we'll help you with this, Greg. In any way we can." Ran replied. "Is there any chance we can speak to each other again soon, before you set off on your mission?"

"Another two days from now will be fine. I have to confirm some things before I go." Greg replied. "If anything comes up, Riku will contact and advise you on what's going down, so we may have to take action if an emergency occurs."

"That is fine with us." Ran nodded. "It was nice talking with you, and the rest of Warrior as well."

"Yeah, you guys are not bad at all. We were glad to come here." Lilica spoke as she got into the Warrior transport vehicle. "It was fun."

"Travel safe, Greg." Yuriko told Greg as she waved to him. As Greg and the rest of his group began to speed off, Ken began to speak to Ran.

"Hey, Ran...you think things will be stable when we start to work with Greg?" Ken asked.

"Can't say I'm sure if that's the case, but after hearing about how crazy life is for Greg, it could mostly happen." Ran replied. "I suggest everyone of you watch out for any signs of trouble that could get worst and lead to something we won't be able to contain by ourselves."

The rest of the Weiss group nodded in unison to Ran's comment. A lot of things will happen that will contradict the future, they'd best be prepared for any surprises coming at them. But first...

"About an hour before Sakura gets here for our date. I'd better get the sale done by that time." He said to himself in a light smile.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Well, that went better than expected." Rio spoke, as she got out of the Warrior van and faced her friends. "And all of those guys were kind of cute too."

"Mom, what did I tell you before...?" Greg warned her before Riku spoke.

"So, Greg...what do we do now?" he asked. "Should Col. Campbell be told that you're making a move soon?"

"You'd better. At least he'll know that you guys are active in this matter, just as I am." Greg said. "Still, I'm waiting a bit longer till I fully gather my strength before we set off to the mission. For now, we'll just take it easy. Besides, I'm still busy enough trying to train Nagi and Yuina with their powers."

"That's one of the good things while I'm with you, Greg." Nagi said. "Spending time in FOXHOUND and people like Warrior is more enjoyable than I was with Schwartz, even though Crawford was the one who helped me with my powers the first time."

"Nani? I don't understand, Nagi?" Greg asked as the group started to walk back to the mansion.

"To be perfectly honest, being in Schwartz was unpleasant to say the least." Nagi said. "It wasn't the actual training that was hard, it was being a part of the group that was the toughest. I just couldn't connect with any of the members at all."

"What do you mean?" Maki asked.

"Well for starters, Farfarello isn't really someone you want to talk to, unless you like talking to a sadist." Nagi answered. "Talking to Schuldich was practically asking for emotional stress. A guy who uses his abilities to read your mind and try manipulating you with that isn't a very pleasant conversationalist."

"I can imagine." Lilica said in agreement. "And Crawford?"

"It was pretty mixed there." Nagi replied. "I was grateful to him because I saw him as my rescuer, but I guess that was just to manipulate me into being his minion. Also, I wasn't able to agree with him very much. Though I kept that to myself."

"What didn't you agree with him on?" Rio asked.

"His general outlook on things, actually." Nagi answered. "Crawford told me that it was alright for me to use my powers to hurt others because it was justified for the hell they gave me for rejecting me." Nagi then looked at Greg regretfully and shook his head.

"I'm sorry to say that I did agree with him at first." Nagi continued. "But after a while, I wondered if that was true or not. I guess somewhere deep down inside, I knew that was wrong, no matter how much I tried convincing myself otherwise. It was like trying to convince myself that the colour white was black and black was white, you know."

Greg could only look on in silence a bit at Nagi. "Kid...I really feel for you. It's one thing to be used by your own disciple like that to deceive and use you when you thought your girlfriend died, but to be told things like that? Just ludicrous, man. It's moments like that make me loathe people like Schwartz even more. At least you're enjoying my company, right?"

"Heh, who wouldn't?" Nagi gave a nervous grin. When they stepped to the door of the mansion, the person to meet them there was Maya Jingu, Umi and Nanvel.

"Hey, you guys are back." Nanvel said to Greg and company. She then looked at Greg in a serious look. "Greg...about time you got back. Someone is here to see you specifically."

"Me? But I don't remember inviting anyone here..." Greg replied. "Who is it, aunt Nanvel?"(Wait a minute...that Drake couldn't have followed me here? Who the hell did then?)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Inside Kurei's office, Geese Howard sat down on a chair in front of Kurei, and his wife Neon, while his henchman, Billy Kane stood next to him. Billy was wearing a black, tight jumpsuit, with yellow lines that ran down across his body. He had on his striped bandana and was holding unto his red bo staff. Next to him were Joker and Raiha, and three other people were seated on a couch across the room. One was a tall, young man in his twenties, with short, pale blond hair, his built was skinny, but muscular. He had pale skin, compared to the lovely young woman with blonde hair that was tied into red ribbons. The dress she wore was long and red as well. The dress had rose designs all over it. The third woman was dressed in a moderate, causal dress, it's as if she was used to living in the mansion.

"It seems you've settled down, Kurei." Geese Howard commented.

"Thank you." Kurei replied. "I find life to be much more enjoyable this way then how things were twenty two years ago."

"I hope that doesn't mean you've gone soft, mate." Billy spoke.

"Of course not." Kurei answered. "I even fought Geese's student not too long ago."

"You fought with Greg?" Geese asked, his eyes now showing interest. "Well, that's quite a feat indeed. So how was he?"

Kurei simply smiled at Geese. "I'm quite surprised in how effective your fighting style of the Haikyokuseiken, mixed with the famous Kusanagi and Yagami-ryuu, along with Greg's experience in hand to hand combat has made him quite an formidable opponent. I was quite pleased to have battled with Greg, he has learned well."

"It was nothing." Geese answered back simply. "Though, I would have enjoyed to have seen the fight myself and be the judge of his new skills now."

"Greg is a worthy opponent, but we had to put the match on a stalemate, since Greg was still recovering from his wounds." Neon spoke. "Tell us, Geese...what did you think of the Urabutousatusjin back in the old days?"

"It might sound like an imitation of the King of Fighters, but there was one major difference." Geese said. "In that tournament, killing was very much allowed." He then shrugged. "A pity Mori invited me as a guest or I would have considered fighting in it myself."

"That's true...you would have had a blast, boss." Billy smiled. It was just then the office door opened and in came in Greg with his group. A shocked look came on his face when he saw his sensei.

"What the fu...? Sensei Geese?!" Greg exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"Ah, Greg. Good to see that you are still alive thanks to me." Geese smiled.

"Cut the bull, Geese. If things got worst when I was getting my powers augmented thanks to you, I would have gone crazy that night...totally." Greg said seriously, as Riku and his partners looked on.

"Did we step into the middle of something here?" Riku asked.

"Better for you not to find out, Riku..." Rio told him in a tone of warning.

"Now, now...is that anyway to threat you teacher who gave you hints on how to deal with Mantis?" Geese spoke, standing up. "And besides, I went through so much just to get you want you need later."

"Meaning?" Greg asked rudely. His answer was a large suitcase dropped in front of his feet.

"Your money, Greg. All that you have pulled from the Angel Slayer account a couple days back, thanks to my assistance to the matter." The young man from across the room spoke. Riku and Greg turned to their direction.

"Grandma...who are these two?" Riku spoke to the woman. It happened to be Kagero herself, her rumoured age is supposed to be over 400 years old, but in actuality, looks like she's in her early thirties.

"These two are Greg's friends from KOF as well...Adelheid and Rose Bernstein." Kagero spoke, as Adel held out his hand. Riku pulled back instantly.

"The children of Rugal Bernstein?!" he exclaimed, then started to stare at Greg. "You know, Greg...you got to make some normal friends from now on."

"Relax, Riku." Greg said to his friends. "He's not like his father, he's only searching for him to set things right."

"That is true...my father is stricken with madness and I'm the only one who can deliver it from him." Adel spoke. "Greg, I was hoping that we would have a spar later, just to brush up on my attacks. I feel as if they are not strong enough to challenge my father when I finally find him."

"Is that why you want to help me in this?" Greg asked. "Geez, it's just like bribery, but in a way, I'm thankful."

"You have my word as a Bernstein that I will do whatever in my power and status to help you." Adel replied. "My sister, Rosy, has opted to find some information that should be of some good use to you."

"Really?" Nagi asked in surprise. "So, just how much did you get to spend, Greg?"

"Oh...about...almost 2 and a half billion unmarked bills, plus it's automatically bounces over time, so it's never going to waste." Greg simply said.

"NANI!?" Riku, Nagi and Tot cried out in unison.

"Why do you sound surprised? Oh, I get it...none of you have ever been rich before..." Greg smirked. "Anyway, this is just for the mission, it will come in handy. Who knows what kind of provisions this can buy...weapons, clothing, vehicles...the works, baby!"

"That's my Greggie!" Rio smiled at the sight if Greg with so much money at his disposal.

"Yo, Riku, right?" Billy asked Riku at his direction.

"Yeah, what is it that you want, Mr. Billy Kane?" he smiled back.

"Please, just Billy would do." He replied. "So, how's Daikoku going since you last heard of him?"

"Oh, he's doing just fine when I last I heard of him and Minamio from uncle Saicho." Riku replied simply. "I'm surprised you heard of him."

"Anyone in the arts of the staff should. Greg himself never heard or met the man, but it was I who thought him the basic techniques of using it." Billy explained. "From there after, Greg picked up everything for himself."

"I see...quite intriguing." Riku replied with a nod.

"Okay, Geese...you win. I'll take this as a...token of your appreciation for my welfare." Greg started to cool down. "But what I don't get is why you're really here."

"To start you off with your mission, of course." He answered. "Greg...this is an unusual request, but there's a secret organization of fanatics that have been rumoured to be dealing with the dark arts, and the sources all point to another opening of the Orochi."

"I hope you're not sending me to get this thing for yourself, are you not?" Greg asked seriously.

"It's not like it, Greg." Adel spoke. "What we learned about this organization is that the Patriots are funding some project of theirs to control the masses in an instant."

(This is starting to sound something close to Third Impact, but it's just as ugly too...) Greg thought to himself. "Go on."

"They call themselves, the Devil's Hand. The Prime Minister of the cult lead, a man named Welker, has organized this cult to persuade unfortunate followers to join him in his cause of invoking a so called peace about the world. His ramblings had caused much confusion among the Bernstein organization, so we thought he needs to be stopped before something out of the ordinary happens."

"So we have to deal with a cult now." Riku surmised. "Doesn't sound too bad. A bunch of raving fanatics shouldn't give us too much trouble."

"Cults aren't always a bunch of raving fanatics, Riku." Nagi spoke. "Remember that group I mentioned a couple of years ago called Eszet?"

"Yeah, you said they were a cult that was supported by the Patriots, right." Riku replied. "In fact, from what you told me, the Patriots hired Schwartz, which you were a part of at the time, to eliminate them."

"Yes, Crawford had us pretend to work for Eszet while it seems we were actually working for the Patriots instead, though I didn't know it at the time." Nagi said. "But the one thing I didn't tell you was that the three leaders of the group were psychics."

Greg and everyone else in the room looked at Nagi surprised before he spoke again.

"They also had a great deal of power, politically." Nagi said. "Probably by getting support from the Patriots themselves."

"So the Patriots ended up betraying them, and sent Schwartz to dispose of them." Greg noted. "Why am I not surprised?"

"Now that I look back on it, that's the one thing job for Schwartz I'm almost proud of." Nagi said.

"What do you mean?" Rio asked. "I thought you hated being in that group?"

"I didn't mean it like that." Nagi answered. "You see, those guys kidnapped, Aya, Ran's sister and were planning on using her for some weird ritual that involved the use of their powers."

"Why her?" Maki asked.

"Aya had been put in a coma after an incident where Reiji Takatori murdered her and Ran's parents." Nagi answered. "The coma lasted for years and all that time Aya didn't age at all. Eszet found out about it and decided to use her as a vessel for something they were going to summon and incarnate into her body. I don't know what it was, but the energy that I felt from them while they were preparing for the summoning was...evil. That's the best way I can describe it."

"That's so typical of such sickos..." Maya shook her head in agreement.

"Normally, I thought these were just superstitious things, but I had no idea they are for real and people's lives have to be the consequences for such vile actions." Seraph answered.

"So, then what happened?" Greg asked.

"Ran's girlfriend, Sakura, somehow snuck into Eszet's headquarters and placed herself in place of Aya. Another reason why I'm glad I had a hand in interrupting the ritual." Nagi answered. "To make a long story short, we killed two of the three psychics while Weiss finished off the third. After that, the place collapsed and shortly after, Riku found me and you know the rest."

"Yeah, we can pretty much sum it up on what happens after, thanks to you and Tot's stories." Greg said. "So that means we may have to deal with some, freaky, paranormal shit soon first before getting to the Patriots and hopefully, Reese. Not your average, run-of-the-mill, FOXHOUND mission which will look more like a cakewalk."

"I guess we're going to have a tougher time then." Riku said. "After hearing about this Eszet, I think I prefer cults when they're raving fanatics, since fanatics tend to have the intelligence of rocks."

"Can I request something, sensei?" Greg asked Geese.

"Go on ahead."

"I have to take Riku and his partners along with me on this mission, since they pretty much insist on helping me on this, and that they don't want me to cause me too much trouble when I start to tear it up." Greg spoke. Geese glared at Riku before he spoke.

"Do you know that this is the chance for Greg to show his skills as a lone operative, and the fact that the problem's Greg is in is more troublesome than you think, boy?" Geese spoke to Riku.

"Certainly. I also know that Greg is in deep trouble just for being alive today because of the Patriots." Riku answered. "And he is a friend in need of help, even though he would act tough about it and deny the fact we're all here to help him in this."

"Of course, that doesn't mean we'll get in his way." Nagi spoke. "Greg gave us the condition that when things get nasty, we should stay away and let him handle it."

"Hmmm...Greg, you got yourself some really dedicated friends, I'm impressed they intend to stick to you through this. Okay, feel free to carry along who you desire with you, but a warning that they should be aware themselves of what's happening." Geese spoke.

"Don't worry, sensei. They are quite able in defending themselves in a fight, they are part of FOXHOUND after all." Greg answered." Ah, sensei Geese, there's something that I think you should know about, and probably, give me a hand on."

"I thought I have given you all the help you need for later, Greg." Geese replied, folding his arms. "What else do you need?"

"Information...about a mercenary named Shade." Greg said, seriously, which caused Geese, Billy, Adel and Rose to stare at Greg in surprise.

"The man who killed one of the Bogard brothers in a fight some years back?" Geese asked. "Andy, wasn't it?"

"That's right. I learned it from Mai some days ago..." Greg replied. "Not only that, I had a battle with him just shortly before my fight against Mantis."

"He was sent by our traitor of a lieutenant, Matthew Reese, to try and stop Greg and the rest of us to getting to Mantis, then if he was successful, kill Mantis himself." Nagi then told Geese. "However, it was Greg who managed to win that fight that day, but Shade escaped."

"I see...you were lucky enough to survive that fight, Greg. And it's not just to my techniques that you were spared..." The crime lord of South Town simply warned Greg. "Being in my sort of business has it advantages of learning information that even you military types from FOHXOUND don't even know exist and I've heard quite a lot about Shade and his existence. I'm betting Kagero may have an idea about it as well."

"Oh?" Riku looked surprised. Then he looked at Kagero. "What could it be, may I ask, grandma?"

"He happens to have a real name...Shingen Koga. He was formerly of the Koga Ninja clan." Geese answered instead.

"That Shade's made quite an impression by joining Nobunaga Oda and he has participated in almost everyone one of Nobunaga's battles and his atrocities." Kagero spoke. "After that period, Nobunaga tried to have him killed and then later, Nobunaga was killed at Honnouji in 1582. Shade went onto serve Hideyoshi and fought at Yamazaki and all of Hideyoshi's battles from then on. After Hideyoshi died in 1598 Shade went onto serve Ieyasu Tokugawa."

"That much I heard of..." Adel cut in. "According to the data I recovered from Sky-Noah about Shade, it seems that he has fought at the battle of Sekigahara and the battle against the Toyotomi clan in 1615, including the Summer Battle of Osaka. However, Tokugawa never trusted Shade very much and in late 1615 had Shade banished on some pretence. Thus for the next 245 years, Shade was a kenin, or a rogue ninja."

"Yes, that is very much true, Adel. It seems that your resource as a Bernstein has privileges." Kagero said with a nod.

"That's not even the half of it..." Adel said. "When the Meiji revolution happened in 1867, Shade fought on the side of the Emperor and eventually became part of the newly formed Imperial Japanese Army., Then, in 1894, he fought in the 1st Sino Japanese, and in 1900, he was part of the Japanese forces who intervened in the Boxer Uprising in China."

"Just how many wars this guy must have taken part of?" Rio asked exclaimed.

"I'm not finished telling the story, Miss. Kinezono." Adel shook his head. There's a lot more to be told. In 1904-1905, he fought in the Russo-Japanese War. By then, Shade became a Colonel. Then from in 1914 to 1918, he fought in World War 1 and in 1931, Shade participated in the Invasion of Manchuria which was a province in China."

"Then in, in 1937, Shade also became part of the forces that invaded China." It was Geese's turn to speak. "From 1941 to 1945, Shade fought in World War II after the Atomic bombs fell on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. When the Russians overrunning Manchuria Japan surrendered, his days in the Imperial Army were over. From then on he became a mercenary and fought in almost every major conflict from then on. It was during the Korean War, or Vietnam, when he fought as a mercenary for the American's. That he started using the code name Shade."

By this time, Rio and the rest of Warrior shook in fear, after hearing this, while Greg showed his expression by shaking his head.

"Great...just when you thought he was just a bothersome fly that can be swatted easily...he's more worst than we expected." Greg said with his arms folded. "I got a feeling that he'll be a real pain to deal with if I ever run into him next time. That is very likely to happen, I called him 'Mid-Boss' through the fight and he seemed not to happy about it."

"Geese, is it possible that Shade may have come across the magical scrolls of Jin?" Kagero asked.

"The scrolls of Jin?" Riku asked.

"Also known as the Scrolls of Immortality. A rumoured magical relic from way around the 17 to the 18th century, much I know about them is that they came all the way from China. They are what were responsible for keeping Geese alive, plus giving him some of his increased chi power." Greg told Riku. "Well, sensei, do you think he got to them or not?"

"Very unlikely." Geese shook his head. "Those scrolls had been into many hands since they were created, but I highly doubt they landed in his hands. He's been around for much longer than that and he probably won't be needing such a thing. He's more powerful than what you all have just herd of him."

"Well, we just have to be careful when we run into him next time then...sounds like we got a very tough fight ahead because of him." Nagi said.

"Sensei Geese...by any chance you still got those scrolls?" Greg asked with a hopeful grin. "Maybe if you loaned me them for a while, I can use their power and have an advantage over Shade. How about it?"

Geese glared at his student. "In your dreams, Greg. There's no way someone like you can fully comprehend the power of those scrolls."

"Aw, come on!" Greg grumbled. "At least cut your own student some slack! I can't believe that you want me to get killed the next time I run into that guy! Aren't you supposed to be helping me out at least?!"

Geese simply laughed at Greg. "Come on now, Greg. You should know that the scroll's power have already been used up keeping me alive. Besides, you're mightier than some magical relic. I can assure you that you capable of holding you own against him the next time only if you follow my advice."

"Why do I get the feeling that whenever you tell me things like that, it's not so assuring?" Greg said in a low tone. Rio placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, Greggie...don't let it get you down." Rio told him. "He is right. Shade may sound more threatening than he appears, but even he is bound to have some weaknesses. All you have to do is try to find and expose them. And you can trust me to help you find a way to surprise him."

"Yeah...that's true." Greg smiled a bit at Rio. (But, I do wish aunt Aika was here to give me a hand on this too...I wonder where she could be all this time since I last saw her?)

"Is that all you wanted to discuss with us then, Geese?" Kurei asked.

"Yes, this meeting is adjourned, but I will be staying here to chat about the good old days I had in KOF and with Greg if you want me to." Geese said. Greg suddenly glared at his master.

"You wouldn't friggin dare!" Greg shouted.

Geese only smiled at Greg. "Aw, not all of them are bad as you remembered them, Greg. I'm sure your friends are interested in finding out just how mighty you are in the King of Fighters."

"All of a sudden, I have a sudden urge of finding out more about Greg's past in KOF." Nagi spoke. "Please, Mr. Howard...do tell us about Greg's moments in the tournaments."

"There's so many of them...I'd best start telling the tale of when he went on a duel against my own son, Rock." Geese placed a hand on his chin. "It was one of Greg's first and most painful matches in KOF history..."

Greg only held his head and shook it, as Geese started to tell everyone in the room about some of his embarrassing and best moments in KOF. This was the last thing he wanted.

(I do hope they leave soon...the last thing I want is people saying stuff that could make me look bad in front of Yuina and Nagi.) Greg thought to himself.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

About an hour later after Geese, Billy, Adel and Rose left the Uruha mansion, Greg made sure to attend to his daily routine of training in the VR sim rooms after dinner. Carrying the Ascension with him, the first thing on his mind was doing some meditation. Picking a spot in the middle of the room, Greg sat down and placed himself for the appropriate concentrating position.

(I'd better do what I can about Geese's suggestion about my new powers...maybe it can help me later on when I start my mission soon.) Greg thought to himself, shutting his eyes. His mind began to drift back to memories in his time in FOXHOUND, one of those was his first ever sparring match against Garland Durev. (Check the last chapter of Tempest Dynasty's Bloody Hands fic.) He saw himself being pummelled by one of Garland's famous attacks, the Demon Hand. Greg squinted his eyes when he saw himself being punished by Garland.

"How do you like my 'Demon Hand', Kinezono? A whole lot of power in a quick punch." Garland told Greg, as he can see a faint, red glow covering it. The current Greg that was examining the fight began to ponder.

(Hmmm...maybe if I found out a bit of how he is able to subdue 'D' in a fight like the first time we sparred, I may find a suitable way to emit my own power without using too much of it...) Greg thought to himself. But before he pulled himself back to reality, his mind felt a sudden, sharp pang in it. He held it as his body was being pulled somehow by a powerful, vacuum of energy. Or more like he was being beckoned to someone or something.

"What the...?! Am I using too much power?" Greg thought to himself, as the memory around him shifted to something else, something...unwelcoming. He saw that he was in a mind state, a trance between merging minds among psychics. The environment was a passageway of doors, and normally for someone as powerful as Greg, he would encounter a memory in an instant, though, this was his first time in a state like this. He instantly recognized that the feedback he was using all along must have overloaded his primary awareness and sent him here. But to his knowledge, the hallway was not suppose to be littered with blood, as it somehow decorated the walls with handprints and streaks of dark, dyed red blood. It was as if the entire scenery was painted in blood and gore.

Greg took a step further, and allowing his psychic essence to feed off the resonating energy around him, he sensed this was no place, even for someone like him should be. He can feel the one responsible for creating this nightmarish abode.

(This aura I'm getting...) Greg thought to himself. (I'm right at the centre of his domain...Garland's mind...and where 'D' lives within.)

Greg can certainly see for himself the raw claw marks, scrapes in the walls and damaged plaster could be seen. The flickering lights of the hallway didn't slow Greg down, whenever it got dark, he just let a white flame come alive from his right fist and he could see where he go well. It was the sound that surrounded him as he walked past door by door that made his confidence weaker by the second. Blood curdling screams penetrated his mind and body, and it seemed to get worse when he was getting close to the end of the hallway. Comparing what he felt and saw when he experience Third Impact in his mind, this was just as bad.

(Enough...) he simply shut his mind out and gained control of his emotions, now returning to the cool and focused attitude he had before. It was right there he found himself facing it...a large, black door with no doorknob. He can sense an enormous deal of hatred, destruction and anger from the other side, and it was contained in one single, living being. Greg had opted to turn back now, as 'D' was on the other side, but...

"Aw, hell. Might as well visit him while I'm here. Maybe I'll learn the secret from him." Greg shrugged his shoulders, touching the door. He then found himself in a very dark, (with the exception of Greg's flame) blood splattered room, where two, shattered windows showed signs of an apocalyptic environment of a destroyed city. Wrecked and burning cars, decimated buildings on fire and cracked asphalt with numerous potholes was all Greg can see on the outside.

(This is so creepy as fuck...) Greg thought to himself, before a single, flickering, yellow ceiling lamp came on above him in the middle of the room. It swung side to side, showing sighting to what was in the room. All over him was probably the most disgusting sight he had ever seen, as corpses was strewn about on the floor, their drying blood causing the floor below Greg to become sticky. At times like this, someone would easily be nauseated by the sight, but this is Greg. He had gotten so used to death and destruction, that it's now part of his daily routine. The Patriots were wrong to take his right of emotional display in the first place, but in a way, he was thankful that he faced up to events like this.

"Ah...not the new Nikes..." Greg lifted a leg to see the blood on his sneakers, but before he got to look, he then sensed he was not alone in the room...someone alive was watching him, waiting for an opening. Greg simply braced his bravery and shook his head.

"There's no need to attack me, I'm just here on business." Greg put up his hands, and putting out the flame on his right fist. Before Greg can do anything else, he sighted a man, who partially resemble Garland, but was totally different in appearance. He was covered in blood, from head to toe, wild hair covering his dark eyes, as Greg could only see his grinning mouth from the angle of the light. Raising his lowered head, he sighted Greg with a look of ferocity in his face. Greg was standing face to face in front of Garland's warped and twisted side, the famous Berserker Demon, or Bloody Hands himself. And all Greg can do in front of him was...

"Bodow. Nice to run into you again, though it's not so voluntarily anymore..." Greg said to 'D', as the twisted side of Garland looked at Greg.

"What...do you want?" 'D' simply asked Greg. "Intruders are not welcomed here, and I can care less if you one of his friends. You're going to get hurt if you linger here any longer."

"Believe me, man...I didn't want to come here, but under the present circumstances, things got out of control and one thing led to another." Greg said. "Besides, while I'm here, I might as well tell you some things that you should consider on my behalf. This won't take long."

"....." Silence came from 'D'. This was something Greg didn't expected.

(Strange...he wants to listen?) Greg thought to himself. (Don't know how long it will keep up, but I'll do what I can to make it hospitable.)

Greg then stared at the corpses around him. With a simple shake of his head, he kicked one of them for good measure.

"You know...you have to introduce me to your interior decorator. I love with what you done with the place." Greg simply said to 'D' in a somewhat, fearless act of humor.

"Heh heh heh. Thank you. I'll be sure to tell that to the corpses from which I ripped the blood from." 'D' actually smiled back at Greg for a moment, before his tone turned dead serious. "But if you know what is right for you, make yourself vacant before you can become one of them."

"Awww, come on now..." Greg threw up his arms in surrender. "You would want to hurt one of Garland's closest friends? Besides, I know when not to cross the limits, though, I doubt the pain you have in store for me will compare to that which Mantis tried to kill me with when I fought him weeks ago."

"I can easily rip you from here without giving you any pain..." 'D' warned Greg.

"Yeah, yeah...I almost forgot about that option too, but at least hear me out, will you?" Greg waved his arm. "Pretty please?"

'D' could not understand why Greg of all people would be here in his domain, and even act as if he was one of his comrades. His face was difficult to tell if he was actually feeling fear while he was close to him, and he sounded authentic enough that he was here for a good reason. He would have to make this visitor an exception for now.

"Alright, I'll listen to you, but I'm someone who doesn't depend on words to deliver my actions." 'D' replied.

"I figured you don't want to speak to me long, so I'll make this really brief." Greg said. "I'm just giving you a warning ahead of time, that...something really big could happen in Tokyo-3 soon, and I don't want you to totally lose it while I'm not around. I have a tendency to worry about the collateral damage done on a base like NERV...especially if it's the cause of an alter ego of one of my good friends."

"Too late for that." 'D' replied. "Once the time comes...once the line drawn between me and Garland is crossed by the wrong kind of fools, I'll shall set myself free unto that place and show them my power, just as how you have shown yours when the last Angel attacked."

"At least I did it to protect everyone in that base..." Greg commented. "You'll just tear everything apart, even if it's not nailed down. All I'm advising you is that you're free to do whatever you want...no one on Earth can stop you while you're at it. Just make sure not to get over your head, huh? I have plans to bring family over to help Garland and the rest of FOXHOUND out soon, and if by any chance you harm any of the people from Warrior, you'll have to answer to me."

A loud, echoing cackle from 'D' filled the room, but Greg did not even flinch, even though he knew he would be attacked anytime from 'D'.

"You're truly are a fool, but it's so amazing why Garland admires you as his friend and sparring partner." 'D' replied.

"Shit...I'm not playing with you, I'm being serious here." Greg said seriously. "And I'm advising you to be careful yourself. You may be unstoppable when awakened, but you're certainly not invincible. Just like me...we both are vulnerable to die sooner or later. Don't place too much faith in that strength of yours all the time, it won't do any good at the end, unless you have me to help out."

"And may I ask, what's that suppose to mean?" 'D' asked, sounding interested.

Greg decided to stay quiet about Third Impact, and instead, placed the thought aside and shook his head.

"Forget I said that." Greg said seriously, turning his back to 'D'. "It's nothing important anyway."

"Alright...I'll consider your warnings, Kinezono." 'D' replied. "However, if this secret of yours is much more important to myself and Garland than it seems..."

"Believe me, man. You DON'T want to know." Greg replied, simply waving it off. "Well, I shall take my leave now. It was fun talking to you, we should do it more often."

"Funny men don't even survive under my wrath. But I kept you around since you've become...entertaining...in more ways than one." 'D" said.

"Not because I'm Garland's friend? Jeez....that's what everyone looks at me as these days...his punching bag." Greg replied with a scoff. "But I will say this while I'm here...that will end when I get back home. That's an oath I intend to keep, and even better yet, I did it in front of you of all people, so that automatically makes you a witness."

"Want to die right here and now?" 'D's tone turned dead serious.

"Sorry...I don't have plans to disappoint the people closest to me by doing that anytime soon. I have a mission to see about later and I have no intention of fighting you. All did was deliver a warning and I want you to make sure that you don't ignore it." Greg replied. "Well, I'll be seeing you. Say hi for Garland for me when you get the chance."

'D' became silent as he looked at Greg, dissipating from the room as if he was never there. A small grin came up his lips, as he started to communicate with his alter-ego, Garland Durev. Actually, it was Garland who noticed something was slightly wrong when 'D' spoke to him.

"Garland...that friend of yours..." 'D' s dark voice spoke to Garland from within.

"Which one?" Garland asked back within his mind.

"That psychic, and arrogant loudmouth who you beat up often." the demon replied. "He was just in my domain."

"You mean Greg?" Garland replied in a tone of surprise. "What was he doing there?"

"He came to deliver a message, but I took the honour of taking it for you, since you're so busy."

"That's...pretty odd." Garland replied. "And you didn't...?"

"He's an exception, since he is your friend. Though, his entry into your mind unintruded was unseen." 'D' replied.

"That must mean his powers must have reached some frightening potential." Garland said.

"No...it's not that..." 'D' replied.

"Hmm? What is it then?"

"His aura...has and is still changing..." 'D' replied. "It's not like before, when I sensed an ability of a pup from him. Now, he has a ferocity of a caged and wounded animal, yet, he is struggling to keep it under control."

"Well, it was obvious from the last time I talked to him. That ordeal with Mantis changed him a lot, attitude and ability." Garland replied.

"It would be best to step up precautions when he approaches you the next time in battle." 'D' said. "He made an oath that he will defeat us when he returns to you and your comrades."

"Ha, in his dreams." Garland replied. "Still...he can come pretty close to doing that. At least he will be serious in that rematch."

"He will be giving it his all. You should be wary of what he is capable of."

"I know...but...there are times like now I feel sorry for him..." Garland said.

"Why is that?"

"Riku told us that Greg's life had been tampered by our enemies, and now Greg's probably still kicking himself for what has happened." Garland replied. "And still...he's willing to injure himself just to protect the rest of us while he bust his chops, finding out more about what they have done to him and those affected by Reese's plans. I wish I could be there to help him, as does everyone else does...but I'll just leave it up to him to see through this. This can turn to a useful experience for him if he uses it well."

"He certainly needs it. For his good, I can actually hope things do turn well for him."

"You actually hoping the best for Greg? That's a surprise..."

"The last thing I need is that Aramaki girl mourning over her lover, just because he is weak in some areas." 'D' replied. "If he can prove himself in the harsh battles ahead, he can be deemed...worthy."

"Yeah...I hope for the best too." Garland replied. "So, what is it that Greg wanted to tell me?"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

After Greg returned to the VR room, he was still using his psychic senses to playback the fight scene one more time, studying Garland's attack. Seeing several targets in front of him, Greg set himself for an attack. He envisioned his clenched fist being brought back and then in an unseen, quick motion of speed, Greg inflicted damage two targets with the single punch alone. He pulled back and meditated a bit.

"Hmm...I can make it look like the Demon Hand, but it's not as powerful. The Demon Hand's a simple one hit, destructive attack." He said to himself. "My attack is not as powerful as Bring the Pain, but it can catch my enemy off guard with its fast strike and pryo kinetic power. Yes...this is just as good as the Demon Hand, it can prove useful in a tough fight."

Greg's conversation with 'D' makes him learned the new attack, Psycho Hand.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Sempai!" Yuina's voice called to Greg, as his mind returned back to reality. He opened an eye and saw Yuina, Seraph, and Rio standing before him in their training gi's. Greg stood up, holding unto the Ascension.

"Yo, Yuina, mom...what's up?" Greg asked. "The training won't start until the next half hour, so why are you interrupting my meditation?."

"I was sort of thinking, Greg..." Rio spoke, tilting her head. "About when you talked about Shade back there when Geese, Adel and Rose were here...it's pretty scary to know what kind of enemy he is and what could happen if you run into him next time."

"Yeah...I'm still getting the chills just thinking about his history." Greg replied. "What's about it that's bothering you?"

"I was talking to Geese before he left and he wanted to let you know that there are still things about your powers that you may not have discovered yet." Rio spoke.

"No kidding. Even after that battle with Mantis, I feel as if I'm still a novice to this thing." Greg replied.

"Well, your time here at the Uruha mansion may have given you the chance to use your powers, both old and new ones, in ways you've never tried before, but let's go for something different today." Rio said, handing Greg a blindfold.

"Nani? What's the deal with this, mom?" Greg asked.

"Greg...it's time you try using your powers like a true psychic." Rio smiled at Greg. "We're going to see if your mind has eyes, and if it's just as good as your natural sight."

"Why would I be even needing something like that?" Greg answered. "It nearly doesn't sound too much fun anyway."

"Probably, but in a situation where it counts, you'll thank me for this." Rio said. "Now...put the blindfolds on. And I'll shift the VR simulators to a night VR training. Get ready."

"Che." Greg simply sighed as he put on the blindfolds over his eyes, shutting out everything in his sight. "Damn...can't see a thing..."

"Good, that's what I want to hear." Rio replied, now moving away from Greg. "Try to find me before you get to the goal, son."

Greg had little idea what to do at first, but he had to go along with Rio's plan. Before he stepped forward, he heard Seraph's voice from behind him, since he knew pretty well where her voice was coming from. The fact it was a telepathic message seemed to helped a bit too, since Greg's mind began to map out foundations of the walls, environments, objects and people around him slowly, bit by bit. It was indeed a new, retrospective for him, seeing things like this. It was as if his mental powers enabled some sort of special goggles that enabled him to see everything around him. He even saw a trail of Rio's emotional essence running off from one pathway to the next.

(Greg...I wanted to tell you something, before you start training.) Seraph spoke to Greg's mind.

(What's is it, Seraph?) Greg answered.

(You've been trying extra hard to help Yuina all this time. You've become quite supportive in keeping her emotions in check.) she spoke. (Thank you for all that you've done so far with helping us, Greg. We wouldn't know what we would have done without you.)

(Hey, what else can I do?) Greg said, as he began to follow Rio's trail. (Even now, she reminds me a bit of myself. I just have to help her and you out, you know.)

(Despite what I thought of when I first met you, Greg, you're not such a bad person after all.) Seraph spoke.

(Of all the guys from FOXHOUND, I give that impression off the most a lot.) Greg smirked. (That's what make me so lovable sometimes...)

As Greg continued on with his tracking after Rio, he encountered some weapons along the way near the staircases, one of them was a PSG-1T. Greg didn't opted for it, as he ended up taking the M9 instead. He still had the Ascension for good measures. Stopping at the last right corner, Greg knew that a mine was floating about a glass floor and was blocking his way. He can't afford to wait, as he simply ran past it before it touched his back. As soon the glass floor disappeared from the ground, he stopped his movements as he spotted Rio holding unto her handgun behind a nearby wall from the mirror in front of him. Even though he had no night vision or thermal goggles on, he easily spotted her in this darkness from within his mind.

With a smile on his face, he stepped back a bit, sticking the Lance into the wall. He then easily leaped on the balancing hilt and sprang over the wall, easily landing right behind Rio.

"Waiting for someone, mom?" Greg smirked, surprising her. Rio easily smiled back, but not before swinging a fist at her surrogate son. Greg easily caught it with his nano arm before it touched his face.

"Congratulations, Greg." Rio said, now relaxing a bit. "You easily used your gifts to see things not using your real eyes."

"That's rather neat." Greg replied. "Though, this will get hard to get used to...are you sure this will work whenever if the next time I'm in a jam, mom?"

"Well, unless we spend more time perfecting this new aspect of your powers, it won't do you any good, now would it?" she lamented. "Now, come on...we're restarting the sim and this time, I'll include more sentries, not to mention Seraph and Yuina in it as well. Time to put your powers to the test, son."

"This is going to be a looong evening...." Greg groaned to himself.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

About two hours later, Greg had finished his new, psychic training and was tired as hell. He had spent about fifteen minutes in the bathroom, contemplating about what he should do next. But the most important thing on his mind, was getting a lot of sleep to fully recover for the battles ahead.

"Jeez...my body's so stiff, every joint in my body must have stopped the flow of blood somehow using my powers to 'see' like that..." Greg panted, with a towel wrapped around his waist. As he entered his private room where he resides at the mansion, Greg was about to start changing when he saw Yuji sneaking out of the room.

"Uncle Yuji!" Greg shouted in surprise. "What are you doing in here?"

Yuji nervously grinned. "Oh, nothing, Greg. I was just browsing around your room for some manga to read, that's all."

"Oh, is that so?" Greg simply replied. He then sensed something wasn't right with Yuji's speech, as Greg started to use his psychic powers to tap into the essence of Yuji's emotions. Then, Greg hit the jackpot.

"Eh?" Greg was stunned to see Yuji holding to his 'reading material.' It happened to be one of Greg's 'dirty doujins', it was an ecchi Outlaw Star manga with two topless Melfinas, on with pale white skin and the other with a light tan skin tone with her back turned to the other on the cover wearing skimpy outfits. Greg's face turned white.

"What do you think you were going to do with my precious, 'Chou Soreyuke! Melfina-san', Yuji?" Greg fumed. Yuji nervously grinned at Greg.

"Aw, come on, Greg...it's not like that..." Yuji put up his hands in defense. "This just caught my eye and I had to see what it's like. Besides, I'm surprised you have a unique taste for dirty doujins, Greg. It's not like you to be even possessing these kinds of stuff."

"With how crazy things are, and the fact that this whole affair separates me from being with Linn..." Greg said in a serious tone, as Yuji began to show a twisted and perverted grin.

"Ah, I get your idea, Greg." Yuji commented, agreeing with him.

"Oh, no, you don't." Greg replied seriously. "Now, I will be taking back that doujin if you don't mind..."

"How can you be so greedy, Greg?" Yuji replied in a miserable tone. "At least let me borrow it for just ONE night?"

Greg simply glared at Yuji, before he sighed, raising his right nano arm. The doujins magazine flew out of Yuji's hands and began to levitate in mid air between them.

"In the first place to begin with, uncle Yuji, this is my property that I went through a lot of trouble to get for my 'personal needs'." Greg said. "And knowing you, you may probably get both of us in trouble if you were holding on to my doujin."

"I'm sure if Rio and the other girls in Warrior see you with this, I'm sure you'll consider the fact that you're the one in the hopeless position, Greg." Yuji spoke.

"Not unless they don't know I had it in the first place, right?" Greg smirked.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Yuji commented. His answer was a sudden burst of white flame in front of him, as Greg's doujin caught fire and began to smolder into ashes in front of them.

"Greg! I can't believe you did that to one of your own doujins!" Yuji sounded miserable, as if he wanted to see it still. Greg simply shook his head.

"Ah, don't act so miserable, Yuji." Greg replied, waving it off. "Now, stop your whining and give me some privacy, please?"

"You may have saved yourself from getting punished by Rio for even seeing stuff like that, man..." Yuji grinned at Greg.

"Hey, that's your role, not mine." Greg replied. "Get out of here, will you?"

"Alright then. Sorry if I bothered you on this." Yuji bowed at Greg, before he stepped out. "Sleep well, Greg."

"You too, Yuji." Greg smiled at Yuji as he left. As he did, Greg simply let out a sigh as he simply placed his right hand over the pile of ashes, as if he was searching for something. Greg then lifted out the same copy of the doujin that he 'destroyed' and blew the ash that covered it, as if it was never damaged in the first place.

(Hate to have used my powers like that on uncle Yuji, but it seems using my 'Double Vision' technique on inanimate objects seemed to work better than I thought.) Greg meditated to himself. (I made him think he saw this being burned in front of him, while I used my powers and old pick pocketing skills together to sneak it out of his hands. And besides, there's no way I'm spending another 500 yen just for another copy of this precious manga. Stuff like these are hard to find since those stupid Second Impact laws on pornography has been around...damn the Patriots indeed...)

After staring at the naughty doujin for awhile, Greg shook his head, and threw it on his bed. He had much more important things to be concerned about. First and foremost, he has to make sure Warrior gets to Tokyo-3 and warn his comrades and friends at FOXHOUND and NERV about what could happen in the coming time. The data he researched will be of great use to both factions.

"Hope they will be able to get through with this before anything bad happens, like another Angel or an invasion..." Greg said to himself. "Have to get through with these missions and get back in time to have them come back to a safer place before any fighting starts..."

Then, there's the matter with the so-called Angel Slayer project. He had already embezzled money from the Patriots that was used for the project, and they can start an attack anywhere at anytime for this rebelling act. There's still much about it...and himself...to learn.

(There's must be a logical explanation for the existence of this project they are responsible of...) he thought.

Also to add to his dilemmas, there was the responsibility of training Nagi and Yuina. He gave this serious thought, but it somehow seemed to calmed him and made him forget his troubles a bit whenever he remembered seeing Yuina's smiling face. He aslo have to cope with the fact that Nagi, being a former Schwartz member, is willing to be obedient to his teachings and is not loyal to Crawford's anymore.

"I have to make them strong enough to take up the challenges ahead...it's going to be tough, but under my tutelage, I think they will make things a bit easier once they get a grasp of the situation." Greg said to himself.

Another thing that he was concerned about was gaining enough strength to challenge the ones responsible for causing a possible Third Impact. He gritted his teeth while thinking of the memory, but let it put aside for awhile. The training he is undergoing at the Uruha mansion, and soon, the missions ahead, will be enough sparring practice to give him a edge in battle later. He will certainly be needing it, especially in that long awaited rematch against Garland.

"Just you wait, Garland..." Greg said, with a determined smirk. "I'll show you and everyone else that I'm strong enough to protect everyone, and I'll prove the Patriots wrong!"

"The plan was already thought out, the strategy for the future is mapped out." Greg said to himself. "The only thing left to do now is meet more of Riku's friends, and meet Tessa to talk a bit about old times and what's going to happen soon. Then, the mission will take off in full gear..."

Just before he was about to take off his towel to start changing, his Codec began to ring. He answered to the other end, and saw it was Linn.

"Hey, Linn...good to see your beautiful face." Greg said, sitting on the bed. "What's the scene, calling me up like this?"

"Oh...just wondering what are you up to, that's all." she replied.

"Finding an excuse to talk to me?"

"Is anything wrong with talking to my lover, whom I haven't seen and been with for so long?" she replied with a near sarcastic tone. "You know how much I worry about you..."

"I know...sorry if I touched a nerve..."

"That's okay, I expected you to be like that. You've changed, Greg." Linn answered.

"I'll never change...not for you or anyone else." Greg replied seriously. "And for your information, I've just stepped out a shower after another, tiring day here at the Uruha mansion. This place has more dysfunctional qualities and happenings than your usual day at FOXHOUND."

"Sounds like you've been busy and a lot has happened."

"You can say that. And the real fun hasn't even started yet..." Greg replied. "I can tell you about what's going down soon...I'm suppose to be meeting more of Riku's oldest friends who can help me in this fight against the Patriots."

"That's rather good to hear." Linn replied. "So...you just came out of the shower, huh?"

"Why is that any importance to you?" Greg felt nervous hearing her say that over the Codec.

"Oh, I just want to find out if you haven't got on anything yet." she had a mischievous chuckle from comment.

"I'm still dripping wet, and in my towel." Greg replied simply.

"Hmmm..." Linn purred. "Switch off you monitor, Greg. I want to talk...dirty to you, if you miss me that much."

"You have no shame at all, do you woman?" Greg asked.

"Don't you miss being with me, Greg?" Linn cooed, making Greg feel stiff. "I miss you too...and...you know what drives me more crazy than not being with you."

"Linn! Don't do this over the Codec, please!" Greg begged. She was torturing him over the Codec with her 'feminine charm'. What made this harder that the dirty doujin was within eye's reach of him and he was now thinking of two Linns in the same room.

"Greg...I want you...now..." The left twin of Linn called out to him, taking off her top.

"Ah...must keep...focus..." Greg grunted to himself. Certainly, Linn was making this harder for him, her voice getting higher and higher over the Codec, getting the best of his conscience. He will have to try and keep it up, though, this kind of mental training is what he could get used to later.

(Aw, hell.) Greg thought to himself. (You know what they say...'If you can't beat them, join them'.)

Greg took up the doujin and returned back to the bathroom, while Linn talked on over the Codec. He will have to use this opportunity to relax himself at least once, the battles ahead will cost more than just his new strength and time. Little does he know that there are things in store for him that will cause him to change his plans later...

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"So, is this Greg Kinezono still alive as it was last reported?" one female, dressed in a yellow dress, with a mini skirt just short enough that it did little to protect the sight of her white panties. She had a pale, short blonde hairstyle, and was conversing to several other women in the same uniforms.

"Yeah...it's pretty amazing what the Commander said about him..." another with long brunette hair spoke. "He battled Psycho Mantis and survived, he is just what we need for our test."

"We need to be careful, Bianca...he is a one man army with lots of questionable fighting skills." Another one of the women spoke.

"Relax...that is why Rie has volunteered in capturing him and dealing with any other nuisance that she runs into." Her comrade smiled. "She is in charge of the project, isn't she? And her combat skills are just as dangerous to give Kinezono a worthy fight, but the odds are in her favour."

"Making this capture quite more easy..."

In the other room, a young teenager with long, black hair with a small, red ribbon in her hair was watching video recordings of Greg in battle against some Death Squad troops. Examining his every move, she nodded in approval of his movements. After freezing the tape, she stood up with a confident smile on her face.

(He may be a weapon for the Patriots, but neither of them has yet to taste the might of the Delmos.) Rie Petriokiwa smirked to herself. (Greg Kinezono...you'll be a great assessment to my plans and no one else's.)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Kinezono has done it, hasn't he?" one mysterious voice asked while enveloped in darkness. It happened to be one of the Patriots conversing with another.

"Yes, the budget used for creating our 'Angel Slayer' project had been depleted greatly, but not to the amount that it should affect our plans." One of the other voices spoke. "He will be taking action against us soon, and his alliances with some potentially dangerous people is growing."

"Has Reese done something to ensure that Kinezono will not interfere with our scenarios?"

"I'm certain that he is taking the necessary steps." One of the Patriots replied. "However, it would only slow him down...it will be beneficial to us to test Kinezono's psychic and fighting capabilities, and truly see if he has a limit to those qualities."

"We will not falter in getting what is rightfully ours. Gendou Ikari fell victim to his own faults, and certainly the rest of NERV should be aware of the mistakes he made, that made it considerable for his punishment." One of the Patriots answered. "Kinezono's purpose is to deal with irresponsible ones such as him, his powers suit that much important role."

"And when this world is cleansed of the competition, he shall be discarded like the waste he is."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Somewhere else in the world....Lt. Matthew Reese was seated in a secluded hotel room, smoking a short, dirty cigar. His papers strewn all about, he was satisfied with dealing with Kinezono for now. He may have failed in keeping James Masterson, also known in FOXHOUND as Silent Scorpion, from accomplishing his mission, much less leave the island of Cuba alive. Even if James have escaped unscathed, the Patriots had already set plans not to allow him to get closer to the Second Child, Asuka Langley Sohryu, the red haired pilot of Evangelion Unit 02. This was nothing for Reese to be worried about anymore, his concerns is stopping the rebelling Kinezono, his comrades and family one way or another.

Taking out a cell phone, he contacted a number that had been tapped by the Patriots for some time. Now would be the opportune time for him to use it, as he knew Shade had failed in stopping Greg from facing Mantis. He knows by know that Greg has known about Third Impact from Mantis after managing to beat him. He can't allow Greg and his comrades to getting too close to the truth about it.

On the other end, a young, Chinese male quickly answered it. He had a tired look on his face, as if he had a rough time recently. He gave Reese a rude answer.

"Who is this?!" The Chinese man ordered. "Whoever this is, you'd better have a good reason to call me at this time!"

"Relax, I know you're man who values time on your efforts... Wei Fei Lee." Reese replied calmly. The Chinese man stood up quickly to his named being called.

"How do you know my name...!?" Lee asked.

"That is of no importance...let's just say that I'm concerned about the welfare of your status of being a skilled assassin. You must be getting rusty, now that you're lack of employ is the current reason why you haven't been into any action lately." Reese spoke.

"Are you insulting me?!" Lee was getting more angrier by the minute, this conversation with Rees was getting nowhere. "Just what is that you're calling me for?"

"I'm sure that you've been paying attention to the news lately...the man responsible for killing Gendou Ikari is at large, but I have confirmed a location where you can eliminate him." Reese spoke.

"Gregory Kinezono? Why does he have to be killed? Shouldn't an arrest be enough for him?"

"He is highly and potentially dangerous, it would be a mistake for the law to apprehend him. Besides, he has been a thorn in my side for as long as I've known him." Reese spoke. "Killing him shouldn't be too much of a task for someone like you and your partner included."

"Hmm...sounds convincing enough." Lee nodded reluctantly. "How soon do you want him eliminated?"

"The chance you get. I'll contact you again and give you further instructions from there on." Reese said, before he hung up. Lee got up with a frustrated sigh from his lips, as he saw the young Asamu Bagte sleeping on a small bed near by. He then thought to himself about Reese's call.

(Whichever way this turns out, it should point me where I need to go on having my revenge on what the Patriots did to us years ago.) Lee thought to himself. He was also hoping he wouldn't have to encounter Riku and his partners again though, even if the nagging feeling that it can happen seemed to gripped him.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

ShardclawK: And that concludes this chapter, not to mention this arc of the story. This one sure had a lot of surprise twists and some funny scenes, huh? I'm glad if this chapter pleased all of you with the character appearances, not to mention that highlighting of Shade's past, as well as 'D's appearance. This is one of my best yet, but there are still more of this story to be revealed that will probably outdo other crossover fics that you may have seen. But I must say sorry first to those who were waiting for a speedy update, the Internet connection for my home area shut down for a while, so I got a bit lazy and waited for things to clear up. Then I had to deal with work first...then my near death experience just recently days ago in a small car collision, but thank God I only got away with a scrape to the head. (It still hurts...a little.) So, this chapter was probably worth the wait for all of you fanatics of my works.

Youji: I know it will be one hell of a ride when things get out of hand later.

Greg: Yeah, baby! When the shit finally hits the fan, this story will be so off the hook, it will be untouched in terms of multiple twists and action and multiple characters at once. And I'll be at the centre of this unending madness. I just love my life...

Omi: Oh, it can't be bad, Greg. Things surely can't get worst for you.

ShardclawK: Oh, they will indeed. This is but nearing the prelude of some big things to come...but for, you guys have to take things easy and wait for further developments. As for me...

With a snap of my finger, Faye Valentine of Cowboy Bebop and the three chicks from Bastard!, Yoko, Sheila and the thunder Empress, Arshes-Nei step in. Faye was wearing a two piece bikini, while the Bastard girls were wearing nothing but very, very sheer lingerie.

Faye: Hello, Shardclaw-sama. Tempest sent us to make sure your updates go as smoothly as he wants them to. Included with the shipment for this update are an extra set of edible undies in 31 other different flavours, a bucket of gummi candy for you to enjoy while you have your fun with us, and most importantly, a trial package of Tempest own manufactured 'Soldier's pills, made specifically for you use in 'bedroom activities' so you won't tire out yourself.

ShardclawK: I'm such a stud! And if that's not enough, he got even more hot chicks waiting for me for the next COE update. I do hope you four are prepared to give it your 'all' by the time DarkFusion's shipments get to me. On to the bedroom, girls! I still got more than enough condoms for seconds with all of you! These 'soldier' pills will come useful for girls like Excel and Tina Foster and more Negima chicks...heh heh...ouch, my head!

Sheila: Hush, hush, now, Shardclaw-sama...let us take good care of you until DarKFusion sends chicks to make you feel even more better. To the bedroom, girls.

As I get carried off to the master bedroom once more, Ran begins to shake his head.

Ran: How does he do it? Get so many chicks to have fun with every COE and Soldier X update?

Omi: That's just to show how good that guy is...and how kind other people want to help and repay him for doing such cool favours.

Ran: Oh, shut up, Omi. Let's just sit back and wait for the next update and get you paired up with someone really quick, so we wouldn't have to put up with more of this....

Youji: I don't think I can either...Shardclaw always makes me jealous of him whenever he's with so much chicks like that...but for now, everyone, please review and hang on for the next update. See you around then.

Collis aka ShardclawKusanagi.


	20. The Hunted, Part 1

Disclaimer: The same as before, as Greg, Linn, Kari and this story is my property.

ShardclawK: Welcome again to another amazing update of the story of FOXHOUND's ex psychic soldier, now a freelance soldier for the people of this world. Things get a little different from this point of the fic, folks, so stay tuned for stuff that will make you get at the edge of your seats when you check out what I have in store for this fic later. Only twenty more chapters to go before Greg gets back to the COE storyline to really tear things up, so stick around for that time! Oh, and thanks for reviewing the last chapter, for now this fic is the most reviewed R rated MGS fic on as of now!

Ran: Now, there's something to be proud of, Shardclaw. However, according to Shardclaw's direction of this fic, there won't be any recapping for now, but there will be one that will comply what happened in this fic so far later in SX. Not to mention a spanking guide to the universe of SX and COE from 2005, as to make his fics more spontaneous than ever.

Omi: I do hope we get to see some action as he promised us soon, with all these plots that are constantly coming about so far...

ShardclawK: Well, we can only just sit back and await what happens that will forsee the events of this fic. By the meantime, while you boys take care of things here, I have these ladies to 'assist' me in dealing with any problems I may encounter while I write...

From the stage room door, Sophia Esteed, Mirage Kaos of Star Ocean 3, while Kaede Nagase, Chisame Hasegawa, Evangeline A.K. McDowell, Chachamaru Rakuso and Fei Ku of Negima step in and huddle me, wearing sexy, edible undies.

Sophia: Kusanagi-sama, I can't believe that you forgot me and Mirage in your last orgy. Aren't you going to do something about it?

ShardclawK: Sorry about that, girls. Because Excel was part of it, I had to be careful not to...'tire' out myself so soon. But don't worry, I'll make it up to you, now that I got the 'Soldier' pills as compliments of Tempest that is surely helping me take on even the roughest type of chicks, as well as...endure...a large number of shipments.

Mirage: Be careful when you approach Evangeline, Shardclaw...she happens to be another vampire chick, and if she and Seras both team up on you...

ShardclawK: Nothing to fear, I still have enough of the SPARTAN II pills for use with chicks like them that has...superhuman stamina. It's no problem, let them both come and take me. But I'd rather test the Supers first on all of you. Shall we commence in my private, master bedroom?

As I get escorted off again by the large quantity of game and anime chicks, the Weiss boys simply stared on in shock.

Ran: Ah...we might as well just start off this new story arc, so just sit back and take in the wonders of this development. Enjoy.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

ShardclawKusanagi presents:

Metal Gear: Soldier X

Chapter 19: The Hunted, Part 1

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Earlier back that day, at the secluded location where Schwartz was holding their meeting with Solidus Snake, Mr. M and Revolver Ocelot. Since things didn't go well for trying to get Shade to join, the rest of the meeting went without a hitch, thanks to Crawford's smooth and calm talk. He was trying to convince Solidus that joining forces will gain some benefits later for the two groups.

"Come, come, now Mr. Sears, you know that our assistance will be a tremendous advantage to you." Crawford said.

"What could you possibly have to offer me?" Solidus asked. "I admit that you were an excellent assassin when you worked for me during my term as president of the United States, but that is not grounds enough for me to welcome you with open arms."

"You are planning to make a strike on NERV in the near future, are you not?" Crawford asked in reply. "I'm certain the FOXHOUND members there

will have unpleasant surprises awaiting your men when that occurs. I could aid you in that."

"How?" Solidus was starting to appear slightly interested.

"One who can see the future before it happens would be a most useful counter to whatever FOXHOUND is planning as a counter to your tactics." Crawford smiled. "How could you pass up such an opportunity?"

"We pretty much considered having Kinezono being our very own pawn at first, but since had foiled up to having him realise his potential, he's pretty much not needed at the moment." Revolver said.

"You've managed to prove your usefulness, but what about the other two with you?" Solidus asked. "I need more than just soldiers, Crawford, I need specialists."

"Farfarello has skills with knives on par with your knife man, Vamp." Crawford answered. "But Schuldich is probably the psychic you would want."

"How so?"

"You may have control of SEELE, and as such, you have control of the JSSDF as well. A truly powerful addition to your forces, but how long do you think it will be until some of the commanders become suspicious as to who's really giving the orders?"

"You're saying you have a solution to that?" Solidus asked in reply.

"Indeed." Crawford answered. "Schuldich is a telepath and a very powerful one at that."

"I see..." Solidus smiled as he knew what Crawford was getting at. "So you want your man, Schuldich to manipulate the JSSDF soldiers into following my orders, eh? Just like Mantis did to the Genome soldiers in Shadow Moses."

"The classic methods are always the best." Schuldich spoke with a grin.

"However, such methods won't last for long." Ocelot spoke. "And consider the number of the division for that army...this is no mere handful of soldiers like the Genome soldiers, or Gurlurkovich's breed."

"Yes...don't think I haven't heard of the might these troops have, they ARE called Self Defence Force for nothing. They are trained by the best, but still are not on par with the likes of Solid Snake and the White Devil." Crawford spoke.

"No need to worry, we have located enough Tengu armour spares that will do some good for a sufficient number of troops. We're have no plans to take any action just yet, since we're approaching the 15th Angel's arrival, then our plans will start to move for itself."

"Crawford, we will consider your proposal seriously, that's if..." Solidus spoke. "You're willing to do a certain...errand for us. I can assure it will be worth your time."

"Alright then. What is it that you want done for you?" Crawford asked.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

At the Uruha mansion, 9:57 pm in Greg's temporary living quarters...

Greg had spent about two hours telling Linn the details of what had happened to him since his fight with Mantis from his own perspective, and to say the least, that she was impressed and surprised to learn what had happened. His tales of being with Yuina and Seraph got her emotional at times, while his descriptions about his showdown with Schwartz and his meeting with Weiss seemed to gotten her excited. He had just finished telling her about the mission Geese Howard had offered him.

"Wow...now, you're making it that your time off from FOXHOUND is sounding like so much of fun." Linn remarked from her end, as Greg lied on his bed, gazing at the ceiling listening to her voice. "Compared to what goes on over here, it's kind of slow and boring, having to train these NERV personnel without you around."

"Be thankful I'm not there to punish their asses for if they ever slip up..." Greg let out a small laugh. "That's one reason not even Roy would have me as a drill instructor..."

"Everyone misses you, Greg." Linn spoke. "When are you ever coming back, now that you're better?"

"I can't come back just yet...first, comes this mission that Geese has given me, then if I gain enough intel from it, I can use it to get an advantage over Reese and the Patriots...might even clear my name." Greg explained. "Once I get my name cleared, I plan to go back to FOXHOUND to re-assign myself as part of the group, but it never hurts to get some sparring practice as a lone operative before I could come back to you guys."

"I see...at least you're seeing this as a chance to train yourself further, not to mention a plan." Linn sighed. "How soon are you going to deal with this mission?"

"In a week's or so time. I'm still recovering from that battle with Mantis, and I'm still getting used to my new powers, trying to discover new ways to use them and such." Greg got up and started to walk around his room. "Also, there are a couple more of Riku's friends that I'm supposed to meet, as well tie up some loose ends before I deal with business."

"Well, don't you forget that you still have us to send you help whenever you may need it." Linn said.

"Oh, please, Linn. If having Riku, plus his partners and his entire clan of ninjas, Warrior and people from KOF and some of my old resources isn't enough, now I want more people wanting to through themselves on the line of danger?" Greg exclaimed. "Really, Linn...I'll be okay. Besides, the only ones who really need the help are YOU guys."

"Huh? What is it that you mean by that?" Linn asked him.

"Forget I said it, I'm just looking out for you all as well." Greg said. "But, really. I don't need any more people getting involved in this as it is, this has gotten way out of control."

"You just don't want whoever coming's to help to cramp your style, huh?" she asked jokingly.

"Yeah, that's the truth." Greg admitted by scratching his head.

"Well, that's one thing I love about you, but don't let it go way over your head." Linn replied. "You may be a so called weapon crafted by the Patriots, but you're not the most invincible man alive. All I'm asking is just be careful, okay?"

"I will, babes." Greg replied seriously. "I got enough good friends helping me over here already, so they will make sure I won't lose it if I'm in a jam."

"Good to hear. And you shouldn't scare them either by playing the martyr all the time." Linn warned him.

"Yeah, yeah..." Greg replied simply.

"Hey, Greg..." Linn sighed a bit before she continued. "From what I know so far whenever you talk about Yuina, it seems you've finally managed found something more worthwhile than going after Reese. You really like being with her, do you, Greg?"

"Well, it's kind of hard to put into words, you know?" Greg said. "Since that fight Mantis, and because of her, I've been...well, more focused in protecting her and Seraph, because she reminds me of myself sometimes whenever I see that face."

"Oh, Greg...I think you're just being hard on yourself as always." Linn replied. "Maybe if you stop feeling so guilty over what has happened, you'll know that what happened to her aunt and Mantis was Reese's fault, not yours."

"I know...but I still have a responsibility to watch, guide and protect her, so I'm pretty much determined to see this through." Greg spoke.

"Well, maybe when this thing with you and getting your name cleared is over, I would like to meet her and Seraph. They sound like very interesting people."

"Yeah, they are fun to be with alright." Greg replied. "Look, Linn, it was nice talking to you, but even I need to crash early. I got a full day of plans tomorrow and I need the energy, so I'm turning in for the night."

"Okay then, Greg." Linn replied. "I just wished I was there to sleep along with you, babes."

"Heh, you and I both." Greg replied, stretching himself. "Well, good night then."

"Goodnight, Greg. And be careful in whatever you're doing." Linn said.

"I'm always careful. I'm just hoping not too many punks will be coming for my ass when I start my mission soon." Greg replied. "Anyway, you'll be hearing from me soon again enough, bank on it. Goodnight, Linn."

With that, the Codec screen between the two logged off and Linn was left to sigh in wonder and hope for Greg. She was still in NERV headquarters, in the seat of the Harrier and had just finished checking maintenance. After seeing that it met satisfactory conditions, she jumped out of the seat and right in front of Michael Hansen, who was leaning next to one of the wings of the Harrier.

"Michael?! Why are you here?" Linn asked.

"Just wanted to check up on you and I couldn't help but listen it a bit. Sounds like Greg's doing better, I see." Michael spoke calmly.

"Obviously." Linn replied. "But he is still quite the loudmouth and optimist. He's going on a mission to try clear his name soon, but before he does that, he's going to meet up some more of Riku's old friends first, while he fully recovers before he sets off to his mission."

"I see, but is it wise that he would go off like that, knowing that the Patriots could be watching his every move?" Michael asked. "If that is so, he could be walking into a trap."

"Aw, come on, Michael. Sure, Greg is not the type to be patient like you are, but he is a man of action. So what is it that you are insisting?" she asked.

"You don't sound too worry about him anymore, Linn." He replied.

"Unless you didn't remember how he reacted before and during that fight, why should I continue worrying about him? He's pretty much unstoppable now, that Reese and all these people that are after him have pissed him off to an extent he's becoming a psychotic version of 'D' by the day."

"Right, point taken." Michael replied. "Look, all I'm saying is that I'm willing to pitch in whatever help for Greg in any way possible."

"I'm sure you want to do that, but Greg has enough people tying themselves to assist him right now, not just his family and friends from FOXHOUND, but even the entire Uruha clan. I don't think sending more guys like how Garland send the Shinsengumi to help Greg during that Mantis incident would help lighten Greg's burden." Linn said.

"And I assure you, this person I have in mind will not do anything to jeopardize Greg in anyway, just to keep him in his bounds at least." Michael spoke. "He can also assist him in a pinch if need be."

"If you say so, but take it from me, Michael." Linn warned him. "Whoever you have in mind you have to send to aid Greg in this better be warned about the type of character Greg is. He can be pretty unpredictable if he's really, and I mean, REALLY mad. I'm only saying this for the sake for your buddy that you want to send to Greg."

"...uh, right. I'll keep that in mind." Michael nervously said.

"Anyway, I'm going back to the apartment to catch some sleep. Good night, Micheal." Linn told him as she walked past him. As Micheal watched her walk out of the hangar dock, he can't help but ponder if it was wise to send his help to Greg's aid right now. Seriously considering Linn's words, he believed Greg is currently capable of handling himself for the time being.

(Looks like I'll have to tell sensei Yukimura to hold on a while until something serious starts for Greg...) Micheal thought to himself.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The next morning, around 7:35, Greg was already in the VR simulator room, practicing his powerful High Function Lance attacks. Save for the tight fitting green jeans he got on, his back and chest was covered with sweat and some unhealed scars and blemishes from his fights with Mantis and Shade. He had been going at it since at an earlier time in the morning and is showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon. He is currently beating down the targets in Raiden's Level 5 HF Blade time trial.

Soon after Greg had taken down the last set of targets, he had again beaten his own time again. Feeling a bit satisfied, he opted to give himself a break for a while before he started on a random No Weapons mode. But before he got to sit down on a nearby platform in the room, he then saw Riku and Nagi staring at him from the entrance, as they were rather surprised to see him hard at training so early in the day.

"Oh, good morning, guys." Greg simply told them, resting the Ascension down. "I got up a little more earlier than usual today and couldn't get back to sleep, so I decided to come here while I was awake and train a good bit."

"How long have you've been training in here, Greg?" Nagi asked.

Greg pondered a bit before answering. "Hmm...almost three hours already. I would have woken you up and have you trained along with me, but I'm ready to start pressuring you to go through that like I am. Also, I got a lot of errands to run after lunch, so I better do this while I get the chance."

"Errands, huh?" Riku asked. "May I ask what they are by the way?"

"Riku, by the time I'm done telling you everything that happens in my life, it won't be so personal now, wouldn't it?" Greg asked.

"Greg, I'm only looking out for your safety, that's all." Riku replied. "I don't want you to run into any kind of trouble that you won't be able to get out of unless we are there to help you out."

"You see this, Riku?" Greg pointed to his own temple. "I'm not like you guys from FOXHOUND, before and after Reese...I'm an authentic, original, psychic gangster. I lived on the streets long enough to learn things that may seem displeasing to you guys, but is necessary for survival, even in a battlefield. Sure, I'm not on average on Garland, Michael's or James and you guys, but I'm...unique in more ways than one."

"Yeah, you've proven your point before many times, Greg." Nagi replied.

"Well, I wonder if you're able to say the same thing now, Greg." Riku smiled. "Since you've gotten stronger, I've been itching to have a rematch of that spar we had two years ago."

"Did you come here just for that?" Greg simply smirked at his friend. "Riku, I've whooped your ass at that time, and now, after everything that has happened, you're willing to lose in an even worse way than before? Listen to me, kid...spare yourself the guilt trip and forget it. I could have beaten even Kurei if I was more up to it, but I was merely testing him at the time. What makes you think you stand a chance right now against moi?"

"Quite the arrogant one, as always. But you see, Greg, I've gotten stronger as well." Riku spoke. "I've made up my mind and I will test myself on you, but this time I'll be using my ninja replication attacks against your powers."

"You're going to use replications?" Greg asked. "Riku, since I'll be using my powers to see, it'll be pretty obvious which one will be you."

"Don't be so sure, Greg." Riku replied. "This ninjutsu technique is quite different from a normal bunshin technique. It was developed in China by a genjutsu specialist named Genjuro. What makes it different is that this technique makes it a little harder for a psychic to see through."

"How's that?" Greg asked.

"It uses echoes from the original's thought pattern and integrates it into the bunshins." Riku answered. "Since you're focusing most of your powers on sight, then you'll probably have some trouble seeing through this."

"Why don't we put that to the test and see." Greg suggested as he tore part of a bandage from his right arm with his teeth and used it as a blindfold. "You ready?"

"I thought you'd never ask?" Riku grinned and then pressed his hands together. "Genjutsu Wakemi!!"

Just then, a pillar of smoke appeared around Riku, as five other copies appeared next to him. Greg didn't start using his powers just yet, as he had actually blinded himself. It took a few seconds before his mind had set the right frequency to alter the image of everything around him and it was then he sighted two of the Riku's charging towards him.

"Hey! I've haven't even put on a song for this fight!" Greg stepped back in time and used the Ascension to deflect the incoming kunai before he became a pin cushion. One of the Riku's landed and swung a roundhouse at Greg while he was misbalanced from blocking Riku's thrown kunai, but surprisingly, Greg used this to his advantage, letting himself fall backward into a cartwheel kick, giving him distance from the group of Riku's. He slid back a good way, before he stood up as if nothing had fazed him.

(All of a sudden, I feel as if I've been thrown into a Guilty Gear Isuka fight...) Greg thought to himself as he selected 'Home Sweet Grave' from the just mentioned game. "You know, Riku...you're pretty much one sided in this fight, even with all your little friends helping you."

"Oh, and how would you imply that, Greg?" all the Riku copies replied in unison.

"Buy a clue." Greg simply dashed at the two Riku's with Ascension in hand, but he stopped and sidestepped near the closest of the two and gut punched him before he grabbed Riku's jacket and threw him at the other doppelganger. Both dissipated into smoke, as Greg started to move again.

"Two down, only three to go..." Greg said to himself as he confronted the remaining three. This time, Greg was confronted by a barrage of fireballs coming from two Riku's at his sides."

(So, he's using...damn, what is it called again?) Greg thought to himself. (Ah! Nadare! That's it. If he thinks that will stop me...)

It was then one of the multiple fireballs transformed into a large one and started to head towards Greg, but he simply raised his HF Lance and held it vertically from his chest, and suddenly gone into a trance like state. The fireball hit the area Greg was and suddenly, all the Riku's and Nagi could see was Greg's Ascension on the ground.

"Huh? He's gone?" Nagi looked on in surprised, as he watched one of the Riku's step closer to examine the spot Greg was hit.

(He's around somewhere...he still in this room.) Riku thought to himself, when suddenly, he felt someone tapping his shoulder. He glanced back and saw Greg standing right behind him.

"Gothcha." Greg simply smiled as he pulled back one of his hands to punch Riku in the face, but his arm was deflected by a blow from a kunai which one of the other Riku's Greg had missed. Riku dashed back using his Shadow Step move while the other two doppelgangers leaped at Greg to attack him. With a bleeding left wrist, Greg simply clenched it and used a Panther signature Dark Flayer to penetrate Riku's kick and stun him while in mid air. The punch was critical and it combusted white flame instantly as the Riku he had attacked combusted into smoke.

(Good...that's all I need.) Greg simply thought, as he landed on his legs. He faced in the direction of the two remaining Riku's as started to talk.

"Still having trouble finding the real one, Greg?" they both asked him.

"Hmm...give me five seconds and I'll just might do it." Greg smirked. "Counting from...now!"

ONE.

The two Riku's started to get into drawing a kanji for 'vacant'.

TWO.

(Now he's going to use 'Kokuu.' Better not waste any more time.) Greg started to charge at the two Riku's after they shouted the Kokuu command, as a large fireball appeared in front of Greg, then it transformed into a large, snake like creature that headed it's way to Greg.

THREE.

The creature ten emitted a red beam towards Greg, who surprisingly took the hit. Riku thought he had won the battle, but...

FOUR.

It wasn't long before he saw the Ascension flying towards the second Riku, impaling nothing but a log, then he saw Greg emerged from where 'he' was 'attacked' and lunged himself at the Riku he is after, throwing him down.

FIVE.

"Time's up. I win." Greg simply smirked, taking out the Lance and holding the sharp end of the spear of it at his friend's throat. Riku looked on in surprise.

"How...how did you know it was me at the time? What the hell just happened?" Riku asked, as Greg helped him up. He then took off the blindfold.

"If you want the short version, Riku, I'll give it to you." Greg simply smiled. "You see, you claim that your jutsu is impervious to the sight of a psychic, but I'm not your average psychic, for my powers rely more on people's emotions than anything else. The power of your personality alone is enough to give off some clues as to which one was the real you."

"But what happened when I used Kokuu on you? I swore I got you then."

"I used my Double Vision move and sneaked out of its way in time to ambush you. It's all a matter of detracting which ones were capable of attacking me using hand to hand, to the ones who can actually use flames like you just did." Greg continued. "Also, since you've stepped into the room, I've sneak some of the resonating emotions you have and have used them as a beacon to keep track of you ever since. It was more different than what I'm used to since I started to use it, but I experimented with a variety of my basic and advanced psychic and hand to hand combat."

"Your are something, Greg. Not even I thought you were using that move all along." Riku scratched his head.

"I was in the same spot all along, yes, but I made a copy at the time I used the Ascension, a little trick I managed to master just yesterday." Greg spoke. "Nice fight, Riku, but face it...I'm too good for you. My powers are incomprehensible that even I don't understand them sometimes."

"Well, it was a great fight. I enjoyed it as much as you did, but I will get the better of you soon, Greg." Riku said. "And if that don't work, Kurei would probably teach you a thing or two as well."

"I'm looking forward to that very soon." Greg said. Just then, his stomach growled loudly as he was hungry like a beast.

"Sounds like you're in need of something to eat, Greg." Nagi joked after hearing the loud rumble.

"No kidding, Nagi." Greg grinned. "Oh, well...I trained enough for the day already, so let's head over to the kitchen for something to eat. Coming along, Nagi?"

"Yeah, I myself have to get some breakfast as well." Nagi replied.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Meanwhile at the kitchen area of the Uruha mansion, Seraph was don in a maid's apron, glancing over cooking books about Trinidadian delicacies. She was trying to cook one of Greg's favorite breakfast meals, fried bake, stew chicken, callaloo and crab. She woke up some time before any of the maids did to arrange this for him. Just about a while later, Tot stepped in with a curious look on her face.

"Oh, good morning, Seraph." Tot asked the biodroid. "What are you up to?"

"Morning, Tot." Seraph replied with a smile. "I was just preparing Greg one of his favorite breakfasts."

"How come?" Tot asked.

"I was just thinking of all that he had done for me and Yuina to this point." Seraph said solemnly. "He certainly is doing his utmost best to help everyone around him and I hoped this breakfast that I'm preparing for him will strengthen our friendships and have him consider how important he is to us."

"Awww, how sweet of you, Seraph." Tot smiled. "It is true what you said about Greg helping...hmm..."

Tot then took up another apron close by and wrapped it around her waist. "I'll help you, Seraph, since Greg is doing his part to help Nagi too. I might as well give him my thanks with my hand at cooking as well."

"Delightful." Seraph said. "Just how well can you cook, Tot dear?"

"Umm...geez..." Tot pondered a bit, trying to tell the best thing to Seraph without spilling out the fact that her cooking hasn't improved since her last get together with Yuhi and Chidori. "Well, it's just as good as everyone else's."

"If you say so...let's just put our skills together, so we can finish this before either of them gets here."

"Yeah, that way we can surprise them!" Tot exclaimed as she and Seraph got to work.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

A few minutes later, Greg and Nagi stepped into the kitchen, expecting maids ready to serve them. To both their surprises, they saw Seraph and Tot standing over the tables, now preparing their meals.

"Good morning!" both Seraph and Tot shouted happily in unison.

"Uh...morning." Greg grinned in surprise. "My, you two seem lively this morning. Any good reason what you two are doing in here, cooking?"

"We're preparing a special breakfast for the two of you and we're just about done." Seraph replied.

"Really!? Great, well what are we waiting for, Nagi? Take a seat." Greg put up a fist. He seemed to be enthusiastic about it, while Nagi grinned nervously, showing a face of incoming disaster.

(Uh, Greg...there's something you should know about Tot's cooking.) Nagi told Greg telepathically.

(What is it?) Greg replied telepathically as he sat down on a chair.

(It's not as...exquisite as you think it would be.) he replied, as Seraph laid a plate of food in front of Greg. (And if the two of them put their hands together to do this...)

(Oh, come on...just how bad can it really be?) Greg said coolly before he reluctantly looked at his meal, which didn't looked close to a ration by the time Seraph served him.

"I'm sorry that it doesn't look good, but it took me two hours to cook...I do hope you enjoy it." Seraph confessed, clasping her hands together.

"...Uh...geez. Thanks, Seraph." Greg nervously replied with a sweat drop on behind his head.

"That's not all." Tot said, as she poured some sort of liquid from a blender nearby and served Greg and Nagi the drink in glasses. The liquid appeared to be greenish, and quite sloppy in appearance. "Seraph and I made this special drink that will surely help you two get very healthy."

"Yes, according to my calculations, this drink contains more than 100 of the nutrition you will need, considering you both have special, psychic abilities." Seraph said. "The ingredients in this drink are..."

(I...I don't think I want to know...) Nagi thought to himself as he sweatdropped, looking at his glass.

(Nagi...is it possible that we can run for our lives while we still can?) Greg asked telepathically to his apprentice.

(Believe me, Greg...you don't want to upset those two.) Nagi replied as he took up his fork and spoon. (Might as well dig in and try to enjoy it if you don't want to suffer from their anger.)

Greg looked at Seraph and Tot as they smiled at him, prompting him to start eating. He grinned as he took up the spoon and started to eat. (Just play along, Greg...it's not like this will seriously affect me in any way...) he thought to himself as he took a bite.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Good morning!" Yuina Hatori called out to everyone in the kitchen as she was dressed differently than usual. Her long hair was still tied into a long ponytail, but she was wearing a lovely, long dress with flowers all over it. In the kitchen were Rio Kinezono, Riku, Lilica, Kurei and Neon.

"Good morning, Yuina." Lilica hugged her friend. "You seem to be in a good mood this morning."

Yuina simply laughed. "Why wouldn't I be? I'm surrounded by a lot of good people and sempai's been helping me a lot with the training and everything...by the way, did anyone of you see sempai for the morning?"

"I have, but he came here with Nagi." Riku said, sipping on a can of soda. "They must have left moments ago, considering someone must have cooked up a storm here."

"I wonder where those two could be?" Rio said. And as to answer her question, in came in Greg and Nagi, with somewhat sickened expressions on their faces.

"Are Seraph and Tot in here?" Nagi asked.

"Of course not, Nagi." Lilica said.

"Good, the coast is clear then." He sighed sitting down.

"Greggie! What happened to you and Nagi?" Rio exclaimed.

"Need...antacid..." Greg murmured as held his stomach. He then looked at everyone in the room who were giving him a weird suggested look. "Be thankful you guys didn't have to suffer like me and Nagi did...all courtesy of Seraph and Tot of course."

"Looks like you guys got yourselves poisoned, huh?" Riku noted.

"Poisoned only begins to describe it." Greg said with a grimace. "Special breakfast? More like the last supper if you ask me. God, Nagi...when I thought how bad Tot's cooking is, I'd never expected something what I've experienced this morning."

"Hey, Tot's cooking is one thing, but Seraph's and hers put together?" Nagi said. "Yuina, I have to say...Seraph can give even Tot a run for her money once she learns there's someone who can cook worse than her."

Yuina's cheeks turned a slight red as she tried to keep herself from laughing, but it was futile, as she started to giggle along with Lilica. Riku, Rio and the other people in the room started to laugh along with her.

"You two should have warned us." Greg said to Yuina and Riku, and then glared at his ninja friend. "Quit laughing, it's not funny."

"Sorry about that, even if I do sympathize with you." Riku replied.

"I've had Tot's cooking before myself. Anyway, I didn't warn you because I didn't want to insult Tot and then incur the wrath of her boyfriend over here."

"Well, as for me, Seraph's my friend and...well you know..." Yuina spoke before her hands hid her face.

"Yuina, if you weren't so cute..." Greg grunted. "And to think this is payment for all I've done to help you two with your powers. That is gratitude."

"Well, at least you know now, Greg. But I'm surprised you actually eat what they cooked for you...didn't you get at least a clue of how bad their cooking is?" Riku asked with a smile.

"I had to play along, or else I would have disappointed them. It's better off than having them force feed me if it had to resort to that." Greg said. "Anyway, the nanomachines alone will make me feel better soon, but I still need something to eat, so I'm heading out to town a bit to get something to settle this weird digestive system I have before something bad happens."

"Going already, Greg?" Rio asked. She of all people had a good idea of where he was heading off too, especially at this time of day.

"Yeah, the earlier I'm done with my business, the better." Greg simply said, putting on his Kyo '03 cosplay jacket. Before he stepped out, Yuina stepped in front of him.

"What? Can't I come with you, sempai?" she asked.

"Yuina..." Greg simply said, patting her shoulder. "I would like you to come, but this is a personal matter and I don't want to run into any kind of trouble that will put you and even Seraph in jeopardy. Why don't you stay here with mom and everyone else until I get back? I promise it will be real soon."

Yuina nodded with a half disappointed look on her face. "I understand. I'll stay here. But remember that you still have to train me later, okay, sempai?"

"I won't forget, Yuina. I promise." Greg replied. "Cross my heart and..."

"No! Don't say the rest of that!" Yuina suddenly wrapped her arms around Greg's neck, stopping his sentence and surprising everyone in the room. "Sometimes...it comes true. Just hearing that you promised to come back is good enough for me."

"Yuina..." Greg simply said as he tightened the embrace. "Sorry...I'll be back, I promise. Just take it easy as always and let everyone here take care of you, got it?"

Yuina simply nodded her head as she let go of Greg, then he took his motorcycle keys as he stepped out.

"See you guys later, I won't take too long." Greg smiled as he left the door with a thought in his head. (Hmm...Seraph and Tot are still good people though, but I must be ready for the next time they want to cook something for me. Thank God Linn is able to cook good like I am, but I feel so sorry for the other guys whose loved ones have to cook for them in FOXHOUND...)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"AACHOOO!" Misato Katsuragi and Rosemary sneezed in unison to Greg's thought as they looked at each other in Misato's kitchen, while preparing lunch for Snake and Raiden.

"Bless you, Misato." Rose held her nose.

"No, bless you, Rose. And thanks for helping me with cooking today, now that things are more livelier since you guys have moved in here." Misato took a gulp of her beer as she continued to cook her curry.

"It's no problem at all, Misato. I'm just glad to help, considering we have to be working together from now on, and that our group has helped yours recently. This is just like a payment for all that we've done for you guys."

"I can't wait until Snake gets the chance to get a taste of my improved cooking..." Misato smiled to herself.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Back at the Uruha mansion about an hour after Greg left, Riku had contacted Roy and have been telling him about the developments surrounding Greg. Nagi and Tot were also listening as well.

"Well, it's good to hear that Greg has plans to keep himself busy for the time being." Roy simply said from his Codec screen.

"Yeah, Greg's really set on doing this, Col. I've never seen him like this before, it's like an obsession." Riku said.

"Keep on the watch on him that he doesn't let it get out of hand, he's like that most of the time." Roy said.

"I guess it's a little too late to say that now, Col." Nagi said, as a small laugh was heard from the other end.

"Yes, that is true. He has always been like that, hasn't he?" Roy said.

"Yeah, that's our lovable Greg alright." Riku answered. "Hey, by the way...there's something I want to ask you about concerning MIRTHRIL."

"Yes, you mentioned before how Greg spoke of them, but he avoided the subject." Roy said. "He had pretty good reason."

"I don't understand, Colonel." Riku said. "Are you saying Greg had personal encounters with MIRTRHIL before that we should know of?"

"Not in the way that you youngsters think." A sigh was heard from the other end of the Codec as Roy Campbell began to speak. "It was Greg himself who told me the details of what happened. It happened just days before Greg came over to the States to join FOXHOUND."

"But...that means that he wasn't part of FOXHOUND just yet..." Tot said.

"Correct. Greg had just left the U.S Army and was continuing his stay with family in Japan at old Tokyo." Roy said. "He was out on the town one night, celebrating his recommendation in the army, when..."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Ah...what a night! Time to celebrate!" an exuberant Greg said, as he drank from a beer bottle. He was wearing a red dress shirt, and the fact it was unbuttoned, revealing a masculine chest out in public, seemed to excited some of the attractive female locales in the area. He had on red motorcycle gloves and a blue, tight fitting dress pants. He was at a popular nightclub where the scene was quite lively.

"He seems to be enjoying himself..." a woman of mixed Chinese-American, with black, freely moving short hair spoke as she sat at a bar with two other people. One of them was American, with short blonde hair, while his friend was Japanese with tanned skin, short and wild brown hair. He had a scar of an 'X' on the base on the left side of his lower jaw.

"And he's causing quite a ruckus." The American said. "Is he supposed to get any attention that way? What a party animal?"

"Look who's talking." The Chinese simply replied, sipping her drink.

"Hey! What is it that you meant by that!?" he shouted at her, as the Japanese simply meditated his thoughts at Greg. He felt something...strong, and assuring from Greg, but quite mysterious and dark. He can't seem to place his finger on it, but he had seen and encounter weirder things before.

He glanced back to when he had learned that in 2004, there was a counter attack on the MIRTHRIL forces from a single individual that what could be described as not human. He managed to decimate a total of fifty plus of their troops, including a small number of ARM Slaves, the private army's own towering mechanical robotics that, while not on par to the Evangelions and are not designed to combat Angels, but terrorists. A year after that incident, he had a similar run in with someone who fitted the description when after the plane they were travelling in crash in a deep jungle and into enemy territory. From that crash, Kaname Chidori was hurt and even had her wounds tended by Garland. It wasn't long before the important MIRTHRIL members, Sousuke, Chidori and Tessa Teletha Testarossa had met 'D', who actually defended the group when they were attacked by enemy guerrillas. Tessa and Sousuke were able to put two and two together and concluded that Garland was the same man that caused the chaos a year before to their group. However, they never considered Garland as their enemy before, since they've respected him for all that he has done in helping them to that point.

"Hey, Sousuke!" the American shouted. "Why are you not enjoying yourself, my good man?"

"I was just contemplating about how I've met Garland." Sousuke replied. "That man over there is somehow reminding me a bit of him."

"Don't let it get to you..." Kurz Webber replied.

"Man, what could be taking Tessa so long?" Melissa Mao said. "She's been gone for an awfully long time. I'll go and check up on her...you boys behave and wait here."

Both Sousuke and Kurz nodded at Melissa as she went to look for Tessa. However a few moments later, she came back with a worried look on her face.

"She's no longer here!" Melissa stressed to Kurz and Sousuke.

"How could that happen?! In a place like this?" Kurz asked.

"No sense asking questions...we got to find her now!" Sousuke said, already charging out ahead before his friends did. While all this went on, Greg had already stepped out of the club and was on his way to his motorcycle, when he spotted a group of gang-bangers carrying off an female with long, ash-blonde hair. She was wearing a brown uniform that made her appearance more important than the other people with her. Greg decided to follow the group of gangbangers and thus ended up in an alley just a few feet from the nightclub.

"Heh...we're going to have so much fun with you, little lady..." one of the gangbangers spoke, while he licked his lips at the young woman's attractive figure. Before she could have screamed for help, a hand was already over her mouth and had overpowered her strength.

"Relax, will you...? This won't be so hard on you if you resist too much..." another of the gangbangers spoke to Tessa.

As the lecherous laughter of the men got louder when they came closer to Tessa, one of them fell down after he lost his breath.

"Hey! Tsuji!" one of his friends shouted as he saw his friends fall. He looked up and saw Greg standing there over him. "Who the fuck are you, nigga?"

"Tsk, tsk, tsk...you got no respect for ladies and for black people too?" Greg simply stepped forward as he said this. "I should waste you all right here and now for this level of intolerance towards society."

"Heh...so, you think you got some balls to challenge us and take the babe for yourself?" one of the tallest of the men came in front of Greg, as he was holding unto a small katana. "Well, you'll be sorry you ever did come around here, punk."

"I'm not interested in the girl, but I am hoping that I can teach you all a lesson that no one, not cretins like yourselves deserve to harm a lovely young lady like her." Greg cracked his fingers. "So...here's the deal...you can walk out of here alive, or alive with a majority of your limbs still attached? Which will it be?"

"Get the fucker!" was the leaders shout. Greg smiled to himself as he started to pummel down the gangbangers one by one using a variation of Rio's teachings, his psychic powers and Geese Howard's training. As this went on, Tessa watched in shock as Greg took down his enemies with ease, ignoring any attacks he got and pushing himself further to beat his foes with even more punishment.

(This man...who is he? What amazing power...) Tessa thought to herself while Greg was finishing up doing his signature attacks to the remainder of his enemies.

"Predictable!" Greg shouted as he used his skills when he slammed the leader into a nearby dumpster, knocking him out. He simply walked over to Tessa and offered his right, nano arm.

"Are you alright?" Greg asked. Tessa couldn't stop staring into his eyes as he helped her stand up straight. She then caught herself as she heard his voice speak to her.

"Uh...yes. I'm just fine, thanks to you." Tessa replied, then she noticed the cut across his arm. "Oh, my God...you're hurt!"

"This is nothing, it's just a flesh wound." Greg waved it off.

"Nothing, huh? You're practically gashed and..." before Tessa could finish, she saw Sousuke, Kurz and Melissa approaching them.

"Captain!" Sousuke shouted. "Are you alright?"

"Thanks to him. He just beat living hell out of these guys here." Tessa said, showing Greg to everyone in the group. "You never told me your name..."

"Kinezono, Greg Kinezono." He replied. "Judging from all of your hardware and attire, you're not just average civilians, aren't you?"

"And you're no normal man either..." Melissa said, watching the damage Greg had rested on the gangbangers.

"Looks like we got some stories to trade..." Greg said with a light smirk. "First...you tell me about yours, miss...."

"Tessa Teletha Testarossa." She told him.

"Lovely name...Tes."

"Uh, thank you." Tessa said, finding herself flushed with embarrassment.

"You will address her as captain, Kinezono." Sousuke said, aiming his gun at Greg's head.

"Who's the straight arrow?" Greg asked.

"Relax, Sousuke...I guess it's okay that he calls me that. He did just save my life." She said. "Okay, Greg...we'll start telling you about us, as long as you tell us about you."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Now I get it..." Riku said from his screen. "Both Greg and Garland had met MIRTHRIL before they joined FOXHOUND, and they also saved the captain's life and her comrades on separate occasions."

"But what about the Japan headquarters of FOXHOUND?" Nagi asked. "You're saying that MIRTHRIL had taken over that as part of their base of operations?"

"That is correct, they were in need of a stable base at the time for on land emergencies that would act as an immediate deployment centre for MIRTHRIL. At the time that happened, FOXHOUND had already agreed to allow MIRTHRIL to own the base since 2013, a good while since we've gotten to the right track to serve as an independent organization here in Washington." Roy spoke. "Though, it surprised me how you mentioned that Greg won't talk about it to you...he must be really protective about the people from that group. They are the only people who have ever seen his powers like that other than our group and his surrogate family."

"I guess I can cope with that, but I'm suspecting more than that..." Riku said. "Guys, I'm sorry I have to do this, but I think I'll go off and do some detective work for myself and find out a bit more of why Greg is so quiet about this."

"That's no problem with us, Riku, but don't let Greg get too pissed off that you chose to follow him." Nagi said to him.

"I'll be careful. See you guys later." Riku said as he simply disappeared ninja style from the screen and the area.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Yeah, two cold ones, please." Greg said to the bartender as he seated himself on a stool near the bar. He had been driving around a bit, trying to find the place he was looking for and he was fortunate that it was still around. After getting the beers, he paid the money for them and he got up, walking over to another occupied stool where a woman was seated, drinking oshiruko. Greg simply smirked to himself as he sat close to her.

"Geez, Tes...after all this time, you still drink that stuff?" Greg said as he took one of the beers and gulped it. Tessa simply smiled as she sipped her own drink.

"Aren't you ever afraid that you could get drunk from those things?" she replied.

"Me...nah, never." Greg simply raised a thumb at her. "A guy like me never gets drunk."

Tessa simply giggled and gazed at Greg. "You've gotten more larger than the last time I saw you, Greg. When last I did run into you?"

"A year by now." Greg looked down at his beer can. "And you still look so pretty as usual..."

"Greg, don't you have any shame?" Tessa warned him.

"Just making you smile, just like I'm doing now." He smirked, which made her blush. "You should know me by now, Tessa...most women find me...'disturbing'...to their peace of mind."

Tessa shook her head. "Did you call me back to this place so you can hit on me, or talk business? Just remember that I came without any bodyguards, just like you said in that message a couple of days ago. I'm protecting your security too as well, you know."

"It's about business, Tes." Greg simply remarked seriously. "Don't worry, I won't take up too much of your time if you want to run back to the TDD (Tuatha De Danaan) before your curfew."

"It's not about that." Tessa said.

"Really? What is it then?" Greg took a sip of his beer before he spoke once more. "Let me guess...you still angry about what happened, huh?"

Tessa was silent when she was told this. (How did he know about...?) she thought to herself in shock.

"Face it...it's been about five years now and you've still haven't let go. You're still mad that I joined FOXHOUND, than MIRTHRIL?" Greg asked.

"Sometimes, Greg, you come up with some crazy conclusions..." Tessa spoke. "I respected your decision to join FOXHOUND, but...there are times I worry about the extent of how far the dangers of those missions go..."

"That's part of FOXHOUND's job, have you forgotten already?" Greg asked. "And part of the reason I did that was to avenge all the innocents that the evil of this world had taken away since God knows when. Not just because of Linn."

"Oh...really?" Tessa looked at Greg, trying to bury her look into his face. Greg simply sighed and relaxed a bit.

"Sorry if this got on the wrong foot." Greg said. "I'm just reminding you that I'm not like some people from either FOXHOUND or MIRTHRIL...I have my own agendas, and surely you can guess after everything I've been through, my enemies will stop at nothing to assure I'm theirs."

"And I won't do anything to jeopardize your actions, only to help you." Tessa looked at him with mellow eyes. "As not only the captain of the Tuatha, but as a Whispered, this is my duty. If it weren't for you, the Patriots could might as well come after me as well."

"You owe me, girl." Greg smiled at Tessa.

"Right, you don't have to remind me." She smiled at him. "Okay, Greg...this dilemma that you are in...start giving me the details that I must know."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

About two hours later, Greg had told Tessa about Reese and what he is planning to do soon about it. She had agreed to assist him in terms of settling any excess enemies or intel and sort them out from the shadows. After their meeting, they left the nightclub and started to walk at to the underground parking area, where a group of Tessa's bodyguards were waiting for her at her vehicle.

"Relax, boys...he's just seeing me off." She told them before they drew out their guns at Greg.

"No...tell them to leave them out." Greg said simply.

"Huh? I don't get it, Greg." She asked in a puzzled tone.

"You'll see soon enough." Greg simply said as he simply called out his white flame. "Dark..."

"Okay, okay, Greg!" Riku jumped out and started to wave his arms in front of everyone. "Geez, Greg...just how did you know I was hiding in the shadow of those pillars?"

"You're one of the most easiest to draw emotions from, Riku. I sensed you were onto me about a while since I left the mansion, and you've in the same vicinity in the club for about two hours, thirty two minutes and fifteen seconds." Greg explained, extinguishing the flame. "I would have hailed you before, I only wanted to cure your so called curiosity about why I've been quiet on this matter, though, there's more to this than meets the eye."

"Friend of yours, Greg?" Tessa asked.

"Yeah, you can say that. Don't worry, he's from FOXHOUND and a good friend of mine." Greg said. "Tessa, this is Riku Hanabishi. Riku, Tessa Teletha Testarossa."

"Such a privilege to meet you, Riku." Tessa shook his hand. "Greg has told me all about you."

"Really? Funny he never says anything about you guys." Riku said while eyeing Greg. "He has to make a date soon and starts to talk about all of his friends outside of FOXHOUND."

"Same goes to you, Riku." Greg replied with a smirk, making Tessa laugh. Before they continued their discussion, Greg turned his head to his side, as he suddenly took out his Ascension from out of nowhere and materialized it.

"What is it, Greg?" Riku asked.

"Someone with a great resonance of malice is watching us." Greg simply said. "Who's there?!"

A shadowy figure, wearing a trenchoat over his body appeared. It happened to be Robert Thorn. He simply started to clap his hands after seeing Greg took notice of him.

"Well done, Kinezono...your heightened powers are like a radar of senses, you knew I was here watching you, weren't you?" Thorn asked.

"A weak mind for a weak body...it was an easy task for me to separate the two..." Greg simply remarked one of Akuma's Street Fighter 3: 3rd Strike's win phrases. "What do you want and how did you know my name?"

"I come to see for myself just how capable you are in battle, how special that the Patriots consider you." Thorn said.

"Where are you getting at, old man?" Riku demanded. "If you got something with Greg, you might as well forget it, since he will pretty much kick your sorry ass for being one of his enemies."

"I'm afraid I won't be doing any fighting against you today, but my friend here, Shiju, would be more than delighted to satisfy your thirst for battle!" Thorn said, as he pressed a remote button. Near him, the van door's open and out came a hybrid beast that Thorn had created. Tessa screamed in fear stepping back, as the MIRTHRIL bodyguards took out their guns.

"A chimera!" Riku exclaimed as he saw the creature.

"Well now..." Thorn said with an amused grin. "I wasn't expecting a kid like you to know about chimeras."

"Have you run into things like these before, Riku?" Greg asked.

"No, but I've heard a lot about them." Riku answered. "My father and his friends have fought chimeras before and so has Weiss. These things may sound like something out of a science fiction movie, but they're definitely for real." Riku then looked at Thorn. "And the insanity of their creators are for real too."

"Why thank you, though I'd hardly call what I do insanity." Thorn replied. "By mixing the DNA of beasts and human cells, using my scientific talents, I can meld the two creatures into one and a new creature is born."

"You violate God laws." Riku said. "You devil."

"I do not believe in God." Thorn answered simply.

"Aw, shit....so this is what it has come to, huh?" Greg simply stepped up front of everyone else. "Fine then...I'll take on your freak of nature. But I must warn you, that thing doesn't stand a chance against me."

"G...Greg!?" Tessa panicked as she saw Greg set himself up for the fight, when he called out to Riku.

"Riku, get yourself, Tessa and her men out away from here as soon as you can breathe, I'll handle this and that mad scientist creator of his." Greg simply said, gripping unto the Ascension.

"But, Greg..." Riku shouted.

"Do it, I'll be fine." Greg said. "I know you want to help, but I need someone outside to prevent panic from occurring if this fight is taken to the streets. I'll need you to do that for me, man."

"Okay, Greg. But be careful." Riku said. "Come on, Tessa. We're going to a safe spot from here before it gets really ugly."

"Will Greg be alright?" she asked him as she stepped into the vehicle with Riku and the other MIRTHRIL bodyguards.

"He will be, I didn't spend so much training while he is staying with us for nothing..." Riku said. "Let's get out of here and do what he says."

With that, the transport managed to drive out of the area safely without Shiju having to chase it. Greg stared at Thorn, before the scientist spoke again.

"Don't worry, Kinezono. I've set the DNA of Shiju to go after you and you alone. You're his play toy exclusively." Thorn said. "It's no use to worry about your friends after all...you should be more concerned about your own well being if I were you."

"I hardly ever do." Greg set himself for an attack. "Besides, I'm not ready to be embarrassed by the likes of your very own, overgrown housecat with bad scratching manners."

"It's more than just that. Shiju, attack Kinezono." Thorn stepped back and allowed the chimera to lunge itself at Greg.

"I'm going to totally toast you..." Greg simply smirked as he gripped onto his Ascension and faced the oncoming monster.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

ShardclawK: And finally, we're going to get some action! This is a new kind of enemy for Greg, so how will he suffice? What really is Thorn's game? Who will win this new battle? What about Greg's past with Tessa? Will the rest of it be uncovered? And who is this Yukimura that Micheal had mentioned earlier? I can't answer that now, you will have to sit back and await another update which will surely make this fic unstoppable!

Ran: Now for some Easter eggs. The Seraph and Tot cooking scene came from the Newtype USA January 2004 Angel/Dust issue for those who liked that one. (Tips to Aoi Nanase for her run on the series. It will be missed.) Also, for those who don't have access to it yet like Shardclaw does, the song 'Home Sweet Grave' comes from Guilty Gear: Isuka. It should be out by the time this gets updated, so PS2 owners will get a chance to play it. You'll know why it used that song in that Greg versus Riku fight once you hear it, that game has a lot of catchy tunes, so the soundtrack is worth hunting for.

Omi: Also, the line which Greg used on Tessa about 'disturbing' comes from the old Street Fighter cartoon that used to air on USA back in 1994-95. (I have a tape of a majority of those episodes...can't be helped, it has some good jokes and insults.)

Youji: Now to GreyWolf4, I know how anxious you are to have Yukimura appear in this story, but please be patient with Shardclaw and bear with what he's doing right now. Your guy will show up eventually, it's just that he's got a ton of other surprise guests waiting to be appearing in this fic later.

Just then, Street Fighter's Rose, Cammy, Juli and Juni appear onstage. Rose was wearing a negligee, while others had their tight, extremely thin, body hugging suits easily ripped off at certain areas. Behind them were DarkStalkers' Morrigan Aensland, Lilith Aensland, Felicia and a skimpy maid uniform wearing B.B. Hood. And if that weren't enough, Hinata Wakaba, Tiffany Lords and Kyoko from Rival Schools appeared. Hinata was wearing a tight, and skimpy swimsuit, while Kyoko was wearing a sexy nurse's outfit, and Tiffany was in a sexy cheerleader's outfit.

Rose: Hello, Shardclaw-sama. Why did you take so long with the update of this amazing fic? You've been a bad boy to keep Tempest waiting for the update.

ShardclawK: Aw, crap...you all came from Tempest?

Tiffany: Of course, and we're going to make sure with all the shipments of cheese spray can you can use, we're going to make sure you don't slow down with the updating. How would you like that?

ShardclawK: Girls, why haven't you taken me to the bedroom as yet? Let's get this over with, before DF's shipments come to me...I know he must be packing bonuses as well, knowing I got the Soldier pills to help me...and before the Weiss boys pummel me to death since I'm the only one capable of getting so much chicks at the same time. Heh...see ya around, guys. And to Halo fans out there, don't forget about me, since Halo 2 is coming out this week! Who knows, I may save the next COE update for the day MGS3 comes out...keep your fingers crossed for that time. See ya around.

Collis aka ShardclawKusanagi.


	21. The Hunted, Part 2

Disclaimer: The same as before. And I do not own the characters from the anime/manga, Ayashi no Ceres.

ShardclawK: Welcome to another update of this famous side story, starring FOXHOUND's newest type of psychic soldier. Things start to get heated up as Greg will take on new enemies and challenges, meaning you'll get to see some action that you've been missing! No need for a recap, I'll be sure to make a recap of what has happened so far for all those who are confused with this fic, not to mention the synopsis of the hero and the supporting cast in this story soon enough

Ran: Just want to get down into action, huh, Shardclaw?

ShardclawK: That's right…Greg's been itching for real fight, now is his chance. But what chance does he really have? We just have to tune in and find out! So, while the audience is occupied with the action of this fic, I have some 'action' of my own with these recent shipments for the last COE and SX updates in the master bedroom…

Youji: I should have known…

From the stage door, Yomiko Readman, Nancy Mukahari of Read or Die stepped in, along with Naruto's Shizune and Kurenai. Also with them, were Mahoromatic's Mahoro, Minawa, Rin Todoroki, Chizuko Oe, Miyuki Sakura, and Saori Shikijo. All of them were wearing appealing paper bra and panties, with the 'rip or tear off' option. They begin to huddle against me.

Nancy: Shardclaw-sama, how long must we wait for your updating of your wondrous fic?

ShardclawK: Sorry for the keep back, girls…I got to deal with a lot of work first, and SnakeEater actually kept me back from my usual schedule. I'll make it up to you soon for the holdback…

Kurenai: You'd better, or else, we will just add extra 'effort' to make you update faster, should we?

ShardclawK: Geez...I know I still have some of the Supers' pills that I used from the last time those ToS girls and summon spirits were sent to me by Tempest somewhere in my bedroom, next to that bucket of peanut butter with the Oreo bits. Well, have fun, gents!

Omi: He just can't get enough, can't he? Oh, well…time to kick off the chapter! Hope you enjoy this update, and feel free to review when you're done.

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Metal Gear Solid: Soldier X

Chapter 20: The Hunted, Part 2

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"Looks like someone's out for blood tonight…and I don't just mean myself." Greg said in a low tone to himself. Gripping unto the Ascension, he dashed back from the charging chimera to give himself some space. Robert Thorn looked on at a distance at the fight between his own creation and Greg.

(Kinezono's willing to fight Shiju, using his own style of fighting…from what I heard of the reports of his confrontations with Shade, he has a style of fighting that is not like any other I have seen before…) Thorn thought to himself. (He seems to have many allies that have influenced his unpredictable style of combat, but I have yet to theorize fully on this matter when I see him in action…)

Greg got behind a column started to think to himself a bit. (This is the first time I have to deal with something like this…are the Patriots so desperate that they would send an actual beast after me?)

"Why are you hiding, Kinezono?" Thorn spoke as he had concealed himself at a safe distance from the fight, watching Greg's movements. "I thought this is what you wanted to satisfy your need for a greater challenge."

"I didn't sign up for this gig, old man..." Greg said as he switched on his Codec frequency to MP3 mode, as he selected Sabretooth's song from X-men vs. Street Fighter as his choice for this battle. It seemed just right for it.

"Be aware that Shiju's been genetically fitted with enhanced sight and hearing, meaning that it will track you down no matter how far you run from it."

"I'm not actually running from it, and it wouldn't be fun either if I just let this thing run around without having it face me…" Greg suddenly stepped back to reveal himself at the creature, but the alteration of the Codec wasn't the only thing he was doing. "Besides, I had to change into something more…comfortable."

"Oh? And what is it that you're wasting precious time to change into?" Thorn asked.

His answer was when Greg stepped out of his outfit and had shed it into his FOXHOUND Skull Suit, only that this one was different from it's original appearance when Greg was still part of the group. The cloak somehow had expanded and now formed an 'X' over his chest area, as the rest covered his nano arm, which entirely now looked like a spiked gauntlet from the base down to his fist. It hung out between his legs like a robe, as the suit outlined nanomachines running on the courses surrounding his arms, legs and chest areas.

"So…you've decided to given yourself an armour, is that it?" Thorn asked. "Not exactly to suit the mediocre tastes of your fight against Shiju, and certainly, not helpful either."

"I'm just giving this a test run for a while, and it's to show everyone that since I'm no longer FOXHOUND material." Greg said, gripping to his Ascension harder with a confident smile. "Don't ever compare me to my buddies from that group…I'm a totally, different kind of tune."

"And I'm still willing to listen to it." Thorn beckoned Shiju to attack Greg, as he was prepared to defend himself.

"Hmph…I'm going to enjoy tearing you to shreds…" Greg said as he dashed to his side and gut punched the chimera, before he switched to his High Function Lance and cut its' side with it. Shiju dashed at it while it was stunned from Greg's attacks and then he inputted one of his attacks.

"Take this! Panther Claw!" Greg said, searing the beast with one of his pryo-kinetcic blows. The beast staggered as it got it, but it didn't slow down. Suddenly, as soon Greg recovered from attacking it, Shiju swerved and attempted to claw Greg with a heavy strike which would have torn his left arm to ribbons if he didn't move fast enough. After seeing he did little to damage Shiju, Greg knew he had to be more careful.

"Damn…this may take awhile." he said to himself as he dodged another rush attack from Shiju. "I just hope Riku's taken Tes and her bodyguards to a safer place away from here and at least called for reinforcements."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Meanwhile, outside on the public streets of the city, just some blocks away from the nightclub where Greg met Tessa, Riku had just gotten her and her fellow MIRTHRIL bodyguards to safety, but even Tessa was still in a state of shock as to see what has happened.

"We shouldn't have left Greg alone by himself against that…that thing!" Tessa exclaimed.

"Hey, take my word for it, Capt Tesstarossa. I too don't agree with you on this, he is one of my closest friends and I should be with him helping him out, but recently, Greg has taken fights to the limit that they get really nasty. I don't want to be around when he does something that even I not used to seeing, considering he was part of FOXHOUND." Riku replied. "But that doesn't mean I will let him do this by himself necessary."

"So, you are going to help him?" she asked.

"There is no other choice…the rest of my family may know more about that chimera than me, they can pitch in and tell us about it once Greg has taken care of it." Riku said, as he switched on his Codec and already set his frequency on his father's, Recca Hanabishi.

"Riku…?" Recca's face appeared on the other Codec screen as he spoke to his son. "What's the matter? Something wrong?"

"Hey, Dad, we'd better get some back up to my location right away." Riku said to Recca.

"What happened?" Recca asked.

"I don't know if it's the Patriots or not, but we've got some new nasty guys after Greg." Riku answered. "Some weird scientist and a chimera that he brought along."

"A chimera?" Recca asked. "Alright, we'll be right there. Hang on until then."

"We'll try…" Riku said, logging off. "I hope Greg can hold off that thing for as long as he can till my dad and uncle gets here."

"So, they have an idea about what Greg's dealing with?" Tessa asked.

"Yeah, in more ways than one." Riku replied.

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"Okay, maybe this won't be so easy." Greg lamented as he sliced the chimera with a slash of his Ascension, then pulling the hilt back to enter a sequence of Panther signature attacks.

"Panther Claw…Panther Bite…" Greg shouted, hitting the areas that he inflicted Shiju with, using his Kusanagi-ryuu trained and psychic attacks, before he veered his body to give Shiju's face a powerful roundhouse kick on one leg. "Panther The End!"

Shiju stumbled back from the blows, but it was hardly affected and suddenly charged at Greg once more. Greg had to act quickly and evade or counter Shiju before he found himself in the path of danger.

"Damn you…what are you made of, freak?!" Greg shouted, clutching his Ascension even harder. He then glanced at Thorn, who seemed to be recording the battle. "Old man….when I'm done with your so called 'creation', your ass will be mine, got it?"

With a small, twisted laugh, Thorn simply waved off Greg's threat. "I'd like to see you try, but you should consider surviving the fight first over confronting me."

"We'll be seeing about that, old man…" Greg simply jabbed Shiju before he used his free left hand to fiddle into his suit for something. (Keys….keys…where are they, dammit!? Ah ha….found them!)

After his fingers finally found the motorcycles keys he has been searching for, he smirked at Shiju before he leaped back in a low somersault away from Thorn and the chimera to his motorcycle. Greg then leaped unto the seat and inserted the keys to start the engine.

(This Thorn thinks he knows me, but not by a long shot!) Greg revved the motorcycle's engine as he stared at Shiju, charging at Greg. "Come get sum, monster!"

"Hmm…what is he up to?" Thorn asked himself as Greg recklessly drove closer to Shiju. The chimera had a shot of cutting Greg down, but Greg was prepared to dodge the claw attack Shiju made and laid the Ascension behind and on his back, pointing sideways. The Lance made it's mark and sliced one of Shiju's ankle's open. Greg looked back and after seeing he had injured Shiju's foot, he stopped his motorcycle and spun it in a full 180 degrees turn, while he lifted the Ascension from the ground, which ended up picking Shiju up in the air.

"W-what is that? He simply picked Shiju as if it was paper!" Thorn looked on in surprise at this.

"It's time to Ryde or Die, motherfucker!" Greg grazed the Ascension along the pitch of the road he was on, and it combusted into a spark of energy, which Greg used to slash Shiju with using this move and his motorcycle skills. Shiju landed, now appearing to be weakened by Greg's attacks.

"That's not good enough for you?" Greg said, as he eyed Shiju and the area he landed. There was a steel grated door that was one of the exits out of the parking area. This gave him an idea.

Driving at moderate speed, Greg went at Shiju again once more, as it began to get up on it's hind legs. Greg only smiled when he saw the opportunity open.

"Perfect…" Greg simply said, as he did the same with his motorcycle, raising the front wheels and driving on only the back wheels of his motorcycle as he proceeded to get close to Shiju and rammed himself into Shiju. The force was powerful enough to send Shiju flying back towards the grating and crashed through it, from the open fifty story building and out into the public street where Riku, Tessa and several civilians were watching the fight. Greg's motorcycle drove upwards on the underside of Shiju's body and over the it's body as they lose gravity.

From below, Riku and Tessa looked on in shock as Shiju's body fell downwards and ended up hitting the cold, asphalt while Greg landed on a trailer and drove down the front end of the truck. Greg then stopped the motorcycle in front of Riku and company. They all looked at Shiju as it was stunned on the ground from the landing impact.

"Greg! What the hell just happened?" Riku asked. "Where is that mad scientist?"

"Thanks for reminding me, Riku…I was having too much fun beating up this thing, that I actually forgot about the old man. Keep that thing company until I'm done here, will ya?" Greg said, speeding his motorcycle back towards the parking lot and spotted Thorn in front of the roadway. Greg stopped in his tracks.

The scientist was simply impressed with seeing the skills Greg had and he simply smirked at him.

"Not bad, Kinezono…but don't think I have just chimera's in store for you and I can always create more, but the Patriots have more resources then you can possibly imagine." Thorn spoke.

"Yeah, so do I." Greg simply smirked back, revving the motorcycle. Suddenly releasing the clutch, Greg charged at Thorn while on his motorcycle, but before he sensed an immense energy shot out at Greg from Thorn's body. Greg swerved his motorcycle sideways, but during this, he threw his Ascension at Thorn, who simply dashed out of his shadow and behind the area Greg had stopped before.

"What the fuck was that?!" Greg exclaimed, stopping his motorcycle again to look at Thorn with an angry look.

"Young Kinezono, you have a lot to learn whenever you're up against a much superior and stronger mind than yours." Thorn smiled at Greg. "Do you find my powerful psychic and teleportation abilities quite intriguing, no?"

"I'll show you intriguing!" Greg shut off his motorcycle engine, and gripped onto the pedals, lifting himself up over the motorcycle, then leaping at a high distance, he went air borne. He then mentally commanded the Ascension to come back to him after it had ended up into a concrete wall. Greg was preparing to perform another one of his Lance attacks.

"Ha! Twisted Fang!" Greg threw the Ascension at Thorn in a diagonal direction, before Thorn simply used his psychic powers to blast Greg at a distance, throwing him back into a wall.

"Uggh!" Greg groaned as he felt the impact of the attack. His head started to spin as the full brunt had knocked some of the wind out of him.

"When will you ever learn, Kinezono?' Thorn said to Greg, dusting himself. "Well, I've seen just how adequate you are in a fight, but I feel you are holding back on the specialities I've wished to see. So, tell you what…I'll call it a day for now, and when I do meet you again, my next creation will certainly bring out your potential for me to witness just how powerful you are. For now, I'll let you live."

"W…wait! Stop!" Greg put up an arm at Thorn, before he simply laughed and teleported out of the parking lot. Greg pounded the wall next to him, creating a small crater. (Just how much more these bucks will want a piece of me before I get to Reese? It's from one complication to the next! Ughh…I can't stand it anymore. If I knew I would be pursued so much, I should have stayed in that coma for two years instead of two weeks…)

Greg stood up and walked back to the outside of the parking lot, where he saw a new group of people next to Riku and Tessa. It was Rio Kinezono, and she looked at Greg with a shocked look in her eyes.

"Greggie! There you are!" Rio came across to hug Greg. "I heard from Riku's dad what happened and came right away. He and Kurei are on the way. What just happened?"

"That mad scientist who sent Shiju…I went after him, but he got away…" Greg said in a serious tone. "He appears to be able to use teleportation and had psychic powers….and he almost gave me a run for my money."

"What the hell's going on here? Just when did you become a magnet for this amount of trouble, Greg?" Riku asked.

"I wished I knew, Riku…I can only say this is part of the reason why I need your help, Tes…"Greg stated, before his eyes widened when he looked at her. "Tessa, get down!"

"ROOOARRR!" Shiju suddenly leaped at Tessa from it's lying place with it's claws unsheathed. Tessa screamed in horror as she thought this would be the end of her life, but Greg had already tackled her out of the way and the next thing Tessa saw was a heavy spray of crimson from Greg's chest area when Shiju attacked him.

"Ahhh!" Tessa held her face and screamed, as Riku and Rio looked on in shock. Did Shiju just actually inured Greg for sure?

As Shiju landed on the ground and on top of Greg, a puddle of blood was seen on the spot Greg fell, but it was suddenly lifted up from a struggling Greg as he simply touched the open wound he had and the look in his eyes became dead serious.

"You…dare try and attack one of my friends?!" Greg shouted at Shiju, energy gathering at his fists. "A lowly chimera dares draw my blood?!"

Tessa looked on in shock to see the change in Greg. (This man…he's so determined…) she thought to herself.

"I'll show you your place, watchdog!" Greg snarled as white flame covered his fists. Swirling his psychic energy, he then charged at Shiju. The chimera clawed at Greg, but he countered by smashing his fist into one of Shiju's legs, thus breaking the bone. Then, Greg used his other fist to gut it's stomach area with a single blow.

"I'm…not done yet, monster!" Greg shouted, getting set to perform his recently learned attacks, the Psycho Hand. Putting out the white flame, his hand was free to give Shiju an energy enclosed attack with his clenched right fist. Seeing Shiju was stunned, Greg then used Psycho Hand to smash Shiju's face.

"Rrragh! Psycho Hand!" Greg's powerful variation of Garland Durev's attack completely sent one of the sides of Shiju's face in, caving it. Tessa, Rio and Riku looked on in utter shock at this grisly sight.

"I don't think I want to watch anymore of this…" Tessa said, feeling as if she wanted to throw up.

Greg then pulled himself after the animation of the attack, he then spun his body, pulling out the Ascension with one hand. Shiju began to howl in pain as blood poured out the open wound from it' head. This only got Greg even more pissed off.

"I'm getting so fucking tired of your growls!" Greg cursed the chimera, as he started to punish the monster. "Trigger Slash!"

Greg then leaped at his enemy with a haymaker slice with the Ascension. The monster got seriously injured from this attack across his back, and after Greg landed next to it, he simply gritted his teeth seeing Shiju come at him once more.

"You still want more?" Greg simply said to Shiju. "I can happily arrange that!"

Greg beckoned the beast to come at him, which attempts to attack Greg was futile. Greg simply sidestepped and set up his Yagami-ryuu style version of the famous Ya Otome, which his own was named…

"Savage Panther Mauler!" Greg started to claw at Shiju at different parts of the body, using his bare fists to damage the chimera. Just when Greg is about to grab Shiju, he cancels the attack and uses his old Haikyokuseiken attack of using his own force to surpass any other, lifting Shiju into the air with one, single and powerful uppercut. As Shiju rose into the air, Greg got to look at the people staring at the fight, and waved a finger at them.

"I told you all this would get ugly. Now, I'll show you why!" Greg said, then he shouted. "Rated R!"

He shouted while leaping at Shiju as everything around him shifts to an odd blood red, then backward kicking the Lance after him, pinning it while he is still airborne. The result of the move was truly excruciating as it looked.

"He's…going insane…" Rio said in a sad low tone.

"I said I will tear you to shreds…" Greg said, seeing Shiju lying down on the street, battered and punished by Greg's attacks. "Now…time to erase you from existence!"

"What is it that you're going to do now, Greg!?" Riku exclaimed.

"Something I bet you won't like, Riku…" Greg said, crossing his arms in a mantra state. "Just don't blink, or you will miss something good."

Shiju suddenly got up and charged at Greg once more, but Greg was ready when he simply countered the charge and gave it some powerful, roundhouse kicks across the face, while he prepared himself to input one of his Hyper Desperation attacks.

"Time to ante up the ratings a bit!" Greg shouted, giving Shiju once final roundhouse that sent hit spinning across from Greg. "Rated X!"

Shiju's body was sent flying to another illusion of Greg who was waiting right behind him. Rio, Riku and Tessa looked on in shock as they saw two Greg's punish Shiju.

"What kind of power does Greg really have?" Tessa exclaimed in shock.

The second Greg copy kicked Shiju like a football upwards into the space between them. Then, both copies threw their Ascensions at Shiju, thus pinning him like a piñata and forming a large 'X' across it's body.

"Which one of them is the real one?" Rio asked.

"I'm right here!" The Greg closest to them said, as he charged at the beast to jump at it while still air borne, only to grab the Lance from Shiju and pull it out from it's body. Then as he stood on it, he laughed just as how Iori would and kicked the beast away from him.

"Time to finish you off before you can cause harm to other people…" Greg said as he landed, having no choice but to kill it. With a simple ignition of his Ascension, he simply charged at Shiju, who attacked one last time, causing Greg to use his counter attack…

"Flame Stinger!" Greg shouted, hitting Shiju with a critical slash to it's side, then spinning the Lance while switching to another vertical attack, trapping the enemy and pulling towards Greg. He suddenly turns his back to charge up energy and lands a fiery gut punch at the stomach area of Shiju, turning it into a bull's-eye. Afterwards, Greg begins to stab it quickly with quick, moderate stabs. The attack was strong enough that Shiju howled it's final cry, before combusting into flames.

"Finally…it's over…" Greg said, getting on one knee, seeing it burn in front of him. It was then, Recca, Yanagi, Kurei and Neon came in and saw this. Tessa got up and approached a worn out Greg.

"Greg!" Tessa exclaimed, as she, Riku and the two groups of MIRTHRIL bodyguards and of Recca's group stood by watching a heavily injured Greg stagger from cremating Shiju's body with one of his attacks. The wound across his chest was deep, and he was losing blood, but the thing that frightened them the most was Greg's procedure of treating the wound…his nano arm had meshed itself unto his wound and healing it using part of his arm. With a tired, and very pissed off look on his face, Greg simply stared at his shocked friends as he simply took out the Ascension from the burning chimera's corpse with an aggravated thug.

"What?" Greg simply grunted, as he lifted himself up, his chest now bloodied, but covered with the nanos he used to cure himself. "You got something to say…or are you…ughh…just hoping for an eyeful?"

Rio only came over and started to hug Greg, feeling worried for him. She smiled at him a bit, seeing the wounds had now completely healed and his arm had returned to normal.

"Greg…you did good back there, but don't do things like that in front of me. You're starting to scare me." Rio said, with light tears in her eyes. Greg only smirked at Rio.

"Sorry about that, mom." Greg replied. "When that thing tried to attack Tessa, I kind of…lost it. I promise I'll be careful next time…"

"You promise?" Rio asked just to make sure.

"I do." Greg said, then he noticed a shock Recca and Yanagi. They were still coming to terms over what just happened.

"Recca...that was..." Yanagi said.

"Yes, I know...that was Shiju." Recca said, and then looked at Kurei. "Hey bro, any idea why one of Genjuro's experiments showed up?"

"Your guess is as good as mine, Recca." Kurei replied. "Shiju was supposed to have been destroyed after his match with your team after the Urabutosatsujin, at least that's what I ordered my men to do."

"Well, it looks like someone decided to take possession of Shiju, since Genjuro was dead and couldn't lay anymore claim to him." Riku commented. "The only question is, who was it?"

"Both me and Riku knows about who's responsible, but who's Genjuro?" Greg asked and then turned to Riku. "Hey, wasn't that the guy who developed that replication technique you used in our match?"

"The very same, Greg." Riku answered. "Uncle Kurei should explain something about him. But I will say that he was a multitalented fellow from what I've heard of him."

"A jack of all trades, huh?" Rio asked.

"Exactly." Neon nodded her head.

"How is it that you guys know about this?" Greg asked. "Was Shiju actually part of your clan or something?"

"Shiju was a member of the Uruha about twenty two years ago." Kurei replied. "The one who created him was one of my top men, Genjuro, a master of genjutsu and psychic surgery."

"Psychic surgery?" Greg asked.

"A type of ability that involves the use of psychic powers and bare hands." Kurei explained. "Those who can use it successfully can implant and remove anything in any part of the body without causing any injury whatsoever to whoever the process is being performed on. That was how Genjuro created Shiju, by implanting the DNA of a lion into him."

Both Greg and Rio looked at Kurei in shock. Tessa began to speak.

"You're saying that…that thing Greg just killed…was once a human?!" she exclaimed.

"Yeah, that is true." Recca replied.

"That is just sick, man…" Greg shook his head.

"You said that these guys were members of your group a long time ago." Rio commented.

"Well, our group is an assassin group and it tended to attract those sorts back then." Kurei replied. "Don't worry, though, the whole Uruha is loyal to me and my family and I can vouch for each members' loyalty. Genjuro was a different story. He joined Uruha to get strong enough to kill me. Unfortunately for him, Recca and his team, defeated him and Neon executed him for his disloyalty."

"And Shiju?" Greg asked.

"Kaoru Koganei, a member of my team, and one of Riku's martial arts instructors, defeated him, but didn't kill him." Recca spoke. "Kurei's men took him off the ring and that's the last we saw of him."

"Until today…" Greg looked on at the burning corpse which was on the street. He then looked at Tessa. He approached her with a toned down look on his face.

"You alright?" Greg asked her.

"Yeah. Thanks to you, once again, Greg." Tessa smiled at him. "But don't try that gung-ho stuff in front of your friends, please? You are starting to make them worry."

"I'm trying not to do that so often…" Greg scratched his head. Just then, Recca and Kurei approached Tessa.

"I don't think we have met before." Kurei said to Tessa. "Are you one of Greg's friends, ma'am?"

"Certainly." Tessa said. "Captain Tessa Tesstarossa of MIRTHRIL…I'm sure you've heard of me, Kurei, leader of the Uruha assassin group."

"Seems my reputation goes to places I'm not aware of…" Kurei lamented.

"Relax, I know about the good reputation you've hold since the famous Urabutousatusjin tournament years back. Greg has told me that you've been taking good care of him since this situation had arisen." Tessa said.

"Can you tell us why is it that you want to help Greg out?" Neon asked her.

"A personal favour from years ago…" Tessa smiled at Greg, before the noises of police sirens broke the silence. Greg simply darted his head across to where it came from.

"Shit! Babylon!" Greg exclaimed. "No use of me staying here!"

"Greggie's right, they will arrest him on sight." Riku said. "Look, dad, uncle Kurei…can you hold the fort here while I get Greg back to the mansion safely?"

"Leave it to us, son. We'll take care of the rest of Shiju's remains and the authorities." Recca said to Riku. "Just see about getting Greg patched up."

"What about you, Tessa?" Greg asked her.

"No sense sticking around here either…there's been too many unanswered questions that have been brought up today." She said. "Greg…when things cool down, contact my frequency over the Codec. You do remember what it is, right?"

"Frequency 172.51. I still remember." Greg said, as Rio brought him his motorcycle. "Sorry we couldn't get to finish our meeting."

"There's always another time." She smiled at him. "For now, just get yourself out of here and fixed up."

"Okay, Tes. It was good seeing you again, even though if it wasn't a date." Greg smirked, as Rio got on behind him.

"That wasn't a date."

"I know." Greg said, as she sped off, with Riku following him in his car. Tessa looked at Greg in silence, hoping that none others don't give Greg this amount of trouble.

(Good luck and Godspeed, Greg.) Tessa said, sighing to herself. (And…thank you, really.)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Back at Thorn's lab, several minutes later…Thorn had returned and had completed analyzing the battle data collected from Greg's fight with Shiju. Apparently, he knew he shouldn't have bailed so soon, the fight was just getting started between the two. He had lost important data and now, a reliable product of his own science, but that was just for starters.

"Tomorrow's another day…but why wait till then, when I got now?" he said to himself as he entered his 'manufacturing' lab. He had already unlocked and birthed a new creation ready for Greg. It was a tall, and bulking male figure, but the appearance showed it to be more of a creature than human. It had a large, growing stalk of a tree from his left arm, while it's face was partly covered by a scarf.

"Moruken…your time has come." Thorn spoke to the creature/human hybrid as it walked out of the glass container it was being subjected to. Apparently, it's time inside it has given it growth in its own powers.

"Something the matter, Thorn? Did Shiju fail you as you predicted?" Moruken asked.

"By now, yes. I didn't bother to stay for the aftermath, though it would have proven interesting." Thorn said. "Gregory Kinezono has proven himself worthy for a battle for my creations, and you have my honour of facing him in battle."

"I should be able to deal with Kinezono for you, Thorn." The man said, with a sadistic grin. "And besides, the women in his party, I shall enjoy killing immensely."

"Just don't let your pleasures get in the way of your assignment, Mokuren." Thorn replied. "Otherwise, you might end up suffering Shiju's fate."

Mokuren laughed. "Shiju was a mindless beast. I, on the other hand, am much more clever. Don't worry, I shall kill Kinezono and all who are allied to him."

"I also assume you want revenge against Hanabishi and his family." Thorn said with an amused smile.

"Indeed." Mokuren replied. "Your experiments on me have given me more power over plants than the Kodama madogu ever could, and I shall gladly use those abilities to kill each one of the Hokage and Uruha. I shall particularly enjoy killing Tokiya's student as a start for revenge for how he cut off my arm."

"Good. We shall plot on what to do about it once we analyzed Kinezono's data and find any weaknesses for you to use against him." Thorn spoke, as he began to work.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Back at the Uruha mansion, Yuina Hatori was standing by herself at the garden, staring into the sunset, as Lilica Ebett, Seraph, Maki Kawasaki and Nastahsa Romanenko sat nearby, deep in a conversation. Yuina was remembering the day before when Geese Howard, Billy Kane, Adel and Rose Bernstein visited Kurei to check up on Greg. It was then Tot came in and approached Yuina and stood next to her, since Yuina was deep in thought.

"Hello? Earth to Yuina?" Tot called to Yuina. The pink haired coloured girl simply jumped and saw Tot smiling at her. "Are you okay?"

"Oh, sorry, Tot. My mind was somewhere else there." Yuina confessed. "It's just that…this place is so peaceful at some evenings, it got me thinking about what Greg's sensei told me yesterday."

"You're saying Geese told talked to you?" Tot asked in surprise. "What about?"

"It sounds crazy if I told you…"

"Try me. Being in FOXHOUND long enough has shown me things for me to get used to being called crazy and not be too bothered about it." She replied, sitting down on a bench next to Yuina.

"Okay…I guess it happened when after Geese talked about sempai in his KOF days, and after that, he managed to talk to me and Seraph while Greg was sparring with Billy and Adel…" Yuina explained.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Just outside the VR simulators the day Geese and his group visited the Uruha mansion, Yuina and Seraph was watching a match between Greg, Adel and Kurei. It was a free for all battle and all three men were enjoying the match, and so were Rose, Rio, Riku, Kurei Seraph and Yuina.

"Wow! Greg can certainly hold his own against more than one opponent at a time." Rose said.

"Yeah, you should have seen him beat the crap out of Schwartz days before." Riku replied. "These guys must be giving him a sweat he deserves compared to that scuffle he had with them."

"Ah…I've heard of those men." A male voice said at the sides, as everyone looked to see Geese Howard sit next to Yuina. "From what Greg told me about them, they don't seem too much of a threat…if left unattended."

"Yeah, that is true." Riku replied. "What are you doing here anyway, um…"

"Please…just Geese is just fine." The famous crime lord of SouthTown spoke to Riku. "I wanted to find out for myself from Greg's newest student what do you think of him so far?"

"Ulp! You mean…me?" Yuina pointed to herself. "Why not Nagi?"

"I asked him the same thing, and he told me it was a grand opportunity to be his apprentice." Geese smiled at Yuina. "I wanted to know if you share the same thought, now him being responsible for your welfare and all…"

"Well…that's kind of hard to put into words, Mr. Howard." Yuina confessed, hugging her legs to her chest. She then looked at Greg hard in battle. "I guess you can say that Greg…owes it to himself and Mantis as well to look after me and Seraph. I personally know, he sees this as a burden, but I wouldn't think so…not about Greg."

"Oh? Please, explain yourself, girl." Geese said.

"I think…what I'm trying to say is that…" Yuina smiled as she looked at Geese. "Greg thinks he's responsible for all the things that have happened to me, and still…he forces himself to see about my well-being. You know, before Mantis….before I lost my aunt…I was learning to live again, thanks to Seraph. Then it was gone in an instant. Meeting Greg somehow brought back that confidence in life to me when I thought I would never get it back again, but eventually, I'm also learning he's in a battle with himself, trying to get along with his own problems. I guess…you can say….we are alike in every way when it comes to that."

"I see your point…and is Greg doing a good job at being your mentor?" Geese asked.

"Oh, he certainly is!" Yuina exclaimed. "He is the best teacher anyone could have."

Geese only smiled as he began to laugh loudly. "This is rich…my own, worthless student being an inspiration to other young psychics. I'd thought I never be alive still to see the day."

"Hey, don't make fun of sempai!" Yuina pouted at Geese.

"Sorry, kid…but I am seeing your point now." Geese nodded his head. "Yuina…let me tell you from now…I've never been kind or respective to Greg since I've started to train and raise him for some time…that is why he sometimes have a hard time trusting others to help him. Of course, that has always been his way since his parents were killed compliments of the Patriots. And from the sound of things, you're probably the only person he can relate to him in that situation."

"So…what can I do to make him accept help from others?" she asked.

"If he's ever in a situation that he needs it, don't hesitate…go and do your part." Geese said. "He has helped you become who you are now, you should at least return the favour."

"Maybe…one day, I just might do that." Yuina said with a light smile. "What can I say? Thank you, sensei Howard."

"It's not a problem, just thought I could contribute something." Geese smiled.

"Hey, sensei Geese!" Greg said, snarling at him through the glass, steam could be seen puffed unto the glass. "Stop giving Yuina weird ideas!"

Everyone in the spectator's bench laughed at this as Greg started to make noise at Geese, while Geese started to correct him about his attacks, and how he was getting pummelled by Adel and Billy.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Ah…now, I get it. Geese gave you a piece of good advice, huh?" Tot asked Yuina.

"Yup…it seems just about the right thing to do. And the only way I'll have sempai truly accept me more than an apprentice too." Yuina said. "I just have to put a little faith in my powers and my training before it's safe to say I'm worthy of helping Greg, just like you and Nagi are helping each other."

"I think that will be so sweet, Yuina. Greg will surely be proud of you." Tot placed an arm over Yuina's shoulder and smiled at her, when they heard Nagi called out to the people in the garden.

"Everyone! Greg's come back and he doesn't look too good!" he said to Tot and Yuina.

"Sempai?!" Yuina got up and rushed into the living room where everyone else followed. There, they saw Greg lying back with his shirt open, and the bloodied area where the large wound was now completely turning into a blemish, thanks to his nanomachines. The people in the room looked at him shocked.

"Sempai! "What happened to you?"" Yuina leaped herself at Greg and hugged him frantically. Greg simply smiled at her and everyone else.

"Greg had a run in with a…chimera, that's what happened." Riku said, getting into the room to give Greg some disinfect to clean the wound.

"Yeah, and a very, big ass one at that too." Greg grimaced when he started to operate. "Damn thing tried to eviscerate me in half, but I made sure to give it the good old, Trini-Kinezono, treatment for that."

"A…chimera, you say, Greg?" Nagi asked in shock.

"Yeah, a mad scientist sent him after me. While I was taking care of that thing, which was called Shiju, I went after the old gook, but he had a bit of some surprises of his own…" Greg said. "Like psychic powers and teleportation."

"We should have come with you, Greg!" Tot said.

"I would have let you come, but I was having a meeting with an old friend when it happened and I didn't want any more of you than Riku getting involved." Greg said. "Good thing I brought along the Ascension with me, or there would be a body count tonight."

"How did you deal with it?" Maki asked.

"I had to kill it…there was no other choice." Greg said, then looked at Nagi and Tot. "Hey, Nagi…something I said concerned you?"

"You guys know about these things, too?" Maki asked him.

"Yeah, to some extent." Nagi answered. "I've only seen a few of them, though. Weiss has actually fought chimeras in the past. They were created by a man named Masafumi Takatori."

Tot flinched a little as she heard the name mentioned.

"You seem to know this guy." Greg noted, looking at Tot now.

"I did." Tot replied. "You see, my old group, Schrient, worked for him."

"Really?" Yuina asked in a bit of shock.

"But, I never thought even Papa was responsible for creating such things. It's just so unbelievable that he was able to do that…" Tot spoke. "He was always kind to me, and the rest of Schrient, but I don't think he was like that to everyone else."

"Meaning, he was not who he seemed to be among society, right?" Rio asked. "By any chance you have an idea on how they are made?"

"I didn't know how they were made." Tot said, shaking her head. "I just thought Papa just made them, I didn't know that they used to be people."

"Neither did me or mom, until Kurei told us about Shiju and its' past before we came back here.…" Greg said seriously.

"I know what you're saying." Tot said regretfully. "But despite all those horrible things he did, Papa was still the closest thing I had to a real father. Nothing will change that; at least he didn't hit me like my real father did."

"Tot..." Nagi said, putting his arm around her to comfort her. Greg stood up and patted Tot.

"Look, Tot…sorry if I brought up anything that would hurt your feelings, but it's all in the past, and now we got other people capable of using what your…father, Takatori…for their own needs." Greg said, while he patted her. "If you don't want to see others get used just as how the ones who are sick and twisted enough to create creatures like Shiju in the near future, we got to shape up and be prepared for what else they will throw at us. I bet that's not the last time I'll be hearing of that old man."

"Did you get an ID on him, Greg?" Nanvel asked him.

"Come on, aunt Nanvel…you know me better than that." Greg simply threw a small card at Nanvel who caught it in time. On it, was Thorn's face and some information about him.

"When he attacked me, I used my powers and my old pick pocketing skills to sneak it out of him when he least expected it." Greg explained. "Robert Thorn…that's his name."

"Well, I'll be certainly remembering that name for a long time from now on. It just joined my personal shit list right under Reese's." Rio growled.

"Now, now, Rio." Maki calmed her.

"One shithead at a time, mom." Greg said with a small grin.

"Sorry, I just can't get used to seeing Greg in danger like this." Rio said, wrapping an arm over his shoulder. "I really starting to worry about you now, Greg. It's starting to become a norm… 24/7, that one guy after another wants a piece of you…and it seems you're not safe when you're by yourself either."

"Yeah, and it's not just the Patriots alone now, huh?" Greg said. "That's what I've told Manx when I first met her…I'm getting too damn popular, even I can't help it and it's becoming dangerous."

"Well, tomorrow first thing…we're going to meet some more people who will ease your of some of these problems once they hear your story, Greg." Rio said. "They happen to be good friends of Warrior as well, and I'm sure they will be pleased to meet you."

"Let me guess…more of Riku's buddies, I assume?"

"Got that right. Nagi, myself and Tot helped these people out a couple years ago, and they are very willing to return the favour when the need arises." Riku said.

"Don't tell me we have to visit them now?" Greg complained. "I did have a near life and death experience against Shiju a while back and now my ribs still hurt from that wound."

"Not really…we can leave that for tomorrow." Riku replied. "Hey, want me to take you guys out to a good meal?" he offered. "The food is guaranteed to be gourmet quality and the best part is it's all free."

"How's that?" Greg asked.

"Nagi, Tot, and I are good friends with the chef." Riku answered. "It really pays to be good friends with someone who's going to be a master chef."

"Okay, at least tell your buddies that they are in for some surprises when they meet me." Greg smirked at Riku. "They better start preparing themselves if they want to survive my genuine Trini style bad ass-ness. And Nanvel, I want you and Lilica to use that card I snagged from Thorn to get whatever intel you can on him."

"Already on it, Greg." Nanvel replied, leaving the room with Lilica. Then, Yuina started to look at Greg, worried about him still.

"Oh, Yuina…sorry if I scared you…but I did say I will be back to train with you." Greg said. "So, you up to it, kid?"

"How can you even say that, sempai? You need to rest if you want that wound you got to be treated!" Yuina scolded Greg. "I'm going to make sure you get better, and I don't care if you will have to try throwing me out…a student should always try and help her teacher in any way!"

"Nani?" Greg felt himself being pushed by both Yuina and Seraph. "You too, Seraph?"

"Sorry about this, Greg. But I'm sure you'll thank us for this." Seraph said, taking Greg upstairs.

(Aw, well…at least I don't have to complain about Seraph's medical skills than her cooking now…) Greg thought. (Unless…oh, snap!)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Later that evening, during a phone conversation Riku was having with Yuhi Aogiri…

"So, that's about it." Riku said. "I was just wondering if it's not a problem to have everyone meet Greg tomorrow. He is certainly a very friendly guy, and I hope you can help him in any way you can."

"Sure, that's not a problem, Riku." Yuhi, a Japanese male who was just as old as Riku said. "I'm quite willing to hear his stories concerning his problems."

"Yeah, plus he may help you learn a few things about perfecting your cooking." Riku said. "He's just so full of surprises, I think everyone will make good friends once they meet him."

"Okay, I'll tell Chidori and Shota to start preparing from tonight that we got guests tomorrow." Yuhi said. "I'll be seeing you and the others then."

"Good night then." Riku said, hanging up his phone, while from the other end, Yuhi sighed as he saw Chidori Kuruma, approached him. They have been living together as a couple for as long as they have been together since Riku and his partners helped her and Yuhi years ago.

"Who was that, Yuhi?" Chidori asked.

"Our old FOXHOUND buddies, Riku." Yuhi replied. "He's brining over a friend of his whose in a jam right now, and he wanted us to listen to his story, if we are to help him."

"Really? Sounds interesting…" Chidori said. "I guess this means he has some important stories to tell us."

"True. I bet tomorrow's going to be an eventful day when Riku brings his buddy to meet us." Yuhi said. "I'd better call Aki and Toya and tell them about this."

"We should call the others as well, they may want to meet this friend of Riku's as well." Chidori smiled at Yuhi.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The next day, during lunchtime…

"Not again…." Greg complained to himself as he got out of Riku's car the next day during lunch time, holding unto his stomach. He was forced to have not only one, but three straight meals, compliments of Seraph from the night before to today. Riku, Nagi, Tot were with him, along with Rio, as they stood outside at the Aogiri residence. Greg was trying his to get along with Seraph's cooking in his system without letting it show.

(You know, Greg…you're truly are amazing.) Nagi thought mentally to Greg.

(Meaning?) Greg looked at Nagi, not so amused.

(That you can endure so much without letting it affect your abilities as a psychic.) he smiled at the observation.

(Don't even go there, Nagi…you really, REALLY, don't want to see me with a flu.) Greg replied, standing up straight. He then looked at the place in front of him and poked at Riku's shoulder.

"Why have we stopped at a dance school?" Greg asked.

"This is the place I told you about from last night." Riku answered and looked at his watch. "I'm pretty sure Suzumi's class is over, so let's go in. Hopefully, everyone's here now."

"Everyone?" Greg asked in surprise. "You mean there's more than a few people here?"

"That's right." Tot replied as they made for the door. After knocking some times, it opened and it showed an attractive woman with short, flowing blue hair. She recognized everyone standing in front of her and proceeded to greet Riku and his partners.

"Riku, Nagi and Tot…I've thought you've forgotten about us." The woman spoke.

"Sorry for the lack on communications, but you know us FOXHOUNDers…" Riku scratched his head. "It's been a long time, Suzumi."

"Not long enough." Suzumi smiled at Riku, then she noticed the dapper Greg, back in his old Kyo '99 outfit, since the last one he wore got torn up from his fight with Shiju. "And this is…"

"This is Greg Kinezono, one of our friends from FOXHOUND and his surrogate mom, Rio." Nagi said to Suzumi. Greg held out his right hand to greet himself to the woman.

"It's an honour to meet a simply, beautiful woman like yourself, Ms. Aogiri." Greg smirked, causing Suzumi to smile at Greg.

"My, my…quite the gentleman, aren't you, Greg?" Suzumi spoke, hiding her face behind a fan she had."

"Only when it needs to be." Greg replied.

"Well, come on in….everyone's waiting to meet you all after all this time." Suzumi let Riku, his partners and Greg enter. When they followed her into the living room where everyone was gathered, Greg looked on in surprise to this.

"Eh?!" Greg said simply. "Riku…you know all these guys?!"

"Not only that, I helped them too, you know." He said proudly. "Anyway, let's get to introductions…Suzumi happens to be this guy's brother in law…and this is Yuhi."

"Nice to meet, you, Greg." Yuhi greeted himself to Greg.

"This is his girlfriend, Chidori Kuruma and her younger brother, Shota." Riku continued, greeting Greg as well.

"It's good to meet one of Riku's good friends." Chidori bowed to Greg. Shota couldn't help but not stare at the nano mesh for Greg's right arm.

"Cool…" Shota simply said at the sight of Greg. "He's like a comic book hero or something…"

"This is Aya Mikage, her husband, Toya and their daughter, Miku." Greg was introduced to these three people afterwards. "And this is Aki, her twin brother."

(Wow…I've never thought this was such a small world with so many good and innocent people in it.) Greg thought to himself as he shook hands with each of them. (Just looking at each of them makes me want to try even harder to protect them from Third Impact…)

"This is Alexander O. Howell, or we just simply call him Alec." Riku said. "And this is Shuro."

"Heh…all of you come to check me out?" Greg felt embarrassed. "Damn…I must have one hell of a fanbase."

"We only wanted to hear what is it that is giving you so much problems, Greg." Yuhi said. "I'm sure you got some good stories to tell us."

"I don't know…all I got are a lot of sad ones." Greg replied seriously.

"We got a share of our own, if you don't mind listening to ours afterwards." Chidori said. "But, it's the guests honour…tell us a bit about yourself, Greg."

"Yes, tell us what is it that Riku wants us to meet about you so bad about." Suzumi spoke.

"I got so much to begin with, and so much to tell…" Greg laid back to relax. "Better start with how this mess started some weeks back…"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

About two hours later, Greg had told his tales and got a lot of mixed reactions from everyone in the room. It was almost emotional too, considering what Greg told them what hell he went through during the fight with Mantis.

"That is one of the most depressing things I've ever heard…I'm so sorry, Greg." Aya said.

"Yeah…well, it's nothing to be concerned about anymore." Greg simply replied, throwing back another can of beer. "Things are bound to get even more crazy soon, now that I got so much people after me, I can bet my two cents on that."

"I take it that you're going to make Reese feel sorry for all the horrible things he has done to both you and Yuina, not to mention Mantis as well when you get to him, huh, Greg?." Yuhi asked him.

"Not yet. But very soon, my friend." Greg smiled back at Yuhi with a twisted grin. "Once I get the right chance, he'll be regretting the day he was even born to make people's lives miserable when I get to him."

"Well, that is why we will do what we can to help you and you family, Greg." Yuhi said. "But, according from what Riku told us, you're getting enough of that as it is."

"I just don't want to get too many people involved in this, but my life seems to be constantly endangered by the day." Greg said. "Are you certain that you guys can pitch in whenever I need it?"

"Of course we can." Toya said. "It's high time we gave Riku back what we owe him for helping us years ago."

"You guys have got to tell me for yourselves about how that came to be…" Greg said with a smile.

"Oh, we got plenty of time, but it looks like you need more refreshments, Greg." Suzumi said, getting up. "I'm going in the kitchen to prepare something to eat."

"I'll help." Yuhi got up, then he looked at Greg. "Hey, Greg…it's true that you're a cook, right?"

"Not officially, but just about on the level that my ramen cooking can even get my own mother losing control of her…." Greg smirked before he caught a glimpse of Rio glaring at him.

"Don't even think of saying that in front of everyone, Greg." Rio eyed him while blushing.

"Mom, you know it's hopeless…if I cook here, and you taste my ramen, you might as well get a box of Depends to dry up the 'mess' I know you will make." Greg said as he drank from another beer bottle. "Spare yourself the embarrassment, okay?"

Riku knew exactly what Greg was referring to, and started to laugh at this. He then got up to follow Yuhi.

"That's just to show how bad-ass he is. You really don't want to mess around with him." Riku said to Yuhi. Then he eyed Aya.

"Since we're here on business, Aya, that means you and Toya can't volunteer the three of us into babysitting Miku for you like last time." Riku said with a friendly grin.

"Maybe I can volunteer Greg instead." Aya looked at Greg. "How about it, Greg?"

"I'll consider it." Greg simply replied. (This is not so bad at all…somehow…I'm getting a new, kind of peace and hope from these people by just sitting here with them. I guess I should stay around awhile and see if there's anything I can contribute to them as well…especially that Shota kid. I sense he has gone through the same thing with handicap as I have…)

"Greg…" Alec approached Greg and offered an old PS2 control to him. "By chance you play video games?"

"Yeah…my favourites are the Guilty Gear and Zone of the Enders series." Greg smirked.

"Funny you should bring that up…just from looking at your face, you remind me a lot of Dingo Egret from the Second Runner." Alec said, causing Greg to sweat drop.

"Uh…yeah, I kind of rubbed of some of his charms unto mine. I grew up on that guy." Greg replied. "Say…just how good are you in Guilty Gear XX? That's one of my favourites, but I have yet to meet someone outside of FOXHOUND to challenge me."

"I can give you a good match or two." Alec smiled.

"As long it's got 'NoonTide' playing in the background, you got yourself a challenge." Greg said, already picking Sol BadGuy.

"A Sol vs. Ky Fight? You're on!" Alec replied, selecting Ky Kiske to challenge Greg. The rest of the stay at the Aogiri residence will prove to get better later in that afternoon.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Meanwhile, years into the future….

"Achhooo!" Dingo Egret sneezed as he sat in Orbital Frame, Jehuty. Ken Marinaris, sitting on his lap, wiped his nose with a handkerchief as she put back her arm back around his neck, cuddling next to him.

"I told you to be quiet while we're together." Ken ordered to Dingo. "You want Leo or anyone else to find out that we've been sneaking out to meet like this for some time?"

"I can't help it…someone must have called my name." Dingo replied, letting Ken's hand touch his and her head rest on his chest.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

ShardclawK: Finally, another chap done. Glad this got out in time before the year is done, as I got to announce that this update of SX will be the last of the year until 2005. I got other fics to work on, and hopefully, and another COE update will be on the way by the Christmas/New Year's holidays. To those wondering about End Of Evangelion May Cry, I've decided to put it on hold until DMC 3 comes out. Sorry if you've been wanting an update any sooner, but if any of you have seen the trailer and the Mission 1 intro like I have, you'll thank me when I include Dante's new ass kicking attacks into the fic.

Greg: Hey, this is not his fic, dammit! What about me!?

ShardclawK: Sorry, about that. Anyway, DarkFusion, I hope you've enjoyed the fight with Shiju and that I've portrayed the Ceres guys right, and more about will show up in the next chappie, God willing. If you have any inserts and suggestions for this, do send them as soon as you get the chance. Now for some Easter Eggs…

Ran: The first thing Greg tells Tessa and the others after the Shiju fight, was taken from Wolverine, Issue #1, Volume 3. Also, the new outfit he wore is similar to Marvel's own Cable (another inspiration for Greg as well). A good view of it is on Issue #80 of his old title. Anyone want the pic of that cover, Shardclaw can send to you as an attachment for reference in future chappies of this fic, as it is Greg's, exclusive SX outfit.

Just then, Miami Guns' Yao Sakurakouji, Lu Amano and Kaken Musume appear…nothing! Yao begins to squeeze me between her breasts while the Weiss boys star in shock.

Yao: Be prepared to be conquered by my hot body, and inhumane stamina, Shardclaw!

ShardclawK: Aw, hell…ONMI pills for you, Yao! I mean it!

Yao: Oh, yeah!? Let's just go on to the bedroom with the complimentary refill of sexy clothing and condiments to see if you're tough enough to take me!

ShardclawK: This girl is like a sane Excel on steroids…hope I live long enough to deal with DF's shipments soon.

As I get carried off, the boys gave up.

Youji: That's it…I'm going for a new line of work next year.

Omi: At least let's stick around and say this has been a rocking year for SX, hasn't it?

Ken: Yeah, this story really shined thru 2004. Hope it does the same in 2005.

Ran: Anyway, this is going to take a while, people. Just bear with Shardclaw and his harem and hang on for another amazing update of this fic. See ya around and enjoy your Snake Eaters. I know Shardclaw has to wait awhile till his PS2 gets serviced to enjoy the rest of it…

ShardclawK: Cheap ass system! And just before I get to fight The End too…why must you give out on me now and before I can get my Ai Yori Aoshi, too?! Wahhhh!

Yao: Cry-baby…but don't worry, we will make you feel so good, that you won't be needing that anymore…

ShardclawK: Yow, baby! You girls are now in Santa Claus tank tops and miniskirts! Tis the season to be jolly…

Lu: Seasons' Greetings and see you all next year.

Collis aka ShardclawKusanagi.


	22. The Hunted, Part 3

Disclaimer: The same as before, and again, I do not own the characters or the material from the anime/manga, Ayashi no Ceres, translated into Ceres: Celestial Legend by Yu Watase. Without further ado, on to the story.

ShardclawK: First, I must say Happy New Year to all the readers! I do hope everyone of you had a good holiday, as I did too. (The only downside of it all is that I was without with a PS2 to play my favourite games through the holiday…and though I could have used some more new anime under my arm right now…but that's not why I'm here.) My role here is to present to you all another chapter of the adventures of our favourite psychic soldier in action and the people he meets to protect. Hope everyone enjoys what I got to offer them in this update, and the best part is that I still got the Weiss guys helping me co host this fic!

Ran: Good to be back for the fun of it, Shardclaw. I know DarkFusion would be glad about us helping you in the hosting duties of this famous fic for this new year.

Youji: Speaking of DF, he just wanted to remind you, Shardclaw, of one thing about the Ceres material. One thing is that Yuhi, Aya and Chidori are around the same age as Riku's and that Yuhi and Chidori are living together as a couple. Just a little error on Shardclaw's part that has to be cleared up before going on.

ShardclawK: Ah, gomen ne sai…I'll try to be careful next time, if I don't want to receive the punishment of Tot's harisen's attacks on my poor body again…

Just then, I was bonked on the head behind me by an unknown object.

ShardclawK: OWW! Hey, that hurt, Tot! I said I was sorry.

Tot from backstage: That wasn't me, Shardclaw. It was one of those ladies that DarkFusion sent you from the last SX update.

ShardclawK: What do you mean by that, Tot? Who was it then…

I suddenly turn and ended up bouncing my head into a pair of large, ample bosoms. It happened to be La Pucelle Tactics' Dark Éclair own, in her sexy and skimpy black dress. With her were Prier, Alouette and Éclair from the same game. My mouth started to drool at her and Prier, as they began huddling me and pressing my head to their chests.

Dark Éclair: Hello, Shardclaw-sama. Hope you didn't take our correcting you for that mistake you made too seriously.

Prier: Don't worry, though…we are here to make sure that you don't mess up in later chapters, or else you will suffer…'consequences'.

ShardclawK: Y-O-W…Baby! I do hope you girls are ready to…'correct' me as much as you want, because I tend to make mistakes in writing some times. Damn…seeing you hotties just want to make me get back my PS2 so bad, so I can start playing to see you chicks!

Alouette: The great Shardclaw make mistakes? I'd always thought you were perfect in writing, but let's go off into that master bedroom of yours and see for ourselves if that is true, mmm?

ShardclawK: I'm all yours to play with, girls! Ran, you and your buddies can take care of the rest of this until the end of the chapter. See you then.

Ran: The beginning of a new year and he still gets chicks like that?! Youji, Omi…You two better start hoping Shardclaw gets you two hooked up with chicks like that soon, before we all get tired of him getting more, 'shipments.'

Omi: We just have to get used to it until he eventually does it. Anyway, here's the update of the fic. Enjoy, readers.

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Metal Gear: Soldier X

Chapter 21: The Hunted, Part 3

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"I'm getting an uneasy feeling about this…" Farfarello said in a low tone to his partner, Crawford. The Schwartz group had stopped in front of a large garden at a mansion area. Prior before coming here, Solidus Snake wanted to test Schwartz loyalty and sent them on a 'salvage' mission of sorts.

"Why did Solidus sent us here in the first place is understandable, but I don't it is truly necessary to have them come along with us…" Schuldich pointed a thumb at a tall man just sneering at them. A woman with light, tanned skin and long, dyed blonde hair, wearing a body suit stepped next to him.

"Now, now, Vamp….we don't have to start a fight here." Fortune calmly spoke to Vamp. "Under Solidus' orders, we are to assist these men in the mission that should help us thin out the possible enemies that may be after SEELE, now that it is under our control."

"Haven't King gotten out all that he wanted to know from old man, Keele?" Vamp asked.

"…Not everything. He is withholding some vital intel, and Ocelot has been placed under orders by Solidus not to torment him, or any of the other members of the Committee." Fortune said. "They are trying to buy themselves time."

"If it's about the so called Instrumentality project that we overheard the former Patriot No. 7 was babbling about while Ocelot was torturing him, it's hopeless." Vamp replied, taking out one of his knives. "Still…attacking a base full of French assassins residing here in Japan makes no sense to our plans."

"Oh, dear Vamp…it's seems you must be missing the picture here." Crawford spoke, stepping closer to him, unafraid. "You see…since having Schwartz tag along with you, it should be considered an opportunity that I know more about this familiar target than you do."

"If you claim so, then speak, businessman." Vamp replied. "And make it quick."

"After some thinking, it would seem obvious that our target is none other than the famous Noir assassin that has eluded even our sight until now, thanks to our joint efforts." Crawford said.

"How is that possible, Crawford?" Schuldich asked him.

"It seems Noir is not a single assassin, but a group of women." Crawford smiled. "Two of them happen to be teenagers, while the other is in around her twenties."

"So, what do they have to do with Solidus?" Farfarello asked him.

"One of the teenagers happens to be a skilled knife thrower…much like FOXHOUND's Silent Scorpion, only this girl is a special exception to the Patriots…like Greg Kinezono." Crawford spoke with a smirk. "Solidus failed to get Kinezono to see the intentions that the Patriots had in store for him, and said he wanted the girl named Chloe. That was all he said."

"Seems like this is turning out to be quite the learning experience." Schuldich said. "But she won't be able to join us so easily, you know."

"Her mind should be fragile enough, so the power of your telepathy should…convince her to join us. I t is her destiny." Crawford said.

"What about the other two assassins?" Fortune asked.

"That's why you are here…to deal with them in case they interfere." Crawford said. "We take no prisoners, but Chloe. Do whatever you want to the other two assassins."

"After hearing about this mission, I can't even wait for moment which we get to test ourselves against them." Schuldich said, just before he simply smiled and turned to his side. "Well, well…maybe our wish would come true sooner than I thought."

(Yes, Schuldich…I can sense them watching us as we speak.) Crawford said. "Come on out, ladies. And try using your weapons while you still can…it may be the last thing you will ever do in this life time."

Just then, a raining barrage of knives was seen hurled at Fortune, but they suddenly veered away and ended up falling unto the ground, while Farfarello threw some where they was attacked, and they ended up cutting a young girl, who leaped out of a tree. She had on a tight, black, jump suit. The expression in her eyes were tired, yet emotionless as were her face. She had short, purple hair that was tied into a short ponytail at the side of her head. Her hands both held an array of throwing knives was seen, but the deep gash across her ankle made it hard for her to stand up.

"Who…just who the hell are you?!" Chloe asked, gritting her teeth.

"You must be Chloe. You lack the proper training, though you're full of potential. You'll do just fine." Vamp said, licking his fangs, coming closer to Chloe. But before he got to touched her, he suddenly twisted his body in a swift, flamenco dance style, and with a flick of his wrist, threw a knife at an incoming bullet that was heading for Crawford.

"Impossible!" Chloe said in utter shock. "He actually stopped one of Mireille's bullets?"

"Shit!" a blond woman shouted in a French accent, lowering her Beretta. She had on a casual outfit of a light, blue open shirt and a red vest and a short, black miniskirt. "What do you intend to do with Chloe, Schwartz scum?"

"Ah…miss Bouquet. Funny coincidence that you should be here as well to defend your companion." Crawford simply said. "And greetings to you as well, Kirika Yuumura."

Crawford was referring to the individual next to Mireille, who already was gritting her teeth in hatred at what she saw and heard. Kirika is a young Japanese girl, with short, brown hair. She had on a Japanese school uniform, and holding unto a small hand handbag in one hand, while she held onto a gun in her right.

"Answer her question!" Kirika shouted, holding up her gun at Schwartz, and Dead Cell, while Vamp and Farfarello approached Chloe closer.

"Tsk, tsk…you should know better than to challenge all of us, little girl." Crawford said, before he got into a fighting stance. "As much we would want to chat with you lovely ladies, we have more pressing matters at the moment and we won't have to spare any more time to waste taking Chloe as our own."

"Like hell I will let that happen!" Chloe stood up bravely and stared at the group. Crawford simply shook his head.

"Fine then…if you want your friends to suffer for your boldness, then come at us." Vamp said. "Show us what you got."

The Noir assassins rushed at Schwartz and the two Dead Cell members that would result in a new brewing war among assassins and super soldiers alike. To the members of the combined groups, they already know the battle is in their favour.

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Back at the Aogiri residence, Greg was having a wail of a time against a team of the men he had come to visit, that ranged from Alec, Aki and Yuhi in a Guilty Gear XX tournament. Eventually, he was proving to them that he had superior skills they have never thought was possible withtwo of his favourite characters, Robo-Ky and Axl-Low.

"Wow, and here all this time I thought I was good in this genre, but it's truly a small world." Alec said in amazement, seeing Greg easily giving everyone a good fight. "By chance you participate in those EVO2K tournaments as well, Greg?"

"I wished I did…but there are people even more skilled than I am in those fights, compared to the real thing." Greg simply rubbed his head, embarrassed.

"EVO2K?" Nagi asked.

"It's like KOF, expect that it's for casual, fighting game players from all over the world." Greg said. "Just about every fighting game that has existed has made a tourney there, and the most skilled players go at it from there."

"Sounds just as fun still." Riku said.

"Just stay away from the Street Fighter 3 tournaments…I remember a time, ten years ago, Nanvel took me as a spectator to one particular semi finals while we were visiting the States, and there was this match with Ken versus Chun Li on a 3rd Strike tourney." Greg explained. "Man…you guys should have been there. It was….unspeakable, even if you were just on the sidelines witnessing it."

"What happened then?" Tot asked.

"Okay, since you already asked…the player who was playing Ken was down to zero life, while the Chun-Li player had about 60 life left…but it seemed that the Ken player will not go down easily." Greg told his tale. "So, after a few tense moments, no one had an idea what was going to happen, when Chun-Li executed her Super Art, the Sensretsu Kyaku, that kick move?"

"And he finished the Ken player off?" Aki asked.

"Wrong…the Ken player actually stood there and parried ALL of the attacks." Greg said simply.

"NANI!?" All of the men, including Shota, in the room said in shock.

"That's just the beginning…he even parried the last two of Chun-Li's kick while in mid air, only to counter with a heavy kick, into a medium kick, a fierce Shroyuken, which was cancelled into a Shippu Jinrai Kyaku, totally decimating the Chun Li player." Greg finished the details. "I can still remember how loud everyone in the hall watching that fight was from all the roaring. One of those, 'Oh…my…dear…God!' moments.."

"Amazing to think there are people THAT skilled in this world…." Yuhi spoke.

"Makes you want to reconsider taking on a tournament like that, huh, Alec?" Greg asked him.

"Yeah…I still have some areas in this game that even need polishing. Like a few of those pesky missions." Alec said.

"Really? Maybe I can help you with those, if you want some of my expert advice." Greg smiled as a thought came to mind. (So far, this guy's another Otacon if anyone asks me.)

"One of them is Mission 18…I think it was a poisoned Millia against an EX-Type Eddie." Alec said.

"Ah…I see, that one." Greg nodded as he selected the mission. "This is one of my personal favourites. It gets easy after awhile…"

As soon the mission started, the song, 'Still In The Dark' began to play. But before he started to fight Eddie, he paused the game to everyone's surprise and shut his eyes to listen to the song.

"Greggie?" Rio asked him in curiosity. "You okay?"

"Yeah….it's just that this song brings back memories of me and Linn being together for a mission." Greg confessed, placing a hand under his chin. "Sigh…'Still In The Dark'…it happens to be our song, and it's also the name for an attack we came up some time ago as well, while we were still partners before the whole 'boyfriend/girlfriend' thing."

"Care to tell us about it?" Tot asked Greg.

"I will…as long you guys promise you don't find it too…weird." Greg said, rubbing his head. "The circumstances surrounding the origin for the attack is kind of funny as well, when you think about it…"

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The date was December 10th, 2010. It was only some months since Greg and Linn had both joined FOXHOUND together and one of the couple's first missions was just around the coast areas of a New York Harbour. They were responsible for handling an undercover mission which would eventually bring them close to the lead of an illegal arms smuggling ring. However…their cover got blown, due to the revelation of a hot tip about Greg, and the two decided to take matters into their own hands.

"Hey, Greg…didn't Michael said we shouldn't use the 'hands on' approach?" Linn Aramaki spoke, wearing her modified Skull Suit that did little to protect the exposure of her gorgeous, show stopping figure.

"Well, Michael didn't count on having the smugglers bail out so soon." Greg replied simply, wearing his own combat Skull Suit, his nano arm exposed for the world to see. Two of the smugglers came across to Linn's position, which she easily took out one using a simple, yet quick, one legged roundhouse kick that sent one of the men through the harbour railing and into the shallow water down below, while Greg rushed in and tackled the other smuggler behind him, then giving a powerful uppercut to knock him down.

"Need any help?" Greg asked Linn.

"I was doing fine, thank you." She replied.

A couple more of the smugglers came to their direction, as Greg smirked, seeing easy pickings. He was about to run at them, when one of his legs got tangled up on some rope which was lying on the ground closely. He ended up falling on his face.

"Aw, jeez…you embarrass yourself sometimes." Linn simply shook her head, as the smugglers got closer to pick Greg up and threw him over the railing. Seeing a lightweight, circular anchor, disc was about the weight of an anvil, she flung it to one of the smugglers and it hit its mark around his lower back. Greg got free and managed to perform a swipe kick on the face of the other smuggler before he was thrown off. After landing on his feet, Greg dusted himself.

"So…who's the one needing help now?" Linn smiled at Greg.

"Heh…I don't need it. But you do." Greg retorted. But before he reacted, he suddenly saw another one of the smugglers they have missed touched a lever that dropped a hanging net of bagged fish on her, thus knocking her out.

"You won't be bothering us anymore, tootsies." The smuggler said in a wicked smile.

"Uhhhh…." Linn could have barely moved, since the impact of the weight knocked her down. Before the smuggler can get away, he was already in front of Greg, who was already on him with a barrage of punches. However, seeing Linn get hurt, Greg ended up pushing the envelope a bit and sent him crashing through the railing, which started to make the area of the harbour they were standing on crumble under their feet. To make matters worst, some of the rope from the net caught itself wrapping on one of Linn's legs, and pulled her down into the seawater.

"LINN!" Greg reacted by diving into the water after her. Holding his breath, he got as far to Linn before she reached the ocean floor, while she was still unconscious. Grabbing an arm, he managed to get her out before her lungs intake too much water which could have drowned her and quickly back to the surface.

"Come on, Linn…talk to me!" Greg held up her head to wake her, as she started to cough out some of the seawater.

"Ah…Greg?" Linn looked at him with a dazed look. "What…happened?"

"You nearly drowned on me in this horrible tasting water, that's what happened!" Greg replied, with a relaxed smile, knowing she was alright.

"You think this is bad? I can think of something even worst." Linn pointed at a distance. The two looked across and saw the smugglers getting unto a speed boat and was already hightailing it.

"The bitter taste of defeat." She said.

"Damn…Reese is going top have us for breakfast when he hears about this." Greg replied. "Come on…let's get out of this water, dried up and back to headquarters before dawn."

"Should I prepare funeral music while you think of an explanation to Reese about what happened?" Linn said, swimming with Greg to the docks.

The next morning, at FOXHOUND headquarters…

"You and Aramaki managed to ruin a successfully staged, undercover operation!" Lt. Matthew Reese shouted at Greg and Linn the next morning in his office. With them, were Michael Hansen and Roy Campbell, who also weren't in a good mood after hearing what has happened in the previous night's mission, and that Reese had to know about it.

"Well, what else could we have done? Just let them go?" Greg replied, trying to defend himself and Linn. "The smugglers were about to bail with the goods!"

"I don't need to hear it, Greg." Michael sternly told Greg. "Your wildcatting just cost us another mission."

"It was a judgement call." Greg replied then he pointed a thumb at Linn. "Besides…we would have brought them in for questioning if I didn't have to save Linn's butt."

"What was that?" Linn looked at Greg. "The only reason why you had to save my ass is because you weren't watching your own!"

"Can it, you two." Michael said. "Colonel Campbell and I have a lot of work to do, one of them is figuring out another way to get those smugglers."

"For now, you are both on a week's suspension from today of leave privileges. That means neither of you are going to use the Harrier for any reason unless it's for emergency purposes within FOXHOUND exceptions." Roy said to him. "And that goes double for you, Kinezono."

"Aye, aye, sir." Greg grumbled. (So much for visiting sensei Rio and the others back in Japan later this week…)

"You can take your leave now." Reese said, now in a near calm state. "And don't let the door hit you on the way out."

Moments later outside, on the busy sidewalks of Washington D.C, Greg and Linn walked together, side by side in their casual clothing. Greg was wearing a simple Phat Farm sports T-shirt, and a dark green denim jeans. He was also wearing a thin, and fashionable tinted shades, while Linn wore a red tank top, and a tight, leather mini skirt. No doubt there were a lot of people watching the two in the streets dressed like this.

After a few minutes of silence, Greg was the first to talk. "Geez…what was THAT all about back there?"

"You would never have to come rescue me, if you had been watching your own back." Linn replied seriously. Greg only chuckled to this.

"Ah, you don't need to make excuses, Linn." Greg replied. "When you're just as strong as I am, being the new psychic of FOXHOUND and everything, part of your job is to look out for your…sidekick."

(He…thinks of me as a sidekick?!) Linn thought to herself, stopping. (Is that all I'm worth to him?!)

"Hey, what's wrong?" Greg asked her. Before he saw it coming, Linn suddenly swung one of her legs in the form of a high kick at Greg's face, but it stopped just inches in front of his nose.

"Ah….Linn…be careful now." Greg nervously spoke. "People can see your…"

"I've been hearing this 'Worlds' Strongest' thing ever since we joined FOXHOUND together." Linn spoke, now putting down her leg to stand firm again, much to Greg's disappointment. "I could have put you down before you knew it, chemo-sabe."

"Heh, that's why I knew you wouldn't hit me, so I didn't bother to block it." Greg replied coolly.

"Then let's see if you can block me when you know it's coming!" Linn replied, swinging a left, clenched fist at him, but stopped it mid way, before Greg realised she even did it, and received some sharp pains on his chest from the lighting fast punches from Linn's right fist. Clutching his chest, Greg stumbled back, as Linn stepped back into a fighting pose.

"You may have greater natural ability, Gregory-san. But your lack of discipline will prevent you from being the best." Linn warned him.

"Oh, yeah?!" Greg simply replied, then suddenly turning his back, Greg ended up doing a low, sweeping kick on Linn's legs, tripping her and letting her fall down. "Trainer drill! Try to catch me!"

"Hey, wait!" Linn shouted, getting up and started to chase Greg down the public street. Thankfully for them, it wasn't too crowded, but there were obstacles in their way, one of them a hot dog cart. Greg simply leaped over it, and picking up a tray during his jump, he used it as a shield, and deflected one of Linn's incoming kicks. A little further down, Greg saw two men carrying a crate that was wider than the sidewalk, but it didn't slow him down, as he simply went low and slid underneath the space between the ground and the crate and got up, while Linn ran to the street and saw a delivery van in front of her, which had an open tray.

As Greg ran past the truck, Linn used her weight and displaced it with some momentum, as she leaped onto the top of it, she gained an advantage and ended up landing right in front of Greg.

"Going somewhere, Greg?" Linn asked him.

"As a matter of fact…" Greg replied, as he gripped unto the bar of an iron bar close to him and flung himself over it and into some water. Linn followed suit and ended up in a large park fountain. There were a number of people standing around, watching the two people in the fountain.

"Hey, what's going on?" asked a teenaged girl, who was with a group of friends.

"Looks like there's going to be a fight…" replied a boy among them.

"It's a fight!" said another spectator.

"Wow, check out that outfit that chick has got on!" said a mid age male in a lecherous tone.

"I'm betting on the black dude…" said a friend of his.

"You're on…the hot chick looks good too." His friend replied.

"You're really pushing it now, Greg!" Linn said, circling Greg in the fountain, getting wet, as was the same with Greg. "Drunken Daze!"

Linn dashed at Greg through the water, faster than everyone who was watching can see what's happening. However, Greg can see the red blur moving across the water and he was able to catch her, using one of his counter moves.

"Too easy!" was the shout from Greg, as he simply caught one of her legs before it attacked him. "You don't think I know you well enough to use that move against me FIRST in a fight?!"

"But you certainly don't know that I can do THIS!" Linn shouted, twisting her body, and sending one of her free legs to perform a flying kick at Greg, then using it to free herself from his counter. Greg stumbled back, dazed from Linn's surprise attack.

"What the hell?" one of the people from the crowd shouted in amazement.

"Damn…how in the hell were you able to prevent the rest of the counter from happening?" Greg stuttered, as blood started to drip from his bottom lip.

"Easy…Garland taught me how." Linn simply smiled at him, still fixing her fighting pose at him. "Besides, if you weren't talking so much, you could have slammed me to finish the move, but you just have to brag about my mistakes, didn't you?"

"Shut up!" Greg replied, waving an arm. "Even you are right about it that will not get you a second shot at me with that move. Come on!"

"Hmph. Bring it on." Linn simply said, before she heaved her breath, as her top was already drenched by the water, causing the attention of many men watching her.

"It's already been brought on…" Greg replied, clenching his fists. He suddenly charged at Linn, then before he got closer to her, he leaped into the air, clawing his right nano fist at her. The water surrounding him formed a small wall, becoming a powerful whiplash as he got close to Linn.

"Get Out Of My Way!" Greg shouted, slashing Linn with the water blow attack. Linn simply placed both her arms in an 'X' and blocked the attack, but it somehow penetrated through her defence, sending her back a few feet.

"Damn…you have to use your powers like that in public?" Linn replied, feeling the stinging sensation on her arms. "How charming, and how thoughtless."

"It won't matter by the time I beat you." Greg spoke, landing in front of her, shifting the nano arm into a humanoid drill and charging it at her. "Usuree!"

"Late Night Surprise!" Linn replied, by grabbing the drill merely inches from her body, and giving Greg a, standing double kick on his chest area. Greg stumbled back, feeling the power of her attack, but it didn't slow him down. He placed his feet to stop falling back, and crossed his left arm across in a vertical stance to cancel the lack of time recovering from the drill attack, only to strike Linn in the face, and after returning it back to normal, he clawed her, scratching her and her top.

"I'm not done yet!" Greg said, now grabbing Linn and gut punching her, but she caught his second punch, and drove her left leg into his face, before she used a Bad Case of Mondays on Greg, which was a single, side step kick to his shin area, bringing him down on one leg.

"Best you can do?" Linn asked him, mockingly, ignoring the slight damage of her outfit.

"Is that the best YOU can do?" Greg mocked back.

"You're going to regret those words!" Linn swung a kick at Greg while he was down, but Greg deflected it, and the other spin kick that came afterwards. Linn pressed on with her constant chain of low, kick attacks, when Greg caught on and suddenly caught one of them. Linn swung one of her punches at Greg, which he managed to stop using his psychic powers before it reached his face.

"Predictable!" Greg said, slamming her into the water. Linn got soaked by the water and faced her partner.

"Now you see the difference? I…will always be the strongest, while you will always be second best!" Greg boasted at her while he stood triumphantly.

Forming energy around his fist, Greg was gathering the water surrounding him. Collecting the water, he then slammed it in front of her, causing a wall to appear between the two. Right after that, Greg had performed a flying kick towards her through the water at Linn. However, the attractive Indian-Japanese woman caught his leg and slammed him into the water.

Greg started to cough out the water as he started to laugh hysterically at Linn, as she stood up and began to talk.

"The only difference between us is honour." Linn spoke. "That…was a cheap shot."

"So sue me. You haven't done anything to impress me." Greg replied, getting up.

"What? You want to see something impressive!?" Linn replied angrily.

"Yeah, I do." he replied coolly.

"Well, alright." She said, as she took a deep breath as she began to concentrate her energy and strength into her next attack. "This move should put you in your place…you should know it, but I've added some extra surprises into it. I call it…the Supreme Fall of the Twelve!"

"Nani?!" Greg exclaimed, as all of a sudden before he can see it, Linn had dashed faster than anything Greg had seen and started to get punished all over by Linn's high speed melee attacks. Everything around Greg seemed to start becoming distorted while Linn performed this move on him at a pace he had never seen from a human being. After the amount of bruises from his body was enough to tire him, Linn quickly got behind him and executed several critical blows to him, before grabbing his body, to perform a final spin kick that sent him flying from one end of the fountain to the next. His body was hurting all over, as he wasn't prepared for the attack which took a lot out of him.

"Geez….what the hell was that for?!" Greg implied, getting up staggering. As he did, he began to notice Linn panting heavily, having exerting herself from performing the attack. A few seconds afterwards, her body began to sway, as she fell back into the water on her behind. Greg noticed something was wrong. "…Linn?"

"Ah….Greg…I don't…feel so good, man." She told him, spitting out some of the fountain water.

"Aw, come on…after a move like that, you should still at least be on your feet still." Greg said, as he held her shoulders.

"No…I mean I feel really…crummy." Linn said, before her head dropped forward, unconscious. Greg felt her body warmth has dropped, and her skin was turning pale. This wasn't looking good for him.

"LINN!" Greg shouted, seeing her state. "Hang on! I'm getting you to the infirmary back at HQ!"

About an hour later, just outside of Linn's hospital room at the FOXHOUND infirmary…

Greg was pacing up and down the hallway, as Michael Hansen and Garland Durev were seated near the door to the room.

"She should be alright, Greg." Garland told him easily. "Stop doing that already."

"I can't…I just can't help but not feel that I'm responsible for this!" Greg held his head, as he continued to walk up and down. "Her entire body was cold by the time I got her here…and her breathing was weak…this is my fault, I made her angry enough for her to use that move on me and have her risk her health! Arrgh…how can I let that happen!?"

"Greg, this was not your fault." Michael said to him, trying to calm him down, but Greg simply ignored him and continued pacing. A few moments later, the door opened and Naomi Hunter stepped out with a light smile on her face. Greg rushed forward to meet her.

"Well…? Is she going to be okay?" Greg asked Naomi. The gene specialist only nodded her head and patted Greg.

"She will be fine, but she has to stay in bed for about a week of so until her system's totally cleansed." Naomi replied.

"Cleansed?" Garland asked. "What happened to her, doctor?"

"It was kind of conspicuous that this would happen at a public fountain, so I had a team go and take a sample of the water at the fountain." Naomi explained. "It appears that the fountain Greg and Linn were full of some nasty parasites all the way from South Africa, some of them recently mutated due to the Second Impact's effects to the environment. It was a good thing you got her here in time, Greg…one of them would have ended up killing her if we didn't act fast enough."

Greg only sighed in a tone of relief as he sat down to relax. "So….it was just that, huh? I feel so relieved now…"

"You know, Greg…the Colonel is going to want an explanation for all of this." Michael told him.

"I know…I'm already willing to tell him what really happened. As long Linn doesn't' get part of the punishment, and Reese don't take it out on her." Greg said, resting his head on the wall behind him. "Can I see her now?"

"You can, but try not to wake her…she needs a lot of rest, considering what she went through fighting you." Naomi said.

"Thanks so much, Naomi." Greg replied, bowing to her. "I'll never forget this."

As Naomi smiled back at Greg, Michael and Garland before she walked out of the area, they then stepped into the room Linn was resting. Greg stood by her side and watched her sleep in silence. He began to clench his fists.

"Dammit…I caused all of this. If I didn't boast so much about which of us was better…I would have never drawn fists against her." Greg spoke bitterly.

"Normally, I would tell you things like that, Greg, but it seems you common sense is telling you that it's wrong to take advantage over the opposite sex." Michael told Greg.

"Yeah…" Greg simply replied, nodding his head. "You know, guys…you've think that by thriving to be more than human, we've taking control of our destinies. But what all it takes, is a couple of germs to lay us low."

"Greg, how about you go and get some rest, while we watch over her?" Garland said, patting his shoulder, but Greg shook his head.

"That's rather nice of you, guys…but this was something I caused in the first place, it's my responsibility. I will try to make it up to her by taking care of her tonight at least." Greg said, pulling a chair. "If there's anything I need, I can ask you to get it for me, is that alright?"

"No problem, Greg." Michael nodded his head. "We'll be just outside for a while if you want us."

"Cool." Greg simply said, looking at Linn's resting face. The two men quietly stepped out the room as Greg leaned closer to take one of her hands. It was getting warm as before she got sick.

"Linn…I'm not sure if you can hear me while you are sleeping, but…I'm sorry, okay?" Greg said silently to her. "I never thought I could have acted that way before…I was just getting fed up of being beat around by Garland all the time, and that made me think I wasn't strong enough to protect you, and the others here. I…I'm still weak…that I was never able to see this coming. Sure, it's nothing serious. But what will happen if you were in a real battlefield? I don't know what I would do if I wasn't able to help you, Linn…"

Greg leaned back to think a bit before talking some more. "And when that mistake was made during the last mission…I somehow doubted your skills. I never took you seriously in the battlefield, but after today, I knew I was wrong. The only way we have to go through this is that we have to trust each other from now on if we have to survive. All I ever wanted…was some kind of assurance…just to know that I'm strong enough to protect everyone around me, and not a setback. You must feel the same towards me too, Linn…and I'm sorry for making you feel so inconfident about that. I promise you…I will make it up to you, you'll see. Once you get better, we both will do what we can to make things work out. Bank on it."

Just then, Greg heard his Codec rang, and he recognized the frequency was from Team Warrior. He didn't want to wake Linn up if he answered it, so he got up to gave Linn a soft kiss on her cheek and left the room…without knowing Linn was still wide awake, listening to him all the time. Opening one eye, a shade of red started to cover her face from the spot Greg kissed her.

"Greg…thanks. Apology accepted." She simply said as she pulled the sheets and rested more comfortably after hearing Greg's confession.

About a week later…on a new mission which was a chance for redemption….

"Where's Canaan?" one of the smugglers asked in fear, as he and the rest of the same of the smuggler group that had evaded Greg and Linn before, were discovered around the deep country areas of the mid Western United States.

"He got knocked out by one of those guys…" his comrade replied, holding unto a light submachine gun. "I've never seen anyone most so fast…"

"We can't give up! The boat to get us out of here is just around…" before he stopped, the two men saw Greg leaning against the escape boat, twirling the keys, before he threw them into the water.

"You were saying, boys?" Greg asked in a confident grin.

"There's only one of them…we can take him!" one of the smugglers said as he aimed his gun at Greg, while his partner did the same.

"Yeah…he doesn't look so tough…"

"That's where you're wrong." Greg said, then touching his left ear. (You ready, Linn?)

(Anytime.) Linn replied telepathically. (Let's do this!)

Greg simply activated his Codec/MP3 and the song, 'Still In The Dark' played. He simply threw the cloak he had on aside, showing off his Kusanagi outfit. With the skills he have learnt from Aika Sumeragi, Geese Howard and Rio Kinezono, Greg was about to emulate some of the trademarks of Cy-Kusanagi's attacks with Linn's moves.

"Fall of the Twelve!" Linn shouted, pummelling one of the smugglers with her melee attack, while Greg rushed him at the same time with a pale, yet powerful version of Kyo's 101 Shiki Oboro Guruma.

"Ha, ha…Urusee!" Greg shouted, rising into the air along with the smuggler in the aerial kick animation. Before the enemy fell, Linn recovered from her previous attack and executed her Fragile Wonder move to knock him down, only landing unto Greg's imitation of Kyo's Shiki Oniyaki uppercut. Though at the time Greg never was able to wield flames, his random 'Critical' hits added the needed damage.

"This is the final one!" They both shouted in unison, as they waited for the smuggler to fall right into their devastating attacks for the time. Greg and Linn simultaneously punched forward in a combination of Greg's version of Kyo's '99's Hyaku Hachi Juu Ni Shiki's punch, while Linn used her Invincible Goddess of Beauty Blow.

"Still…in the Dark." The two whispered in unison, after causing the havoc with their combined attack.

As the enemy fell down and started to squirm in pain, the two FOXHOUNDer's simply stared at the other man, who had already wet his pants seeing the display of the two.

"I…I give up!" he dropped his gun and surrendered himself. Greg simply smirked at the man and put the handcuffs on him.

"Good choice, buddy." Greg replied, then he smiled at Linn. "You alright?"

"Yeah…it went off perfectly as planned, right?" she replied with a confident smile. "We should do things like that more often."

"Don't get any funny ideas." Greg simply replied. "Come on…let's round the rest of them up and go home. I'm bushed."

"Yeah…I'm in a need for a refreshing shower. Want to join me?" she asked Greg slyly, causing him to blush a bit.

(Why do I have to deal with these kind of things?) Greg thought to himself.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"So…that's how it came about." Greg said to the group of people listening. "That move happened to become quite effective since then, but I wonder what havoc it will cause when I use it the next time, now that I got my new powers."

"One can only imagine, Greg." Nagi said.

"I think that was so romantic about you and Linn putting your skills together to help one another…" Tot said with a smile.

"Yeah…damn…talking about that makes me miss her even more." Greg said in a low tone, before he realised what he was supposed to be doing. "Aw…sorry, my head tends to drift away while I meditate on things. I was going to show you how to beat this mission, right?"

"Yeah." Alec replied to him.

"Okay…try using Winger as soon you're close to Eddie…that move will do some decent damage once he gets the full hits from it." Greg said.

"I did that and it worked, but I never had any more tension to do it again, plus he is a pain to catch with as he moves a lot." Alec complained.

"Ah…you've never tried to Psych Burst as an attack? Use it with Dust while he's within bodily contact to you. It immediately brings back tension. At least three to four Wingers should do it. And you have to be able to evade his attacks often too." Greg said.

"Wow…thanks, Greg." Alec said in amazement. "You seem to know a lot about this game, huh?"

"If I did, I would have been part of the famous 'Ode to the 2 Hit Combo' music video, but alas…I'm still a novice to these kind of things." Greg said, holding his chin. Just then, a knock on the door was heard, as Yuhi stood up to open it. In front of it, stood a Japanese girl in her early twenties who had short, dark hair and wearing glasses, dressed in a yellow shirt and blue jeans.

"Hey, Maya!" Yuhi greeted the girl, who stepped in hastily. "You're just in time to meet one of Riku's friends who have come to visit. This is Greg Kinezono."

"A pleasure to meet you, Greg. I'm Maya Hirobe." The woman introduced herself to Greg.

"Likewise." Greg replied with a smile. "I always enjoy the opportunity of meeting new friends, especially of the female type."

"Yuhi, I need a hand in the kitchen!" Chidori called out from the other room.

"Coming. Greg, why don't you come with me and at least show me a thing or two in cooking, huh?" Yuhi asked him. Greg only placed his arms at his hips and sighed.

"Geez…okay then. I'll show you how to cook ramen." Greg replied. "But just don't let my mother get too close to it, if you know what I mean."

"I get you." Yuhi replied nervously, as Rio caught the two talking to each other secretly. Curiously, she followed them into the kitchen to watch the cook out. It couldn't be helped, since Greg was in the mood to see how Rio would react to his cooking in front of everyone.

"Since I'm not branded to the likes of Garland Durev, my own speciality is just as good to enjoy. Call it a mix of a 'Trini Sweet Hand' if you will…" Greg said, as he put on the apron. "You guys will enjoy this."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Forty five minutes later in the kitchen…

"More, please!" Shota handed his bowl to Greg, as he happily served him another serving of ramen. Everyone was enjoying and chatting on how good Greg's cooking was.

"Gee, Shota, that's your third helping. Be careful you don't give yourself an upset stomach." Suzumi told him.

"Wow…I'd never think I had tasted ramen this differently, Greg. You're better than you sound." Alec said.

"Oh, stop it, stop it, please! It will go to my head!" Greg replied, handing Shota back a full ramen bowl. "I'm just active in everything I do, that's all."

"Yeah, no kidding." Aki said to Greg. It was then Rio entered the room with a very 'satisfied' look on her face, but when she saw the half empty, steaming pot of Greg's cooked ramen, she started to shudder.

"Mom…don't say I didn't warn you before." Greg waved a pair of chopsticks at her.

"But I can't help it, Greggie! It's been forever since I last tasted your ramen!" Rio exclaimed, now hugging him. Greg started to get flustered as Rio tried to suffocate him while she pressed his head against her chest.

"Ah! Mom! Cut that out now!" Greg shouted, trying to fight off Rio. A laughter was heard from all over the room as they watched the two like this.

"Think of that as payback for getting me obsessed with ramen in the first place, son." Rio then gave Greg a soft kiss on the cheek before letting him go. Greg only shook his head at this.

"Aw, mom…" Greg started to blush at Rio.

"It's hard to believe that you were adopted by her, Greg. You must be very lucky." Toya told Greg.

"Yeah…even up to this day, I can never comprehend that." Greg replied at Rio with a gentle look. "I'm just thankful it happened. But enough about me…you must have some tales to tell me, as to how exactly did Riku meet you people before."

"Well, now that everyone's here, we should tell him, right?" Shuro asked Aya.

"Yes…he is a friend of Riku and maybe there could be a connection to what has happened so far." Aya replied. "Greg…how familiar you are with the legends of Japan?"

"I'm afraid I'm pretty much no nada or little about it…" Greg replied, shrugging his shoulders. "What about them?"

"Well…most of our story takes place long before all of us were even born." Aya spoke. "It started like this…"

About three hours later…Greg and Rio had both learned as much as they can about the celestial legends, C-Genome, Kagami Mikage, the hagoromo from everyone who was affected by these. They then concluded about how much Riku, Nagi and Tot helped them in this, which somehow relieved Greg some of the tension. It was pretty much a hard thing for Greg to understand right away, but he was slowly and surely understanding this was nearly as close to what had happened to him before Dr. Clark and the Patriots took away his family in death and his right arm, then cursed him with a power that's beyond human knowledge.

"So…that's what happened to this day." Chidori spoke. "Since then, we've been living normal, happy lives without any problems from the horrors of our past."

"Damn…I'd never know this thing went really deep. I'm impressed, Riku…for you and your partners to tackle something like that, it must have been out of this world, right?" Greg said.

"You can say that again, but it was certainly worth it." Riku replied.

"So, Greg…you think that the Patriots will stop with what they planned for you and probably, Yuina?" Shuro asked him.

"I'm not sure to say…one thing's for sure, that there will be other people stepping up to get a piece of me. I can live with that…but after knowing what Yuina went through…they will have to kill me first to get to her. She has suffered enough…maybe more than I have…" Greg said seriously.

"Come on, Greg. Don't say that. You're scaring me." Rio patted him.

"Sorry, mom. Didn't really mean it." Greg replied.

"Greg…it seems like your tales is no different than ours." Aki said to him. "All in all, this Reese is worst than Kagami by far…and we want to do what we can to help you, after what Riku and his partners did for us."

"You sure you guys want that?" Greg asked. "I just don't want to get more people involved in my problems…you people are just too nice to be with and I certainly can't risk innocents fighting my war."

"We just may surprise you, Greg." Alec said. "Besides, you're an okay kind of guy, a good person to be friends with. I want to do what I can to help you too."

"Same here." Maya said. "And Greg…your powers, no matter how dreadful they seem, are not a bad thing altogether. You said you've been using them to help those in need, right?"

"It's actually part of my resume." Greg said in a smirk.

"I used to think my C-Genome powers were a punishment for something horrible I did out of my control once…but since they are now sealed, I think back it wasn't the case, especially after hearing what you went through." Maya said. "Greg, I know you're doing an exceptional job helping people with your gifts, but you shouldn't feel sorry for yourself if your power seem like something bad, since the people will see it as a blessing you are around to help them."

"I'm trying my best, kid. But my powers are a lot more complicated than you think..." Greg said, before he was cut off.

"Well, try harder…for Yuina's sake. She's not going to look at you not just as a teacher anymore, by the sound of things." Maya told him. This got Greg thinking a bit, before he nodded his head.

"I see where you getting at. I'll do what I can for her…and myself." Greg replied in a light smile. (Yeesh…now hearing that just wants me to try my hardest to protect everyone…to the point of injuring myself like I did when I had my powers augmented the first time before I fought Mantis.)

"You must be thirsty after all that talking, let us get some more refreshments." Suzumi said, as she got up to get some drinks from the fridge. Greg got up and looked at everyone who was watching him.

"I'm just stepping outside to get some fresh air…I won't be long." Greg said, as he stepped outside on the veranda of the house, the afternoon sun getting closer to dusk. He started to look at the grotesque appearance of his right nano mesh, thinking about what Maya Hirobe told him. (She's right…look at how close I've gotten to Yuina since my battle with Mantis. She looks to me and trusts me more than anyone else, save for Seraph and our friends. It's true that I hate my powers…and my own existence…for letting these things happen…but I can't deny the emotions that build up for failing these people. The Patriots…they knew what they were doing, I commend them for that. But it won't last forever, I can bank on that.)

"Um…Gregory-san?" a young boy's voice called out and snapped Greg out of his train of thought. It was Shota. "Is something bothering you?"

"Ah, sorry…just thinking of something. Nothing to worry about, though." Greg replied as he looked at him. "And just plain Greg would do…I'm not officially a master, you know."

"I see…but from the way you look…" Shota said, examining Greg some more, especially at the nano arm area. "I can't think that you're actually a psychic who can fly planes."

"There's a first for everything, Shota." Greg smiled back at him.

"Just how good can you fly?"

"Just about good enough that no one else in the sky can touch me." Greg replied confidently. "I have managed to get myself and my other FOXHOUND buddies through some tough situations, thanks to my flying skills."

"You must really enjoy it, huh?" Shota asked him.

"Yeah…it gives me…comfort to an extent." Greg said in a serious tone.

"Huh? I don't understand." Shota said, stepping closer to Greg.

"Shota…while I was in the kitchen helping Yuhi, Chidori told me about how that you lost your mom and dad in an accident years ago, and wasn't able to walk since until recently." Greg said. "You…remind me of myself when I lost my parents, plus my sister and my right hand…we both lost people that are irreplaceable, yet have to deal with living with these afflictions for the rest of your life. It's a pain."

"It brings back…bad memories just thinking about it." Shota said. "I missed them, yes…but I think they will be happy to know how Chidori and I are doing, now that I'm able to walk a little just like I used to. And when I get better at it, I want to become a pilot, just like you."

"Really? Is that your ambition, Shota?" Greg asked surprised.

"Yes…ever since I was born. All I wanted to do when I become a pilot was to touch the sky." Shota said. "Did you ever feel that way, Greg?"

"I've never really looked at it that way, but I like your aspiration, kid." Greg said. "Whenever I fly…I only use flying as an excuse to escape my pain and torment as a psychic…it soothes me at times and give me peace of mind. And…also…"

Greg turned around to glance at the sky along with Shota. "So, I can get a chance to at least be close to them…"

"Your parents and your little sis?" Shota asked.

"Yeah…sorry if it sounds a bit too out of place." Greg nervously said.

"No, Greg…I don't think so. I can understand why you want to do that." Shota said. "Maybe one day, when I finally get to fly, I may get to be close to my mom and dad as well."

(Shota…) Greg simply thought, patting him. He can feel a new sense of empathy from Shota, which was very strong. He sensed the hardships he had went through and Greg can easily compare himself to some of them. The most he planned to do is help Shota see his dream come true.

"Say what, Shota?" Greg called to him. "The minute you turn 16 going on 17, call me. I should be able to take you up as a student of flying in my very own Harrier, free of charge."

"Really!?" Shota said in astonishment.

"No lie. I'm always open for new disciples." Greg said. "Also…I'm going to make sure by the time I rejoin FOXHOUND, I'll have more students than all the experienced guys put together ever had. I want you to be among them."

"I…I don't know what to say…" Shota was still trying to believe what he just heard.

"Just say you'll at least think about it."

"How about 'I can't wait till then!'" Shota exclaimed.

"Fine enough for me." Greg rumpled Shota's head. Shota got a feel of Greg's nano arm, as his hair was roughed up by Greg's hand.

(It's sure is rough…but it's really warm and gentle…like the rest of him.) Shota thought to himself with a smile.

"Come on...let's get back inside to the others." Greg said to Shota.

"Okay, Greg." Shota replied with a confident smile to him.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

By the time their meeting with Yuhi, Chidori and the others that came to meet Greg had ended, it was close to sunset. Greg wanted to stay a bit longer, getting to know Shota and the others better, and since he was so compelled by their stories. But he remembered that he promised Yuina that he'd be back in time to help her train, and not to worry her again like he did when he ran into Shiju a day before.

"Do you really have to leave, Greg?" Shota asked him, as Greg put on his Kyo '99 jacket, preparing to leave.

"Hey, man…I really wish that wasn't so, but my student has a tendency to worry too much over what little things that happen to me." Greg said, patting Shota's head.

"I wished you could have stayed a bit more, too…" Shota said in a low tone.

"Ah, don't look so gloomy. I did say I will be back to take you for a ride in my Harrier soon." Greg said, assuring him. "And that is a promise I intend to keep."

"I was hoping that you would be back sooner…"

"Okay…I'll make sure you will see me again before then. Maybe, I can give you some prep lessons before then, huh?" Greg said with a confident smile.

"I would like that." Shota said with a confident smile at Greg.

"Good to hear. Be on the lookout for me…I may be back sooner than you think." Greg smiled at Shota, then he looked at Yuhi, Chidori and everyone else.

"Well, it was certainly a fun day, y'all." Greg said to them. "I really had fun meeting up with all of you, it really had been a pleasure."

"The same with us when we met you, Greg." Yuhi said smiling at Greg. "You shouldn't be afraid to ask for our assistance if you need it."

"Thanks for the offer…I'll surely be considering it for Riku's sake." Greg replied. "Well, it's getting late, and I don't want to be scolded by my own student again."

"Certainly, we won't keep you back." Chidori said. "Hey, maybe when you come back here, Greg, you can bring Yuina along with you."

"Yeah, Yuina will make friends with you really quick, I can already see that." Greg replied. "Well…be seeing you again soon."

"Travel safely when you're getting home, everyone!" Chidori said to Greg and his group, waving to them.

"Don't forget that promise you made, Greg!" Shota shouted. "You have to take me flying with you soon, you got it?"

Greg simply smirked and did a thumbs up with his right nano mesh. "Done deal, Shota. I won't forget it…never ever."

"Be seeing you, guys. And you can bet that it will be very soon." Riku said, before they exited the door of the school. As they left, Yuhi sighed as he looked at Chidori and Suzumi.

"So, what did you guys think?" he asked. "Riku's friend certainly don't like it, but from what he told us personally about what happened, I sense he is definitely more powerful than he looks."

"True, but at times, he gives the impression he isn't…" Suzumi said, shaking her head. "While that is certainly true, he is quite…unique in more ways than one."

"He is, certainly." Alec agreed with her. "It's no wonder why so many corrupt people are after him…I was surprised I myself never heard of this guy while I was still working for you-know-who…"

Yuhi, Aya, Aki and Chidori had a good idea who Alec was referring to.

"Whatever the case, we should do what we can to pitch in to help Riku and Greg in any way." Shuro spoke. "I won't stand by and let people like Reese go on living and continue to ruin people's lives for their own, sick purposes…just like Kagami did."

A mix of agreements and nodding heads from everyone in the room was the reaction to Shuro's quote.

"Hey, count me in!" Shota pitched in. "After meeting Greg today, I know he is doing his best in what he can to help others out…he didn't want what's happened to him, since he was a kid like me to now to happen to anyone else, and now…I want to make sure to learn enough from him to make sure that what happened years ago when I lost my parents, happens to no one else!"

"Well, seems we have to make sure to include you as well, if Greg is such an influence to you, Shota." Chidori said. The younger Kuruma sibling simply smiled at his sister from the comment.

"You guess so, huh?" Shota replied. "I got to admit…he is already becoming sort of my personal hero right away, even though I only now met him."

"You can say that again…he must have certainly influenced the people he meets in some sort of powerful way." Aya said. "I do hope we get to see more of him soon."

"Same here." Yuhi said.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

After Rio and Greg stepped out of the dance school, and as Riku, along with Nagi and Tot followed afterwards to their vehicles, Greg simply stopped near his motorcycle and glanced back at the house. Rio and Riku noticed the now serious look on his face.

"Greggie?" Rio called out to him.

"Is something wrong?" Riku asked him. Greg simply shook his head and looked at Riku.

"Riku…if these people were in so much trouble at the time, how come you didn't tell me about them?" Greg asked seriously.

"Huh? But I didn't think you would have been able to help, since you and Linn were so busy in your own missions in FOXHOUND." Riku replied. Greg simply sighed and shook his head.

"Dammit, Riku…I could care less about the mission. You know that." Greg said. "Sure, I would have put the mission as my main priority if it was under the good Colonel's command, but under Reese's…I would have dropped what I was doing in it sooner before he can complain about it. You know how much I want to use my powers to help others, even if it outside of the mission parameters. I wouldn't mind coming to your assistance at the time you and your partners needed it."

"I knew that for sure, Greg." Riku replied.

"So, why didn't you at least say something about it?" Greg asked. "I don't care just strange this 'celestial legend' thing goes…or how deep it went. All I know is that those people in there were affected by the same enemy that made mess of my life, as well as Mantis and Yuina's. Let's not forget that the Kagami Mikage guy I was told about was just another Reese that had gone too far…those are reasons enough to come on board for the ride you guys were having at the time."

"We see we're you're getting at, Greg. But the mission was assigned to the three of us alone by the Col., Greg." Nagi said.

"Oh, really?" Greg said, now folding his arms. "Well, I guess I should let you slip on this one then. But let's get one thing straight from now on…the next time people you know or you just have friends who are like these people are in trouble, Riku, you have to let me in on it as well. I may not have been able to fully dedicate myself to this sort of thing before in the past, but now that I'm freelancing, I'm available for your disposal anytime you want."

"We'll be sure to remind him of that, Greg." Tot said. "But are you sure this is not some part of your grand plot against Reese and the Patriots, to throw them of course?"

"Part of it is, Tot." Greg replied in a smirk. "The real reason behind this is that I want to repay you guys at least for all the help you did, pitching in with Rio and the rest of Warrior during that thing with Mantis. Just think of this as me saying thanks to the three of you for that."

"Consider it done, Greg." Riku agreed with him.

(Geez…I'm sure if I was part of the fun Riku and his partners had years ago helping Yuhi, Chidori and the others deal with that Kagami Mikage guy, I would have loved giving him a piece of my mind for all those despicable things he had done.) Greg thought to himself. (Gendou Ikari…Matthew Reese…and now Kagami Mikage. Why should such vile cretins like them exist in this world is beyond my comprehension, but it's certainly not beyond my ability to punish them for their crimes, even if it's not by the will of God. Well…at least what's done is done, and I have just one of them to worry about, but who would have thought Reese would prove the most difficult to apprehend, compared to the other two big shots?)

With a simple shake of his head, Greg looked at Rio before he came to her. "Hey, mom…by chance, you could spare me some quarters until I get some change later? All this talk about corrupted wanksters got me riled up that I want to blow some steam at an arcade somewhere. I'll be sure to pay you back later."

"Um…sure, Greggie. Whatever you say." Rio got out her purse and handed Greg a set of quarters.

"Heh…this should be enough." Greg said, counting seven quarters. "I should make quite a commotion with my skills if there's a tournament going on…"

"Can't get enough, can you, Greg?" Riku asked him. "Since you're heading somewhere before getting back home, we might as well come along with you. And don't even think of…"

"Yada, yada…I wasn't going to ditch you, Riku, or your partners…it's becoming quite inevitable that wherever I go, trouble follows me." Greg put up his arms in defeat. "Jeez…I just can't wait to get my life back, so I can do the things I want to do without having you guys baby-sit me all the time. I'm not a damn kid anymore."

"Just hold on a bit longer, Greggie…we'll sort things out soon." Rio nodded her head.

"Yeah, yeah…whatever." Greg said, shrugging Rio's hand off as he started to walk away from them. As Greg was at a good distance from the group, Riku came closer to Rio and patted her shoulder.

"Hey, you alright, Rio?" Riku asked.

"Yeah…it's just something must have pissed Greg off." Rio said in a sad tone. "I've never seen him like this…this is really affecting him to an extent that it's scaring me."

"You and I both." Riku replied. "Want me to find out what's wrong with him?"

"If you want to, but don't try the direct approach, or you will never get an answer from him. He's like that all the time…" Rio said. Riku nodded and ran up to Greg mid way as Nagi and Tot followed behind him.

"Hey, Greg, wait up!" Riku called out to him.

"What is it?" Greg said, without looking.

"I…well…everyone is just worried if something was bothering you, that's all." Riku asked him. Greg stopped his tracks and looked at his younger friend.

"Is that it?" Greg replied. "Here I am thinking that's not the only reason you tagged along with me."

"Greg…are you still upset Riku didn't tell you about Chidori, Yuhi and the others?" Tot asked him.

"Ah, it's not that." Greg replied. "It was…something else that came into mind. But that's nothing major to be worried about. I'm fine now…"

"To me, it sounds like you're not." Riku answered. "Greg…I know you're going through a great deal of stress right now, but…that's not a reason to vent your anger towards us."

"I'm not angry at any of you…I…I just still have problems trying to understand myself and this thing with the Patriots." Greg said solemnly. "What is it that they really want with me? If they have some kind of plan for me, why they haven't done anything to make their plans work, huh? All I can say is that something very nasty is coming up…something even you three can't comprehend."

"What is it that you mean by that, Greg?" Nagi asked him.

(I really can't tell them that this thing about 3rd Impact is bothering me at the moment…now isn't the right time. I don't want to make them quake in terror, these good kids….) Greg thought.

"Ah! Gregory-san! Gregory-san!" a cheery woman's voice called out to him from a distance. Greg looked at the side along with the others and saw a Japanese woman, with long, straight, red hair that has big, bouncy curls at the ends, wearing a red vest top over a white dress shirt, and a long black jeans. Her hands were fitted with red, amulet like cufflinks and white gloves. She was waving frantically at Greg from her end of the street.

"Aw, crap. Look, let's talk about it next time, okay?" Greg said to Riku and comp. as giant a sweat drop fell behind his head. (At least I was saved from telling Riku and his partners the sad details about 3rd Impact from the ditz…that will have to wait till a next time.)

"You know her, Greg?" Riku asked.

"Yeah…unfortunately." Greg replied. "She's another one of the recent KOF entries, Mignon Beart. Came in around the KOF 10th Anniversary tournaments a while back."

"She seems nice enough…" Nagi said, trying not to gaze at her chest, which were around the same measurements of Mai Shiranaui. Tot gave him a quick death stare to make Nagi focus what was in front of him.

"Yeah….Mignon is really nice to be with, and you got to admire her spirit and determination, but, she's a social disaster." Greg said, twirling a finger from his nano arm at the side of his head. "Her head's isn't set in the right place, so out there. And she has a habit in referring to herself in third person in conversations all the time. It's really screwy."

"Hey, Mignon heard all of that!" she pointed at Greg once she came over. "Gregory-san has no shame at all, do you?"

"See what I mean?" Greg said, causing Nagi and Tot to laugh a bit. Mignon only waved a finger at Greg.

"Gregory-san has no shame." Mignon said with a big smile. "You haven't changed a bit."

"I can say the same to you, though it's obvious." Greg simply said.

"You don't want to make Mignon mad!" the woman shouted at him. "I can easily just smother you with my magic before you know what's happening."

"Aw, please, girl. Not tonight." Greg placed a hand over his head. "You should use more of your time trying to get along with the rest of the human race, and less of it on reading too much of them damn magic books. And besides…your magic attacks can't do much against me, much less dent my psychic shield."

"Magic books?" Riku asked.

"Yeah…Mignon here is on a mission to bring through world peace using magic." Greg said.

"That's not a bad idea…" Tot said.

"See? Mignon would know someone who agrees when Mignon knows it." She said.

"Don't let it get to your head, woman." Greg said. "I don't think humanity is going to accept magic as part of their lives just yet. It's just too sudden."

"Never say never…isn't that what YOU always told me, Gregory-san?" Mignon reminded him.

"Okay, okay…you win." Greg threw up his arms. "What are you doing around anyway, Mignon?"

"Since you were not part of KOF this year, you wouldn't know." Mignon said. "The tournament's over for the time being, so everyone is having an after party at a newly opened night club opened by theMeira brothers for the Japan residence. They name it 'La Illusions."

"You don't say?" Rio asked surprised. "Hey, Greggie…maybe Kyo and Iori are there as well. Maybe you can ask them something concerning your new powers and what's happened so far."

"My thoughts exactly." Greg smirked. "Besides…I am a party animal, so this is something I can't resist. Hey, Riku…you and your buddies better have legal ID's if you want to come along and meet some stars."

"We're old enough to go to these sort of places, Greg." Riku smiled at him.

"Yeah, this may sound like a lot of fun." Nagi nodded his head.

"I've always wanted to meet the people that Greg has faced in combat so often." Tot said, eagerly waiting to get moving.

"Then it's settled." Greg said, getting unto his motorcycle as Rio sat behind him and Mignon sat in Riku's car. "To the La Illusions club we go."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

ShardclawK: How about that for another amazing update? I do hope I can have the Ceres characters appear again soon in this story, I'm having so much fun portraying them thus far. I also hoped you liked the appearance of Mignon as well, I'm planning more of the KOF: Maximum Impact characters show up not just next chapter alone, but later on in this fic as well.

Youji: Which goes straight to one of the explanations of the Easter Eggs: Shardclaw had some difficulty about to interpret Mignon and the other Maximum Impact characters, that is until he read a chapter for one of his favourite stories, namely, 'Capcom vs. SNK: Infiltration' written by Lyrix of Azn Ethix. If you're into game crossovers, that fic is for you. I'm sure you'll be pleased by the numerous cast members in it, and the detailed history of each game involved. Yes, it is THAT massive, but highly enjoyable.

Ken: Also, the Greg and Linn flashback was from another one of Shardclaw's favourite scenes from the old Street Fighter cartoon, which Ken and Ryu did just the same thing because Ken was called the 'World's Strongest Warrior.' Sounds like Greg alright. Sucks that it was Ken who ended up sick though…and it was also the chance to finally reveal the 'Still In the Dark' dual tech that Greg and Linn share. I wanted to do it in a later chapter for COE, but this story seemed better to put it in, so I hope you enjoyed the little story surrounding it.

ShardclawK: And the description of the tournament Greg explained was actually TRUE. I myself saw this on a friend's comp and was shocked to see this display of parrying skills. The 'Ode to the Two Hit Combo' is also another wicked amv that has to be seen. Stuff like that can bee seen on sites like Evo2k. com and Gamecombos. Com which have combos which will stun you.

Just then, a group of girls stepped in, which were Deedlit of the Lodoss War anime series, and next to her were Ryoko, Ayeka, Mihoshi, Washu, Kiyone, Mitsuki, Nagi, Sakuya, Mayuka, Kiriko and Amane of the long running Tenchi series. They were all wearing revealing, skin tight leather body suits, and they all had they chest areas exposed, as Ryoko and Mihoshi started to huddle me against their chests.

Ryoko: Happy New Year, Shardclaw.

ShardclawK: Let me guess…all of you from Tempest alone, huh? Considering what he and DF did on Christmas day to give me a near life and death experience when all the girls were released from their limiters…I do hope your plans for me aren't the same as well…I'm still…recuperating from the experience.

Ayeka: You don't have to worry, we will be gentle on you. Of course…only heaven knows what DF's shipment will do to you before the next COE posting.

ShardclawK: Yeah…you better start your fun with me before I won't get the chance to deal with them. On to the bedroom, girls…I'm all yours.

As I get carried off, the Weiss boys get miffed at this.

Ran: Here we go again…new year, same reception…

Youji: I do hope the next update will answer some of the exciting things we have seen for this chapter, not to mention our return soon as well. Stay around for more surprises that we're sure you'll enjoy. As for now, review and see you next update.

Collis aka ShardclawKusanagi.


	23. The Hunted, Part 4

Disclaimer: The same as before, as I don't own anyone excepting Greg and the story, while I also do not own anyone of the new OC's, Yukimura Sanada, that will eventually show up later on in this story. They all belong to GreyWolf4. Without further ado…

ShardclawK: Amen…another start of a new chapter for everyone's favourite psychic soldier who just wants to protect everyone around him, while evading, and eventually, causing trouble, has just begun. Thanks to everyone who stuck around for the last update of this fic, and the last COE chapter, dealing with the 15th Angel. Boy, that chapter was something, huh? But that compares little to what I got in store for this fic soon, later on and onwards!

Ran: What's that suppose to mean, Shardclaw?

ShardclawK: Now, I can't go revealing that now, can't I, Ran? Let's just say this story will be HUGE in terms of twists and arcs. You're all in for a lot surprises starting from this chapter. Just make sure you have knowledge of the KOF: Maximum Impact characters, because I actually put a lot of them in this chapter alone!

Youji: Don't forget about the recaps, or are you just waiting on the right time to summarise everything?

ShardclawK: That's right…you guys will be seeing some neat changes and additions to make this fic beyond great, so hang onto your seats! The recaps of everything that happen so far will come soon, but for now, enjoy this update, while I enjoy the latest shipments from DF from the last COE chapter.

Ran: Here he goes again….

From the stage door, Mei Momozono, Yayoi Kuribayashi, Hakuki Kakio of the ecchi anime, Mouse step in, wearing French, maid uniforms, as Cutey Honey's Honey Kisaragi and Onegai Twins's Miina Miyafuji and Karen Onodera step in, all three of them wearing sexy, lace bustiers. Mei and Yayoi came close enough to 'gang up' on me.

Mei: Shardclaw-sama…you must still be tired from all the writing for the last COE chapter. Let us carry you into the master bedroom and give you pure satisfaction to ease your tension.

Yayoi: Maybe this will convince you to make up your mind faster…?

ShardclawK: No, no…NO! What did I tell you girls about trying to attract me in front of the audience? If you're going to do that, do it with less enticement from now on. Aw, hell…I might as well 'discipline' you for behaving so badly this way. Boys, I leave the rest of this to you as always.

Omi: He tends to get to even the fanboys like this, huh, Youji?

Youji: That's true…but I sense a moment of truth for us approaching soon. We will have to sit back and see what happens in this update. As always, happy reading and enjoy.

* * *

ShardclawKusanagi presents:

Metal Gear: Soldier X

Chapter 22: The Hunted, Part 4

* * *

Earlier that same evening, while Greg, Rio, Riku and his partners had left the dance school where they spent the afternoon with Suzumi, Yuhi, Chidori and the others affected by Kagami Mikage, there was a new plot of evil being created in Thorn's private laboratory, as the scientist who was able to manipulate genes into Shiju, was researching some of the genes and medical records he had snagged during his short fight with Greg Kinezono. He wanted to find out for himself what is it that had Greg so powerful and try to emulate the theory used for Greg's DNA for his experiments. Hopefully if he approaches good results, he can increase his own strength by implanting some of Greg's DNA into his.

So far, he was nearing the end of his research. Greg's fight with Shiju was only a test to see how Greg is able to against his experiments. But Shiju was killed by Greg.

"A small price to pay for the extent of research I have done just to get close to you, Kinezono…It was worth it." Thorn spoke to himself, watching his microscope.

Looking back to his monitor, Thorn had just enhancing the powers Mokuren possessed. Mokuren happens to be part of a living plant and one of the Hokage and Uruha's past enemies who had a pleasure of killing women. However, Mokuren wasn't the only one Thorn had hoped to create against Greg's strength. He had several 'volunteers' work under him, who were brave enough to become BOW's for Thorn. Soon, Thorn will have an army of these super soldiers with genetic and superhuman advantages, just with enough power to challenge Greg, as well as the friends among him.

"How's the test coming along, Thorn?" Mokuren asked Thorn, who seemed to be finishing his research.

"I'm closing in to the source of Kinezono's powers…they are something even I have never seen before. No wonder the Patriots want him so badly." Thorn spoke. "Ah…it seems that the report have just been completed."

"Thanks to your subordinate, Drake who supplied us with some more military information on Kinezono, he shouldn't be so hard to find." Mokuren spoke.

"It will all come together soon…when he attacked me, I placed a nanotransmitter into his body. He won't even notice us watching his every move…" Thorn spoke, before he glanced at the monitor one final time. "Ah…and here comes the final verdict…"

"**Name: Gregory Matthews. Age: 26. Nationality: Afro-Trinidadian. Educational History: Unknown. Military History: Access Denied." **The report said on Greg's profile screen. "**Medical Records: Unable to analyze**."

"Hmm…even by me, this is a challenge." Thorn spoke, rubbing his chin.

"Thorn, it seems someone doesn't want people like you to know too much about Greg." Mokuren spoke.

"I'm certain Reese is one of them." Thorn spoke. "But that won't stop me…this is only a small setback. I'll eventually know more on our psychic soldier…but for now, I'll only focus on locating his whereabouts, so you can begin the second test…the test where you will come into play, Mokuren."

Mokuren only laughed at Thorn with a tone of twisted pleasure. "I can hardly wait."

* * *

At the same time back at NERV headquarters near the Evangelion cages…

"So, that's what he is going to do." Michael Hansen was speaking to another person over the Codec. "I'm not certain what he is up to, or when he is going to see about this mission, but I was hoping that if it's not any trouble that you go and watch after him for the time being?"

A calm, male voice spoke from the other end of the Codec. "Why certainly, Michael…although your friend may look like he could take care of himself, I'll do what I can to assist him whenever he needs it."

"Oh…and one more thing you should know." Michael said. "His girlfriend personally suggested it…Greg has this serious concern about his…reputation. He probably doesn't want his new talents to be overshadowed…especially by someone like yourself, so if it's not any trouble, don't get too involved with his actions, no matter how offending they may seem. He has a way of getting this through people, one way or another. Try if you can to convince him he needs your help, but don't give him the impression too highly. He is a bit stubborn, and that could get him killed."

"I see. That means I should keep my history from him a secret for awhile."

"He will learn eventually…he sounded different enough from the last time I talked to him, that he is getting well aware of what's happening around him, thanks to his powers."

"Should I make preparations to leave right away?"

"You should, sensei. But don't go to him just yet." Michael replied. "He is probably still training his mind and body just for the mission and knowing Greg now, he won't take new allies so soon so lightly."

"Understood. I do hope Greg himself will understand that I'm only trying to help."

"I leave the rest of this in your hands, sensei Sanada." Michael said, before he logged off.

-

In front of the La Illusions night club as the evening was now fully night time, Greg had stopped his motorcycle as he and his surrogate mother, Rio Kinezono stepped off. Right behind them, Riku, Nagi Naoe and Tot stepped out, while Mignon Beart went up straight to the door, where a long line of spectators of the King of Fighters and partygoers alike was seen queued from one corner of the street to the door of the club.

"Geez….this place is packed." Rio said, amazed at the huge crowd. "How will we ever going to get inside, Greg?"

"Leave that to me." Greg spoke, standing close to Mignon at the door. There were two bouncers who were letting people in after checking their ID's. "Excuse me, gents…I was hoping you would allow me and my friends inside. I have to speak with the champions of KOF."

"Sorry, kid…no one under 18 allowed in here." One of the bouncers said, shoving Greg aside. Greg only smirked at this and stepped back up.

"You must be mistaken…I'm way over the legal age, as does everyone else in my group." Greg spoke. "If you don't believe me, go ask Chizuru Kagura and just mention Greg Kinezono is here to see her."

Both bouncers looked at Greg in surprise at this, when they took a closer look at him.

"Wait…you're THE Greg Kinezono that is training under the two champions, Kyo Kusanagi and Iori Yagami?" one of them asked.

"Hey, let's not forget…this is also Geese Howard's student as well." The other spoke, now starting to sound frightened at learning this about Greg. Suddenly, they stepped aside, showing a way into the club. "Uh…both of them were expecting you, Gregory-san. Please, you and your friends can come and go as much as you please. Compliments of the management."

"Now, that wasn't so hard, wasn't it?" Greg said, smiling at the bouncers, now turning to his friends. "Okay, guys, follow me. Watch your step."

After Mignon and Greg's group entered, they were all welcomed by a lively, party environment, as neon lights flashed all over the large, single room, packed with people, talking, laughing and dancing together. Sexy and cute waitresses dressed in short, tight dress shirt tops and small mini skirts walked by Greg and the others, serving drinks to the people who were in their seats and tables, while J-pop and techno soundtracks played all over. Greg can see the DJ for the club was none other than, Duck King, who was happily changing music to the rhythm every few minutes. Greg can also see a female bartender of American decent in her late thirties with short blonde hair, serving drinks to the men and women who were there, mingling with the KOF participants. It was truly an enjoyable scene.

"Yeah! Now THIS is what I call a party!" Greg said, looking amazed at the sight of people around him. "Hope I find some familiar faces…"

"Mignon knows where Kyo and Iori will be by now. Want Mignon to show you, Greg-san?" Mignon said, grabbing his arm.

"Sure thing, but please don't make this an excuse for a date!" Greg said, before he caught Rio ogling over some of the good and strong looking fighters from KOF. She was seen talking to Ash Crimson, a French male with white, curled hair and freckles under his eyes who could use green flames. He was wearing a red jumpsuit. Next to him were his friends from the new Hero Team, Duo Lon and Shen Woo. They were both ogling over Rio in her casual outfit, though she never intended to come out clubbing after coming with Greg to meet Chidori, Aya and the others.

"And what's a pretty mademoiselle like yourself is doing here by your lonesome, eh?" Ash asked coolly, coming unto Rio, as she blushed at the sight of the three men eyeing her.

"Um…geez…I'm only here on business…" Rio stuttered, her heart racing. (Oh, please, Greggie…please, don't see me like this…)

"Ash! Step away from my mom…if you want to live." Greg said seriously at the two of them. Ash simply smirked at Greg and stood up straight.

"Greg Kinezono…good to see that you're still alive after all that I have been hearing about you." Ash spoke. "You're much more harder to kill than a cockroach."

"Still the cocky assed show off, huh, Ash?" Greg replied, while smiling. Then he grabbed Rio's collar. "Anyway, I would like to stay and chat, but business before pleasure is on my agenda for this evening. I only came to see Kyo, Iori and Chizuru."

"I won't keep you back, then." Ash bowed to Greg. "Just don't let Linn know that you're seeing Mignon now of all people…something is so wrong with that picture."

Greg only growled at Ash, as Riku and his partners only laughed in the background listening. Greg then only shook his head as he faced Riku.

"Riku…I promise you and your partners will get to meet the legendary flame wielders of KOF, but not yet. There are some things I have to confirm first with them." Greg said to Riku. "Anyway…that is Ash, one of the new flame wielders of KOF…why don't you three go on ahead and mingle with him and everyone else in here. I'm sure you'll bump into someone familiar."

"Then that means that the Ikari team must be here as well…we'll go look for them." Riku spoke. "We'll be at the bar if you want to find us, Greg."

Greg nodded to his reply, before getting yanked by Mignon away while still holding unto Rio, away from Ash.

"Don't keep Mignon waiting any longer!" she said.

"Aw, jeez…" Greg said feeling embarrassed. He then turned to Rio, who was looking at him with a flustered look. "Hey, mom…don't let that Ash get to you, he's trouble."

"It can't be helped when I'm in a club full of strong, single hunks!" Rio exclaimed. "But you what else I like when I'm at a place like this, Greg?"

"What?"

"That you're always there to protect me from certain creeps if they try anything." Rio said as she smiled Greg.

"Yeah…in case Riku and his buddies didn't know…I've walked right into a hornets nest. This place is full of people who hates my guts." Greg said seriously. "Good thing Yuina is still a teen, and isn't here with us. The last thing I need, is to start some kind of…"

"GREG KINEZONO! I'VE FINALLY FOUND YOU" a male voice shouted from behind, somehow muting out the loud dance music in the club. Greg, Rio and Mignon stopped their tracks as they turned around and saw a young American teen, with short bleached blonde hair and was wearing a red and white jacket with a star on its' back. He was wearing motorcycle gloves and a tight black jeans. Next to him was a young girl with blue hair that was tied into two side ponytails by yellow ribbons. She was wearing a sky blue Chinese shirt and a white pants.

"…trouble." Greg said, as he turned to face the one calling him. Greg simply placed his hands in his pockets and watched Rock Howard, Geese's own son approach him with a look of opposition that would cut air in the room. The enmity between these two men is surely something that would intensify a fight, but to Rock, this was personal. He wanted vengeance against Geese, and anything associated with him…Greg included.

"Where's my father!" Rock grabbed Greg by the collar as he spoke. "I knew you spoke to him recently…were you two scheming something against me and Terry! Answer me!"

"Cool it, will you, Rock!" Greg said, pushing away his arm. "I didn't come here to start a fight…I only came to see…"

"Enough! I won't stand and listen to your lies!" Rock said, as a purple flame started to cover his fist.

"No! Rock!" the young girl stepped in front of him and spread her arms in front of him, defending Greg. It happened to be Hotaru Futaba, who cared a lot for Rock to be his girlfriend. "Not here! You promised me that you won't start any fight if you see anyone who's been associated with Geese. You came here with me as a date…not to cause any bloodshed! You promised me that!"

Rock only looked at the girl, before calming down with a sigh. "H-Hotaru….I'm so sorry. What just came unto me?"

"Dammit, Rock…that's why specifically I didn't want to start a fight. You're still having problems controlling that power you have." Greg spoke, staring at him seriously. "And you got to drop this senseless pursuit of going after Geese all the time…it's not healthy."

"I could care less…you and I…still have our differences." Rock warned Greg. "When the day comes when we fight each other again, I shall learn what is it that my father has been hiding from me, even if I have to beat it out of you!"

"How many times will you keep trying and failing, Rock?" Greg said, now starting to walk away. "Do yourself a favour…just focus on keeping Hotaru company for awhile and we'll have our match on a timing. You're just not ready for me yet, kid."

"We'll see about that, Greg." Rock said, now grinning as Hotaru playfully punched him to get his mind set on making her feel glad for the remainder of the date.

"Rock!" Hotaru said to him, as he looked at her. "That's it! No more threats for you until you behave yourself!"

"Aw, come on, Hotaru! It's not like I didn't mean it…" Rock tried to confess to the girl, as she simply pouted at him. Greg only smirked at the two, as he was approaching closer to a private room upstairs where Kyo Kusanagi was chatting to Chizuru Kagura. He wasn't the only one there, as his girlfriend, Yuki was at his side as well. In the room, Shingo Yabuki, Benimaru Nikado and Goro Daimon was seated on a separate couch, enjoying the party down below.

"Greg….I've overheard you were in the area from Yuri and Mai, so I thought I had this party held here, so you can see me." Chizuru spoke, shaking his right hand. "Good to see that you're still alive and well."

"Good to see you again, Chizuru, and everyone else at KOF, though I was never to take part of it this year." Greg said, while looking at everyone. He didn't see Iori. "Hey, where is Iori anyway?"

"He's downstairs at the bar, probably getting plastered with Leona." Kyo said simply.

"I see…well, I guess I can ask him just before I leave." Greg said sitting down. "Sensei Kyo…there's something I have to ask of you."

"I guess it's about your powers, huh?" he replied.

"It most certainly is." Greg replied. "I should start however from when it all began…you guys are for one hell for a story."

* * *

So, after an hour had passed of Greg telling Chizuru and Mignon, along with Kyo and his team about how Geese helped Greg augmented his powers before fighting Mantis, and his fight with Shiju. After the important details were learned, Kyo only shook his head.

"That really sucks ass, Greg. I'm certain that you're going to get to the bottom of who's trying to get you like this?" Kyo asked.

"Yes…but that's being taken care of." Greg said. "I'm really concerned if my powers of wielding a flame will have an effect on my mental being?"

"You should be asking me that, Greg." Another man's voice said as Greg and Rio turned around and saw Iori Yagami, arm in arm with Leona Heidern of the Ikari Team. Greg stood up and started to bow at Iori.

"Sensei Iori." Greg said.

"I met three of your FOXHOUND friends downstairs at the bar earlier who said that you were here, so after getting acquainted with them, I decided to check up on you after hearing what you had gone through." Iori spoke.

"Okay then. To make the long story short, how can I fully control my powers without going into a possible Blood Riot?" Greg asked. "Even if my powers are not like yours, the amount of emotions I pick up in battle is enough to drive me crazy…any suggestions?"

"Well, Greg…it's not a simple task to easily gain a mental barrier, when your powers rely on bloodlust. It's possible that you will lose control of your sanity like me and Leona did during the KOF '96 and '97 tournaments." Iori spoke.

"He's right about that." Leona spoke. "All it takes is the triggering of bad memories just to set the Riot off. There's no sense fighting it."

"Damn…but my powers never originated with either the Orochinagi or the Kusanagi clans…it's nearly just the same." Greg said, thinking to himself. "Are you saying something like that HAS to happen?"

"I'm afraid so, Greg." Leona said, shaking her head sadly.

Greg only stared in silence, before he spoke. "So…there will be a time my own powers will betray me once again. Is there no salvation whatsoever for me if I want to live peacefully, just to protect everyone?"

"Greggie…" Rio said, feeling the sadness in his voice. It was then Kyo stood up.

"Don't think that is entirely bad news, Greg. There is hope." Kyo said.

"Really?"

"Since you rely on psychic powers and your own original training from Geese to emulate our fighting skills, the effects you may have will not be permanent, though they will remain lethal." Kyo said. "Iori and Leona had to find ways to control their bloodlusts and the Riot was under their control."

"Meaning…we can summon the Riot at will if we wanted to, while keeping control." Iori said. "But chances are that for someone who draws these negative emotions without even siphoning them, are very slim."

"So…even if I tried to control my version of the Riot…it would just overpower me."

"Yes…but there is a way that you can somehow…merge with it." Iori said, causing everyone in the room to stare at him in shock, Greg and Kyo included.

"What! A merging with the Riot!" Shingo exclaimed.

"That's crazy!" Benimaru shouted. "Greg…don't even think about it."

"He should…it's the only way he can stay stable if he don't want to lose control of himself the next time he is in a serious fight." Iori spoke. "So, Greg…what it will be? A psychic like yourself should be able to create a way to find the source of your siphoning of emotional resonance and put it together with your skills. You'll be even stronger than ever, and ready to detect when something's wrong."

"I….I'm not really sure if I could do that." Greg said, with some doubt in his voice. "Why the hell Geese didn't mention something like this to me before!"

"He has his reasons." Chizuru spoke. "That is probably a forbidden art that even you shouldn't take up…until today, if you want to save your sanity."

"Great…just great." Greg said, placing his hands under his chin. (Sounds like I got to make another appointment back to the Guardian Dogs temple soon…)

"Don't give up hope, Greg." Kyo said. "You're not the quitter type and I'm sure you will find a way to prevent something bad from happening when your powers go out of control. You have our backing as always."

"Too bad we can't test you to see if you've improved in your training…" Iori spoke.

"I wished I can say yes, but not tonight." Greg said, then a smile came on his face. "But…there is a way we can still have a spar…Chizuru, just how much trouble it is to arrange a new KOF tournament in…Tokyo-3?"

"That's no problem, Greg. I can easily arrange it as early as next week." She replied. "Why did you ask?"

Greg's grin got bigger as he explained his plan to her and everyone else in the room.

* * *

Back downstairs at the bar, Riku was in the middle of a conversation with General Heidern of the Ikari team, as they talked about the times they had with Michael Hansen before he joined FOXHOUND. Nagi and Tot were also chatting along with Ralf Jones and Clark Steel. Sitting next to them were Yuri Sakazaki and her husband, Robert Garcia. Ryo Sakazaki was sitting with his sparring partner, Robert , while King served everyone the drinks. Seth, Ramon, Lin and Vanessa can be seen in one group, sharing jokes with each other.

It was karaoke time, and Athena Asimiya was singing one of her popular songs on stage. Jhun of the Korea Team was smothered with fascination watching his personal pop idol sing on stage, while Kim Kapwhan, Choi Bounge, Chae Lim, and Chang Boehan had to watch in embarrassment seeing a grown man like this.

Soiree and his brother, Alba Meira was overlooking the events of the club from a reserved section just for them. Alba is known to be the 'Devil of Daybreak.', while Soiree was the 'Twilight Angel.' Though the two of them were close, they were complete opposites. Alba is more of the serious and calm type, while Soiree was very talkative.

"So…Greg is here, just as we thought." Alba said coolly, his red tinted shades placed over his eyes, while he wore his red, slick clothing.

"Bro, we should let him know that we're here as well." Soiree said, as he danced lightly to the sounds to the dance floor. The two of them were hoping to use this club to unite the fighters for a chance of a good time. They also had plans of putting aside the differences the gangs of SouthTown had and group them together to restore order to the city, after much corruption had turned it upside down, not to mention NESTS destroying part of the city just before the Second Impact.

"I've been thinking…we should make Greg our spokesman to unite the gangs of SouthTown." Alba spoke. "He has a way with people, he can certainly do it."

Soiree looked at his brother in surprise. "Dun, dun, dun…so, it's come to that, huh?"

Alba wanted so badly to smack his brother upside the head. "You can get on people's nerves so easily."

"Not like Mignon, though." Soiree said, smiling. "We have to catch Greg before he goes."

"Okay, we'll go and look for him." Alba said, stepping out of the private room with his brother.

Back at the bar, Riku was now talking to Hinako and her younger sister, Malin Shijou. Malin had short, blonde hair and was wearing a cute, brown tank top and white miniskirt. Her choice of attacks was using yo-yos. Tot was chatting with Terry Bogard, Joe Higashi, Blue Mary Ryan, and Tizoc. Nagi was seated next to Mai Shiranuai, talking about Michael as usual, when he spotted another blonde wearing a black and yellow body fitting jump suit, the chest area open for the men to see. Her arms and knee areas had green transmitter like discs that decorated the suit. The woman saw Nagi watching her.

"Can I help you with something?" she asked him, causing him to gulp a bit.

"Ah….no. Nothing really." Nagi replied, shaking any dirty thoughts from his mind. "You just looked like someone I've seen before."

"Really?" she replied, giving off a British accent. "Well, I've never seen you in KOF before. Are you one of the civilians?"

"You can say that. I'm here with some friends on a visit." Nagi replied.

"It's wonderful to have friends who can trust you…" the woman replied, in a gentle tone. "Take my advice and be faithful to them, they are the ones who will need it the most."

"I'll…I'll remember that, ma'am." Nagi said, bowing to her. "Um, thanks."

"Anytime." Nagi said, smiling. (She's not so bad as I thought…)

"Having fun, Nagi?" a jealous Tot asked him suddenly, wielding a harisen in her hand. Riku was behind her, snickering to himself watching this.

"It's not like that, Tot." Nagi said quickly, blushing a little. "It's just that I'm sure I've seen that woman somewhere before."

"Do you know her?" Tot asked.

"No, I don't think so..." Nagi then turned back to Tot. "Are you sure you haven't seen her before?"

"Well..." Tot then turned and looked at the woman for a few minutes. "Actually..." She then turned back to Nagi and Riku. "Nope, never seen her before." This caused both Riku and Nagi to sweatdrop at that.

(Couldn't she have just said that sooner?) Riku thought.

"Hey, what's going on?" Greg asked as he and Rio came back into the dance floor.

"Nothing much, Nagi just seems to have recognized someone." Riku answered and gestured over to the woman. "You know most of the people here, any ideas who it is?"

"You mean Lien?" Greg asked, now seeing the woman who Riku was referring to. (A.N: Pronounced 'Lee-ann'.)

"Lien..." Nagi said and then his eyes widened as he remembered something. "Hold on is she the assassin Lien Neville?"

"Yeah, you know her?" Greg asked.

"No, but I've heard of her and now I remember where I've seen her before." Nagi answered. "Back when I was still in Schwartz, I was doing a bit of a look around for info on other assassins and assassin groups that could end up as enemies later on. I eventually found some pretty extensive info on her after doing some pretty hefty digging along with a picture."

"A picture, huh?" Tot started to wave the harisen about. "I'm sure that is enough to make you think more than just about finding about her!"

"Wait, Nanami! I was only doing my job then!" Nagi backed up from her.

"Tot, relax. I don't think Nagi was flirting with Lien." Greg said with a grin on his face. "Besides, I don't think someone like her wants any romance for the moment…the last I heard about Lien, she was still pursuing revenge for her family who died at the hands of don Duke."

"Oh…" Tot lowered her stance. "I didn't know…it must be really sad for her."

"Yeah." Greg said, then eyed Nagi and Tot. "Hey….why don't you two cheer her up at least? Seems to me Lien enjoys your company, Nagi."

"Hey, that could work. I'll introduce Tot to her and chat with her a bit." Nagi said. "Who knows…we three may have something in common."

Tot nodded as she and Nagi went over and talked with Lien. Greg, Riku and Rio looked on as Soiree and Alba came up to them. Behind them were Kyo and Iori.

"Yo, Greg!" Alba called to him. "Got time?"

"Hey, Alba…Soiree." Greg saw the two and shook their hands. "What's up?"

"I was wondering if we could have a discussion about merging the gangs of SouthTown together soon." Alba said.

"Sounds like a plan…but I somehow overstayed my welcome." Greg said, then started to eye around. "Besides…the heat's just too high right now…I don't want to start something with K', K9999, Cy-Kusanagi, Mirror Kusanagi and the rest of the damn Kyo clones ranging from 1 to 3 in this place."

"I see…at least you've considered about it?" Alba said.

"Sure, I have, as long you hold your end of the bargain." Greg said, smiling. (Boy…this is one of the reasons why I have to try my best to protect everyone, but I do hope Chizuru holds her end to the plan.)

* * *

"Finally…we're home." Greg said, as he, Rio, Nagi, Riku and Tot entered the living room, tired from the events of the day back at the Uruha mansion. "Man…I am so tired, I can sleep right here on the couch."

"Hey, Greg…aren't you forgetting something?" Riku asked, with a light smile.

"What?" Greg asked, now seeing Yuina and Nan-bot leaping from the top of the staircase and getting ready to ambush Greg. "Aw, hell!"

"Sempai!" Yuina shouted, as she glomped Greg at the side, and Nan-bot knocked Greg down flat on his stomach. Yuina then started to punch away on Greg's back.

"You are a big liar! You said you'd be back to train with me and Nagi!" Yuina said.

"Give me a break, Yuina!" Greg said, getting up. "I had some…setbacks just after meeting more of Riku's friends."

"Oh…then what's with all the lipstick on your jacket?" Yuina pointed to him. Greg slapped his forehead.

"That came from an encore Greg did when he was performing rap on the karaoke earlier…" Rio snickered.

"Damn….Mignon." Greg said, shaking his head. "That girl is really trouble…"

"Who?" Kurei asked, as he and Neon was watching what was happening.

"Oh…the people from KOF had this party just after we left Yuhi's place, so Greg only wanted to see Kyo and Iori, uncle Kurei." Riku said.

"Yeah, we met so many cool people while we was there." Nagi spoke.

"We made lots of new friends and had lots of fun!" Tot exclaimed happily.

"And I wasn't invited?" Yuina glared at Greg.

"It was an 18 club…there was no way you could have been allowed to enter." Greg said. "Anyway…Nan-bot, why are you here?"

"BZZT. SINCE SERAPH REQUESTED IT, I'M TO TAKE THE RESPONSIBILTY OF TRAINING YUINA UNTIL YOU HAVE ARRIVED, BUT YOU NEGLECTED YOUR RESPONSIBILTIES, GREG." Nan-bot spoke. "IT'S TIME FOR YOUR PUNISHMENT! ACTIVATING FILE NO…"

"Damn…it wants to tango with me." Greg said, rubbing his head. "Okay, Yuina, Nagi….while Nan-bot gets prepared, we get ready ourselves. Don't hold anything back!"

"Okay, sensei!" They both jokingly said at the same time.

"This is going to be another long night…" Greg said to himself, taking up the Ascension.

* * *

Moments after training Yuina, Nagi and Nan-bot for an hour in the VR simulator rooms, Greg was already in his private room in the Uruha mansion. He was so exhausted from all the fun activities today and was in need of a relaxing, cold shower.

"Aye…I am so tired as hell, I could just sleep myself back into a coma." Greg said, getting out of his clothes. His room was still a mess from all the research, scheming, and notes he had done since he started to live at the Uruha, but at least he made sure to keep it clean, so he won't other people know about his privacy.

Now out of his clothing, Greg can see clearly the diagonal, deep scar cross his chest that Shiju made during his battle while he was protecting Tessa. It looked like it was going to heal that easily, as were some of the other wounds Greg had gained from his fight with Shade, then Mantis.

"Man…if this keeps up, Linn will go crazy seeing these." Greg said, touching his chest with his right hand, made from the new nanomesh. "And if that's the case, I won't be able to get serious with the mission Geese left me to do…because tomorrow, I got to go back to meet Ran and his buddies from Weiss again before I can do anything. Seems like I'm only surrounded with one problem after another…but I will not falter…for everyone's depending on me now. I can't afford to fail them…now after meeting people like Shota, Yuhi, Chidori, Aya and the others who were affected by the evils of this world."

Greg looked at his side and on the computer desk, had the folder and package that marked, 'Greg's Virtuous Mission. For _Soldier X_'s eyes only.' Before he made up his mind to touch it, he then saw a cell phone near the alarm clock ring. He tried to remember what it was, until he saw the name of the person and the amount of messages on it.

"Of course…there's ALWAYS the other setbacks as well…him included." Greg said to himself loudly before reaching out to pick the cell up and answering it. "Yeah, old man…what do you want?"

"Greg…so good to hear that you're in high spirits as always. Or have I caught you at a bad time?" Robert Drake's voice replied from the other end.

"Not really, just had a day full of activities. You know…meeting friends old and new, training apprentices, finding and sorting intel, while finding plots for revenge." Greg simply replied as he was examining some of the unhealed wounds he had since God knows when. "You have no idea how such an experience can do wonders for your body."

"…Why haven't you answered my calls?" Drake simply replied from his end.

"You've been calling me?" Greg replied with a question.

"About five times now, but you've never responded."

"You're starting to sound like a possessive old girlfriend someone has to avoid..." Greg simply replied, starting to pace about the room. "Let's just put it that I've been very and extremely busy these past days, I somehow forgot you totally."

"At least you've considered my offer. You're going to benefit a lot if you have me to assist you in your little game you're having against the Patriots." The general spoke.

"Hmm…I don't know." Greg said as he eyed his nano arm, turning one of his fingers into a scalpel like object. "My schedule's totally booked till year's end with…new appointments."

"Trying to buy yourself time from me won't work, Greg. This is a grand opportunity that must be taken seriously." Drake said.

"No, actually…I DO NEED the time, old man." Greg spoke as he held his nano scalpel near one of the unhealed wounds and stabbed himself lightly with it on the upper chest area, making a slight grunt. Taking it back out, the nanos started to cover the wound, while something came out of his chest. Greg caught it before it hit the floor and looked at it closely. (A transmitter, eh? Must be one of Thorn's best kept secrets when he attacked me from before.)

"I'm trying to live my life as normal for once, and I don't need people like you telling me about rules, or orders, or any of that crap." Greg said, as he rested the transmitter aside. "I can throw those easily out of the window like trash…they only get in my way. As much fun as it is to do your work, I can't say I'm too sure I'm ready to do it anytime soon. I still need more time."

"Fine, then. I understand your needs, Greg. I won't pressure you." Drake replied.

(I'm sure if you would understand my needs, you would just give up and leave me alone.) Greg thought to himself. (If there's trash to be cleaned, I'll just do the mopping, no one else has to do it for me.)

"I'll be giving you a week's notice to make up your mind. You should be ready then, I hope." Drake spoke.

"If I live long enough…" Greg said, eyeing the transmitter. (Have to take this to Nanvel, so she can find some leads from this.)

The line went dead and Greg felt relieved that it was over…for now. He didn't want to work for someone as suspicious as Drake, Greg could have sworn he felt pure malice towards him the first time he met him. Greg Kinezono is his own agent, his own army…but for the time being, he was in lacking of soldiers, Greg will have to compensate that with armaments.

"Weapons…I got to get some serious hardware for the mission." Greg spoke to himself, before he stepped into the shower. Just as he was about to touch the faucet, the Codec rang from his left ear.

"Ah…at least someone I know is going to make my night better…" Greg said, touching the call button. "Hope it's either Linn, Geese or Tes…."

But the voice from the other end was something Greg didn't expect to hear, nor was he able to analyze who it was. The first thing he noticed that was wrong was the frequency number were all set on zeros. Then came the static on the screen, but he then heard the voice spoke.

"Good job on playing around with Drake. Keep it up and you'll eventually get your wish." A computerized, male voice spoke from the other end. Greg picked his ears up to listen in closer.

"Who is this! How do you know about Drake?" Greg demanded.

"How I know is not your concern."

"Okay…then who the hell are you?"

"You can call me…Zero." The voice replied simply.

"Zero, huh?" Greg answered seriously. "It suits you. How did you get this frequency?"

"You can say I'm one of your biggest fans…no, a lot more than that." It replied. "I'm only seeking YOUR best interests, Greg."

"Really? So, why won't you show yourself then?" Greg asked.

"Now is just not the right time to do that." Zero replied.

"How can I trust someone I've never seen before in my life?" Greg asked seriously.

"Because…I've known you more than you will ever know." Zero lamented. "Think of me as a…guardian Angel of sorts if you will."

"Enough of this crazy assed 'cloak and dagger' shit!" Greg replied bitterly. "Are you with the Patriots?"

"Of course not."

"Who are your superiors?"

"I work for no one…my role is to give you information that will help you who to trust, and how to become the one person you've always wanted to become." Zero spoke. "You do want to help those who have been affected by the likes of Matthew Reese and the evils of this world, haven't you?"

"Uh….yeah. That's true." Greg confessed.

"Good boy…you are as disciplined as I thought you could be." Zero said.

"What's that suppose to mean?"

"Never mind about that." Zero said. "As I said…Drake is a man you shouldn't trust so easily, you have good reasons for that. He claims he knows your father, but that's just a facet of manipulation he's very good at just to have you to work for him and that, dear Greg…is a fatal mistake."

"Okay…if you say Drake is bad news, how do YOU know so much about him?" Greg simply asked.

"I have my ways." Zero answered.

"Right…I believe you." Greg said with a grin. "So far…I'm not sensing any negativity or malice from your end…you're serious about helping me, aren't you?"

"Of course. I am helping you prove yourself different from the other FOXHOUND recruits that seem to overshadow you with their experience and skills." Zero said. "Here's your chance to do a first chance recon investigation…I'm leaving a frequency on your real time Codec which explains your mission. Share it with your friends if you have to…they will have to learn about this if they want to help you and the people that will need the help."

"Wait…who are you talking about? Who's in trouble?" Greg asked.

"Use your powers…and don't trust rumours." Zero spoke, before logging off. Greg gritted his teeth in anger, but cooled down as he realized something.

(Don't trust rumours…that's what my father used to tell me before he…) Greg thought in shock. (What the hell was that about? Well…I can figure about it later…)

Getting a robe on, he decided now wasn't the time to sleep yet. He had to check Nanvel first about the transmitter he found and had the frequency Zero left him relayed to the location he was supposed to meet his first ever investigation as a lone operative. A small, confident smile approached his lips.

"Seems like this is a case…for Soldier X." Greg said to himself as he stepped out of his room and ventured downstairs where he ran into Nanvel Candlestick who was up watching television with Lilica, Rio, and Nan-bot in the Uruha mansion living room.

"Mom, aunt Nanvel. Can I speak to you two for a second?" Greg called the two women over, and showing them the transmitter. "Nanvel…I spotted this from one of the wounds I had earlier. Any idea what kind of transmitter it is, because I didn't notice it was there until just now, while I was operating a bit of surgery on myself."

"Wow…this is some kind of nano technology I've never laid eyes on before." Nanvel spoke. "Want me to check into this?"

"Yeah…it could lead into some clues about Thorn, so try to decipher what business that thing's got. I'm guessing my own nanos must have jammed the signal on that thing somehow from sending information about me…of course, since my powers had been like that because of the Patriots, it must have been on default purposes to prevent intruders like these buggers from finding me out like a needle in a haystack."

"How soon do you want the conclusion report on this, Greg?"

"Yesterday. Get to it." Greg replied, showing a thumb upstairs. Nanvel only glared at him with a smile, before shaking her head.

"Okay, Greg, but you got to relax a bit about this whole thing. You're not supposed to be working so hard on this, we got everyone helping us." Nanvel said to him.

"I know…but it never hurts to be several steps ahead. Besides…I'm only looking for a pattern." Greg said as he headed back upstairs.

"A pattern?" Lilica asked.

"What for, Greg?" Rio asked him.

"I want to be there when evil hits us again." Greg simply said turning around one last time before going back to his room.

* * *

"So…did he listen to you?" a male voice spoke after the earlier Codec conversation ended in a monitor filled room. In front of him was a female assistant who was observing the conversation between Greg and the man called Zero.

"Yes…he's grown up to be a very attentive, young man. I can sense from him the amount of potential he has yet to show the world." A female voice replied.

"Are you certain that he's the one? He still sounds doubtful of himself…"

"He will come to realization about his powers soon enough. But we must act along if we are to intervene what the Patriots have in store for him." The male replied. "He's the true 'Gatherer'…the only one capable of creating a force strong enough to aid him in preserving the future of humanity."

"I just can't stand any more pain and suffering coming unto him, sir. Are you sure this is necessary?"

"Until the right time comes. For now, his destiny will slowly come to light and he will fully grasp the nature of his empathic abilities." The male spoke. "For now, let's stay on the sidelines and protect him from anyone who wants to cause harm to him or his friends."

"What about the…first two recruits of the chosen team?"

"He'll meet them eventually, as he has already got the message." The male replied. "The other chosen ones are right under his nose, but he will get to know who they are soon enough."

"Yes…his true mission has begun. Excellent work planning, I must say." The female spoke.

"I'm leaving the rest of this to you. Make sure things run smoothly for Greg until I'm prepared to meet him." The male spoke as he stood up to walk out of the room.

"Hai, sir. Oh, and one more thing…it's good to be working for you once more, sir." The female replied happily to her superior.

"Don't mention it. All I'm doing is seeing about everyone's welfare. Greg has the same responsibility as well, you know." The man replied with a confident smile.

* * *

The next morning, Greg was set equipping his exclusive Soldier X outfit for his mission. He didn't have trouble to hide the showy outlines for it, and his gun holsters were at the right places just behind his back for a quick aim in a CQC fight. Remembering his psychic training, he took up the Ascension and stepped out his room where he made his way straight to the kitchen area of the Uruha mansion. It was there he met Nagi, Tot and Kurei.

"Good morning, Greg." Kurei said to him, noticing his differed nanosuit. "You look like you're dressed to go out on a business trip."

"You can say that…hey, where's Riku?" Greg asked simply, as he started to drink some coffee.

"He's with Rio, Lilica, Yuina, Seraph and Nan-bot in the living room." Kurei said. Greg nodded as he went out to the living room where he spotted Riku.

"Hey Riku, when exactly was that mission you and yours partners had when you were helping Aya and the others?" Greg asked.

"About two years ago, why?" Riku asked in reply.

"Well, two years ago I remember Rio mentioning to me about a sudden string of murders that happened." Greg answered. "A lot of high ranking people in the Mikage family conglomerate all died under very mysterious circumstances..."

"Oh that..." Riku replied. "Well, let's just say the Patriots weren't very happy with the Mikage family after Kagami's treachery to them was revealed along with a few other reasons. So they decided to eliminate the remaining people in the Mikage family who were directly involved in C-Project..."

"Well that explains why none of the cases were ever solved." Rio spoke.

"Yeah, but that's not what I really want to talk about." Greg said and looked at Riku. "Anyway, the thing I noticed is that two years ago, you and your partners only accepted missions that were in Asia for a whole year; all of the locations were close enough to Japan so you could get there within a matter of hours by plane."

"Wow really?" Riku asked, rubbing his head a little. "Gosh, the Patriots sure must have been doing a lot over in Asia that year..."

"Nice try, Riku, but Linn and I were doing a lot of missions in other parts of the world that year, and only two were in Asia." Greg said. "It was the same with Michael, Garland, Maggie, James, Mana, and Kari. They all only did a few missions in Asia as well while the rest of them weren't. Care to explain?"

"Um...concidence?" Riku asked hopefully.

"As usual you're a lousy liar, Riku." Greg shook his head and looked at Riku seriously. "You three were basically worried that the Patriots might come after your friends like they were doing with the Mikage so you took missions that were close to home so you could rush over and help them in case that did happen. How close am I?"

After a minute Riku spoke.

"You read me like a book, Greg." Riku replied, smiling a little.

"Just as long you remember your promise to have me help out you guys anytime, it's even. So you just saved yourself from me getting miffed about this once more. Anyway…you get dressed and call your partners." Greg rubbed his neck, before looking at Rio. "Mom….would it be alright that Riku could drive your van over to pick up Ran and his buddies?"

"Sure thing, Greg. But why do you want do that?" Rio said, giving Riku the keys to Team Warrior's transport van.

"Just following orders." Greg simply replied. "I got a feeling I will be needing backup again…more of it. Anyway, we're behind time. Let's get a move on."

Riku nodded his head and got up to follow Greg outside, but Yuina Hatori had already stepped in front of Greg, her arms spread out.

"Nani? What happened, Yuina?" Greg asked her.

"Sempai…every time you got out somewhere without me…you end up getting hurt. Please, just this once…let me come along with you and our friends to help." Yuina pleaded. "I can fight now too, you know. You, Seraph, Lilica, Riku and Nagi and everyone else has helped me since you took me and Seraph in. I won't be a burden to you or anyone else, just let me fight alongside you."

"Yuina…" Greg simply shut his eyes to contemplate a bit on what she said, as he felt her emotions of needing to be close with Greg meant so much to her.

(_Trust her…she's one of them. So is Seraph. They show some promise…just use this as a training exercise for Yuina. She needs you_.) A gentle tone in Greg's head spoke all of a sudden. (_Just be ready to protect her too, and your bond will defy any evil that comes across you.) _

(What…was that?) Greg thought all of a sudden, looking about.

"Something wrong, Greg?" Riku asked. Greg only stared at him and shook his head.

"Nah…nothing. Must be hearing things." Greg replied, before resting his right nano hand on her shoulder. "Fine then, Yuina. Since you asked nicely, I'll let you and Seraph come along as well. I'm sure you will like the trip. Just be sharp for whenever I will need you, got it?"

"Okay, sempai! Seraph and I will not disappoint you!" Yuina said, as she suddenly hugged Greg, causing him to feel a bit embarrassed.

"You got to stop doing that, Yuina." Greg replied, as she hung her arms around her guardian's waist.

"I…I can't help it. I'm only doing what I can to make you feel better." Yuina said, looking up. "You can't lose hope yet, sempai. Everything will work out for all of us."

"Yeah…I'm not willing to throw in the towel in this game anytime soon." Greg spoke, as Yuina let go. "Anyway, we should start making our way to the flower shop where Ran and his friends work. If Manx and Birman are there, they would understand why I want Weiss help today once I give them the details."

"Okay, then let's get going." Riku said as he headed out first.

"Be sure to get some flowers for your mother, Greggie!" Rio called out to him.

"I will." Greg replied, signalling a quick salute to his mother and the other people in the room before he left. It was then he started to think to himself.

(Whatever that voice was, it somehow made me trust Yuina and Seraph for them to come along for the ride.) Greg thought to himself. (If they are capable for the battles ahead, I should have them tag along with me more often. But really…WHAT was the deal with that voice in my head anyways?)

* * *

Ten minutes later, in front of the Kitty In the House Flower shop…

"What?" Ran Fujimiya asked Greg, while he and his friends stood and saw him dressed in the Soldier X uniform. "You want us to come with you, just like that?"

"I have a hunch something big is going to happen. I will need your help as backup in case." Greg said, as be bought some roses of different colours for Rio, while Yuina was looking for flowers of her own.

"How can you be certain the information you got is not some kind of ploy to get you out of the open?" Youji asked.

"It's a gamble we have to take." Greg spoke simply. "Just trust me on this, fellas. I'm starting a mission in the States soon and I want to use this as a warm-up, but I want you there as a back up in case there are more trouble I could muster."

"Hmm…okay. As long Manx says it's okay…" Ran spoke.

"I already did talk to her about it, and she approves of you coming along." Greg answered. "I'll be waiting for you outside with Riku and the others."

As Greg and Yuina stepped out, Ran simply shook his head.

"Quite a busybody, isn't he?" Ran asked.

"Yeah…but at least this sounds like a lead to what Crawford and his partners are up to…" Omi said.

"It's worth a shot. Let's get changed into our outfits and get our weapons." Ran said.

* * *

About twenty minutes later, Riku had driven the Weiss group, along with his partners, Nagi Naoe and Tot, as well as Yuina and Seraph in the back with Omi, Ken and Youji. Greg simply sat on one of the passenger's seats near the window, as Ran was the one who sat in the middle. Greg was resting his head, his eyes closed, unaware to where Riku was driving. They were travelling along the areas of the rural Tokyo-2 area, where they ended up in the upper class living areas, full of mansions and rich cars of all types ranging from Pre to Post Second Impact types.

"Are you sure we're closing in to the source of your mission, Greg?" Ran asked.

"Yeah…we've been on the road for almost half hour and you still haven't pointed out where we should stop." Riku asked Greg.

"Trust me on this, guys." Greg replied. "It's around somewhere…I have a good hunch that we're getting close."

"Close to what?" Riku asked. "You haven't even told us what's going to happen once we get there!"

Greg didn't reply, but laid back in silence as he started to feel the resonance of the so called 'stress call' getting closer. He lifted an eyelid for his left eye and sat up, seeing the only mansion with a large garden area coming close.

"Stop here." Was Greg's simple reply to Riku, as the van suddenly came to a simple, yet gentle stop some metres from a large, open iron gate. Greg already had opened the door and walked out, and started to observe the area.

"Is this it?" Omi asked. "But it seems more of a civilian mansion to us than anything else."

"Yeah…so, what could have happened here that would have us being here as well?" Youji asked.

"That's what I'm going to find out." Greg simply said, staring at his comrades. "You guys stay here, until I give the go to back me up."

"Greg…you sure that's a good idea?" Riku asked.

"Look, I'm just going to use my powers to scope out this place and see if there's trouble lying about. I want to get some clues first before I start pointing fingers." Greg said. Then, he noticed Yuina watching him attentively. "Hey, Yuina…I need a blindfold and I stopped using bandages for my nano arm some time ago. Would it be alright that I used your ribbon?"

"What?" Yuina stared at him in surprise, not expecting him to say this. "But…it's my favourite ribbon…"

"I promise I won't ruin it." Greg spoke, offering his hand. "You got my word on this one."

Yuina only smiled lightly at Greg, before her hands reached for the very long single ponytail of her pale, pink hair. Grabbing hold of the nicely tied yellow ribbon that held her hair in place, she tugged at it slightly before the ponytail was set free in a single, yet beautiful and innocent flow. She then handed it to Greg.

"Here you go, sempai. Make good use of it." She said, smiling at Greg.

"You know I will." Greg said, as he tied it over his eyes, then tying it into a knot behind him.

"What is he up to?" Ken asked Nagi.

"He must be testing his powers on the outside environment such as this one." Nagi said.

"You mean he can see using his powers alone?" Ran asked surprised.

"Yeah, he just developed this sometime ago and is trying to get used to it." Tot answered.

"If he manages to uses it fully, he probably won't needing any kind of goggles anymore." Nagi concluded, as Greg carefully proceeded into the mansion's garden area, his custom USP drawn out, aiming at certain directions of the area. Stopping near a ledge, he made an all clear nod before he leaped over it, landing softly in the large garden area where a fountain stood at the centre of the garden.

But the appearance of the garden was not an average one. Greg rested his gun down and lifted off the ribbon he had over his eyes to see what the image of a battlefield that had just occurred. Greg can see some throwing knives of different variety strewn about on the bullet ridden ground and walls. Pools of blood was seen from various places, as Greg stepped closer and touched one of the fresh, small puddles of blood. With his eyes closed, he observed the bullets, and the blood type, right down to the smell.

"Forty-five millimetre…short nosed." Greg said, looking at the spent bullet shell. "Been inside someone too…but didn't go very far."

Greg stood up and stared around him, allowing his powers to siphon the energy around him and piece the clues together.

"There were…three, no wait…four women. Three…on the side of…good, one of them is corrupt." Greg said, shutting his eyes, reliving the past events. "One of them women who fought for good…a few years younger than Omi…she used a Beretta M1934 commercial handgun. Nani…? Her killing skills…"

_(She's excellent…turmoil by her own past….her own destiny…just like you.)_The voice in his head return. _(She needs your guidance…your aid. She must be recruited, it is essential to protecting everyone.)_

(There it is again! What's going on with me today?) Greg thought to himself, but his powers picked up even more feedback. (Wait….there's another woman…late thirties…just as skilled as the younger counterpart…no, not that dangerous as her…she used a Walther P99 handgun, not a MAC 10…failed her duty to protect one dear to her.)

_(She too…she is worthy…help her…she will help you too…)_

"That's it…I've finally lost it." Greg said, shaking his head with a smile. "Since when voices in my head started to talk to me about those…who are worthy?"

"That will be far enough." A simple warning from a French female spoke, as Greg suddenly saw Mireille Bouquet and Kirika Yuumura pointing their guns at the rogue soldier. But the two women seemed to be hurt from the attack, as bandages could be seen strapped around various areas of their bodies.

"They are still alive!" Greg said to himself in shock, but Kirika clicked off the safety from her gun.

"What's the matter? Taking Chloe away from us wasn't enough for you, you had to come back to kill us?" She said, as she grimaced slightly.

"Hey, it's not what you think…" Greg said, opening out his arms.

"Oh, really…what would the killer of Gendou Ikari want with Noir?" Mireille spoke, pointing her gun at Greg. "You and your group have some nerve coming back here!"

(They think I'm with Dead Cell!) Greg thought. (So…that's what's going on…but that's just icing on the cake. I have to buy their trust if I have to learn more.)

He only stared at the two female assassins in silence, before showing off a confident grin.

"What's so funny?" Mireille spoke bitterly, her hand gun still pointed at Greg. "You're after some kind of death wish?"

"No…I'm not the one you want." Greg simply said, his right nano arm resting over the right side of his face, Iori Yagami style. "Besides…you know for sure that I never have intentions of harming you or your friend. I came here looking for a mission, and it seems you're it. I'm supposed to be…helping you with your problems."

"Why should we trust you?" Kirika asked, holding up her own handgun.

"I can't force you to trust me…just find it within yourselves to do so." Greg simply said, now lowering his head. He was staring at the women's aiming trajectory and possible aim, it was as if they already had set their sights on killing him where he stood.

(Good…just as planned.) Greg thought to himself. "Fine then…I'm giving you a chance to see if I'm lying or not. You want to kill me, go on ahead. I dare you."

The famous Noir only clicked their guns at Greg, removing the safety for both their guns. Greg's smile got bigger.

"Any where more to the left of my head will do just fine, thank you." Greg simply said, as the two females fired their shots at him.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

* * *

ShardclawK: You would have never thought this chapter to have ended this way? Well, I got to end it here, since I have some more surprises ahead in this fic that I'm sure you will like. I do hope Greg and his buddies get to the bottom of what's happening, as long we see Greg alive first!

Ran: This was some chapter, Shardclaw. The appearances of the KOF characters were something, but they were others that I'm certain that some people never seen before.

ShardclawK: Ah, I could have waited till then, but why do so? Greg's fanbase is not the waiting type. And I'm hoping once I get my PS2 back by next weekend, God willing, I should go after the KOF 2002/2003 double collection which comes out next month! Hurrah!

Ran: Anyway, for the Easter Eggs, anyone who has seen Cradle 2 the Grave would notice the quote Greg used on Nanvel was what Fait (DMX) said to Tom Arnold early in the movie. It couldn't be helped…it happens to be one of Shardclaw's favourite films.

ShardclawK: Yeah! DMX and Jet Li rules! Anyway, I do hoped you liked the sudden twists I've now included, as to what's going on with Greg's head, and those two mysterious people who seem to be helping Greg from the outside? What is their gain and when do we get to see them?

Greg: What is it that you can see, that I cannot! TELL ME!

ShardclawK: Anyway, I hoped everyone enjoyed the update, and I should be looking for some nice reviews from the fans, not to mention some more raunchy shipments from DF for all the hard work from this chapter. While I won't be expecting any shipments from TD this time around…I do hope that DF don't try to…compensate for the number…

Just then, Miyabi, Taeko and cat girl Tina, along with Jam, Dark Éclair, Naga, Yomiko, Alice, Cammy step in, wearing slinky nightwear, and started to huddle against me.

Miyabi: Aw, Shardclaw-sama…you've been such a…naughty boy to keep your Soldier X fans waiting. You must be…'disciplined'.

Tina: Rawr.

ShardclawK: Aw, crap…you just had to say the magic word, didn't you, Tina? Okay…I do hope that our session will pass enough time, so I can get back my PS2 and finally finish MGS 3! A slew of ideas await me! See ya around, boys!

Ran: Youji, Omi…at least be thankful you two are getting hooked up soon. I'm not sure how much more I can take this…

Ken: Hoped everyone enjoyed the update, so be sure to review and hold on for an action packed update coming to you soon.

Collis aka ShardclawKusanagi.


	24. The Hunted, Part 5

Disclaimer: As always, I do not own any of the material from the anime and games that are featured in this story, as I only own Greg and the fic itself, while another one of GreyWolf4's OC's, Aritomo Ishida makes an appearance in this chapter.

ShardclawK: Welcome back to another update of this epic story starring everyone's psychic soldier and the unique supporting cast that is making this story more popular by the update. Thanks for those who reviewed the last chapter, including the two newest fans of COE who are now enthralled by this fic, Neo Exodia and Majin Naraku. Sorry if you thought this update took a bit longer than usual to show up, I had some writer's block as I was preparing this update, but it's eventually going, so bear with me if you don't think this update has the usual substance that make this story good.

Ran: You must have been surprised to see so much fans who wanted to see more of Noir in this fic, aren't you, Shardclaw? I do hope you get to explain how Chloe is alive and what role those women will play in this fic.

ShardclawK: We will get to the bottom of that sooner or later in this fic, Ran. My main objective at the moment is getting Omi hooked up with Kirika later on as well, as I've arranged it for one of the major pairings for this story.

Omi: If Shardclaw can use his God given powers as an author to kill Gendou Ikari, save Touji from a horrid fate, hook Snake and Misato up, and keep Chloe alive for the benefit of fiction, he might as well do me a favour with getting a second shot of love, right?

ShardclawK: Just doing my job, Omi. And don't worry, Youji, your shot is coming right away soon, I'm sure of that. Ah, and before I get corrected for any mistakes again by Prier and Dark Éclair, I will point out some details concerning Riku, Nagi and Tot's ages in this chapter, so for those who haven't read DarkFusion's Dragon, Crow and Rabbit for more details of the characters that have appeared in this fic to this point, be sure to read that fic when you get the chance.

Youji: Sucking up to DF all of a sudden, Shardclaw?

Shardclaw: Just reminding the fans of some important details, okay? Anyway, I won't drag the audience any further…let them sit back and take in the update, while I got to deal with the remainder of this writer's block in the most 'severe' of ways…

From the stage door, Mune-Mune and Sayaka of Magical Shopping Arcade Abenonashi step in, along with the rest of the Saber Marionette J girls who were Lime, Cherry, Bloodberry, Lorelai, and Marine entered wearing thin, hot pink lacy underwear, as some of them were holding unto a basket of strawberries, cherries, grapes, chocolate pudding and whipped cream. And if that wasn't enough, Reiko Hinomoto, Dixie Clements, Bloody Shadow, Miss Spencer, Aisha, Candy Cane, Makoto Aihara, Aigle, Evil Rose, and Anaesthesia from the Konami female wrestling game, Rumble Roses were right behind them, wearing their sexy bikini outfits. Miss Spencer (one of my personal favs from the game), Mune Mune, Bloodberry and Anaesthesia started to gang up on me from all sides.

Miss Spencer: Okay, Kusanagi-sama, you should be prepared for an all out attack for the sake to cure you of this block you have before our evil versions arrive after this update. Surely, you don't want to be an embarrassment when Mistress Spencer comes?

ShardclawK: Um…no, Miss Spencer. (Staring at the long, slender leg wrapped in black garners rubbing against my own leg.)

Mune-Mune: Goodie…because we are not going to stop until you've been effectively cured from the block, even if it takes whole week!

Anaesthesia: Operating time has begun.

As the girls carry me off, Ran and the others stare on in shock.

Ran: New year…same old treatment. Anyway, we should carry the show onwards now, so, sit back and enjoy the update, everyone.

* * *

ShardclawKusanagi presents: 

Metal Gear: Soldier X

Chapter 23: The Hunted, Part 5

* * *

Inside the high commanding office of the Tuatha De Danaan… 

Tessa Testarossa was seated behind her desk, now finishing paperwork surrounding the current unrest that was rumoured to be about in Japan's self defence force. Since SEELE has been seized by Solidus and Dead Cell, the famous JSSDF has been put on a temporary standby and was suddenly ordered not to interfere in any of the advances by the terrorists. This got Tessa thinking.

"Why would such a force suddenly give up not defending NERV anymore?" Tessa said to herself loudly. This didn't add up and made little sense. (Solidus is pulling the strings now on this defence force…NERV has now become a sitting duck if they or any other terrorist organization pulls something against them.)

Leaning back, she started to stare at the news reports strewn about, regarding Greg's involvement with the death of Gendou Ikari. She started to think again about the matter. It's pretty obvious this was connected to someone's malevolent plans, but at the moment, even with her resources, she is at a cold trail.

(Greg...what is it about you that draws so many enemies? What do they really want from you?) Tessa asked herself, as she heard a knock from the door. Sitting up straight, she called back. "You can enter."

A tall, handsome yet rugged Japanese male in his early thirties and having a powerful built entered the room, wearing a standard MIRTHRIL uniform of First Sergeant. He had black hair and hazel coloured eyes. He then saluted to Tessa before noticing the paperwork strewn about her.

"Commander Testarossa...sorry to interrupt you at this time." the man spoke to her in a stern tone.

"Not a problem, Aritomo." Tessa nodded. "I was just finishing up here. Is this about the current situation about the terrorists that are holding Tokyo-3 under siege?"

"Yes…I still don't understand why would had you have wanted our forces to enter the premises of that particular area." Aritomo said. "It's almost too sudden, I must add, to simply interfere with that group's affairs."

"Are you referring to NERV…or FOXHOUND?" Tessa asked.

"FOXHOUND, of course." He replied as he glanced at Greg's picture on the newspapers. "I take it he's involved in this as well?"

Tessa was silent for a few moments as she stood up. "He only wanted to make sure his friends in that city was safe for the time being until he finishes up his own mission. I have no intention of helping him directly in this matter…he has told me that he has enough allies in this fight as it is."

Aritomo stayed silent a bit before speaking once more. "I'm sure if he and his friends in that group caught on with how that Reese was stirring trouble like this, he would have been stopped long ago. Now look at the state of things…do you think he can exploit Reese once he gets to him?"

"I'm not certain that even Greg is capable of that. He is a skilled fighter, and a warrior at that as well, but he's not the kind to think rationally all the time about the situation." Tessa said. "Besides….I owe him twice for the favour of saving me, this is the most I can do for his friends who are in more need that he is."

"I do hope your personal feelings haven't persuaded you to do this, Capt. Testarossa." Aritomo spoke. "Greg Kinezono may be a good person, but he's bad influence and this is probably why Reese wants him out of the picture permanently."

"It's not about that, Sgt. Ishida." Tessa answered. "Just doing a favour for an old friend. You should at least consider that Greg is not considered part of the group anymore."

"I have no grudges against him, or any of his friends. I knew Greg was one of both my younger brother and father's closest friends, and I would do anything to help them in this ordeal." Aritomo spoke.

"You just aren't on the approving sides of Roy Campbell and Reese himself, is that it?" she asked. Aritomo looked at Tessa with a stern look in his eyes.

He remembered why he was enemies with those two…a year back, his younger brother, Subaru died as a result of Reese's command abilities and then treating the whole matter as trivial. It later caused his father, Takeshi 'Night Owl' Ishida to mutiny against Campbell in a bid to make him rethink his stance on Reese and the other FOXHOUND recruits. However, because of Reese's negligence, it caused Major Nicholas Horton to open fire on Ishida, just as he and his unit were about to surrender. The rest of the unit was killed and Ishida himself was mortally wounded.

"It's still the same after all this time…it never changes." Aritomo spoke.

"Sgt. Ishida…we should work together at least to set things right. Just who knows who else Reese has targeted to crush." Tessa spoke. "I know it won't be easy, but we have all the assistance we need. If that's not enough, Greg can always get some more along the way."

"I'm certain that my abilities can help you in this, captain." Aritomo replied. "You have any ideas?"

"Yes….get Sagara and Mao in here. I have a recon mission for you three that is of great importance in regards of this matter…" Tessa spoke.

* * *

Meanwhile, back at Tokyo-2, around the same time, Riku, Nagi and Tot were still waiting for a response from Greg who had gone ahead to investigate the area some minutes before. With them in Team Warrior's transport van, the members of Weiss as well as Yuina and Seraph sat patiently for a response. It was then Tot interrupted the silence and spoke. 

"I got a very, VERY funny feeling about this…" Tot spoke, picking up her own sword. "Greg's been gone for a while and now I'm thinking he may actually ran into trouble."

"You don't think he ran into trouble without calling us for backup?" Ran asked. Then he looked at Nagi. "Hey, aren't you supposed to at least sense if something's wrong at first, Nagi?"

"On a normal basis, but I think Tot is more good at it as I am." Nagi replied. "You can call it a woman's intuition if you will."

"We should go with Tot's idea." Ken spoke, getting ready. "I'm starting to think there's a good reason why Greg hasn't contacted us up to now."

"It's much more bigger than that." Tot spoke.

"More of the 'girl's intuition'?" Riku asked.

"Yeah, I can feel it in the air, just like fresh baked cookies." Tot answered. "But these cookies are evil."

"Uh...okay." Omi said, sweat dropping. He then faced Yuina and Seraph. "You two ready as well?"

"Yeah…I'm just a bit nervous." Yuina replied, continuously rubbing her hands together. "I just hope sempai is okay…"

It was then they heard the sound of the three gunshots fired from the outside of the mansion's garden area. Yuina and Nagi looked at through the van's front window to look as they heard the shots.

"Sounds like our cue." Riku spoke, drawing out his kunai. "Everyone, we can't wait on Greg any longer, let's go to him now."

Everyone agreed along with Riku as they made they way out of the van and headed out to the garden area of the isolated mansion.

Meanwhile, seconds before at the same time….

"Go ahead…I dare you to shoot me if you think I'm your enemy." Greg Kinezono spoke to Mireille, who still had her gun aimed at him. "Anywhere to the left of my head, would deem just well."

"Why you…! You asked for it!" Mireille shouted as she fired three shots at Greg's direction as he simply made himself an easy target for the two assassins. Greg carefully watched the bullets from the guns fire and timed their incoming speeds. With a focused glare, he can see the bullets coming at him in a speed at which he would be able to defend himself from. However, he merely sidestepped to the right as they simply passed the left side of his head.

"What!" Kirika shouted in shock as she saw the bullets her partner fired at Greg. But from her distance, she can see that Mireille wasn't really aiming for Greg, as the bullets ended up hitting a stealth camouflaged, armoured Arsenal Tengu a few meters from Greg's position in the bushels behind him.

"Auuugh!" the troop fell over as a small puddle of blood began to pour out of his protected head area. Greg simply turned around and stared at the corpse behind him.

(Note to self: 'Never tempt a hot French chick holding a gun at my face to shoot near the head. Be careful with words next time.) Greg thought to himself, feeling a graze across his left cheek caused by Mireille's fired bullet. (Maybe I should have said 'shoulder' instead.)

"What the hell?" Mireille shouted in shock, as she saw Greg put his arms down and inspected the corpse. "How did you know he was waiting for an ambush?"

"Hey, it's not like I was really expecting these guys to be around here. Besides, as soon as I got here, I sensed more emotional resonance for more than the three of us standing here right now." Greg said, lowering his gaze. "Besides…we're not alone."

As soon as he said that, he, Mireille and Kirika found themselves surrounded by several more Tengus that were armed with small submachine guns and katanas. Greg simply stood up and examined the area.

"Well, well…this is a surprising turn of events." Greg said, looking at one Tengu circling him and Noir with his katana drawn. "I could take you all by myself, but not today…these women need to be protected too, and I can't do everything by myself."

As if on cue, Riku, his partners, Yuina, Seraph and Weiss entered the area with their weapons drawn. They entered right in the middle of the stand off between Greg, Noir and the Tengu group.

"Tengus!" Riku shouted, drawing out some kunai. "What would they be doing here?"

"I don't know, but certainly we won't just stand around as Greg gets ganged up on." Nagi spoke.

Clutching unto the Ascension, he called out to them through an open channel of his Codec. He had already selected a fight song for this particular fight, as he was using Guilty Gear Isuka's 'Rift in the Clouds' for this battle.

"Well, it's about time you got here, Riku. Don't just stand there…help me cover for these women!" Greg spoke, then faced his two young apprentices. "Yuina! Nagi! Remember what I taught you! Now is the time to strut your stuff!"

"Uh…okay, sempai." Yuina nodded, as she and Seraph stood side by side. "Ready, Seraph?"

Seraph smiled a bit as she nodded at Yuina. "Yes, Yuina. Recite the password for the integration."

"Seraph…lend me your power!" Yuina cried out, while muttering her password, as her beautiful, magical transformation of integration began. Her normal average school girl look was changed into an angelic image of herself, large feathered wings suddenly were seen from her back, her long, flowing hair glittering in a faint purple colour, while her outfit shifted into a nearly, revealing outfit, with protective pads about her elbow and knee areas. She truly looked like a magnificent angel out of heaven. Everyone from Weiss, Noir, Riku and his partners looked on in amazement to this sight of Yuina and Seraph integrating into one being. Greg can only smirk to himself, as he saw some of the Arsenal Tengus were distracted.

"Yuina!" Riku said in utter surprise. "Is that really you?"

"Yes, it's me. None of you have to be afraid." She assured them, before staring at the Tengus. "They, on the other hand…"

"Perfect. Yuina…show them your power, while Nagi and the rest of us take care of the excess baggage before they become more troublesome." Greg said, as he watched the two assassins while the background music played. "You two, stay behind me. This could get ugly."

"But…" Kirika stepped forward a bit. "We want to fight as well!"

"Not in your conditions, you won't." Greg replied seriously. "Don't worry…me and my friends won't let anything else happen to you two, leave everything to us."

"Um…alright." Mireille spoke, nodding her head reluctantly. Greg then turned back to see that Riku, Tot and Ran had already started to pummel some of the Tengus away from their positions, while Omi, Youji, Yuina and Tot were dealing with some of the Tengus as well. Seeing this got Greg thinking a bit.

(I would have loved to pummel some of these guys right now, but I can't risk a near bloodlust effect like the time Shiju pushed it against me if I start to fight against these Tengus, though I see no good reason to go all out on them.) Greg thought to himself. (Until I can find a way to prevent that from happening the next time I'm in a serious fight, I'd better cut back on the fighting for a bit for now.)

Nagi was taking his training with Greg to a serious factor and was readying several of the Tengus' to attack. As one swung his katana at him, Nagi simply side stepped, powering up a small psychic ball.

"Psyche Shot!" Nagi shouted, throwing the ball at the Tengu, which stumbled back from the stun, while Yuina charged at the stunned Tengu's side and executed one of her own moves.

"Holy Extension!" Yuina shouted, summoning an energy spike to erupt from the ground the Tengu was standing on and knocking him over, as he passed out. She then glanced to her side, as she readied her next attack.

"Homing Spear!" she said, mentally producing an electric spear from mid air. The spear then targeted one of the Tengus and flew at him, hitting his chest area and knocking him unconscious.

"She's good…" Youji said, cutting down two Tengus along with Riku. Youji's choice of weaponry was black belt level Shotokan karate, and fine, yet powerful wires he uses for strangulation and capture of his enemies.

"Yeah, Greg certainly trained her well." Riku said, striking down Tengus using his flame powers. "Looks like she is only getting started."

"Wandering Calmness!" Yuina cried out, lifting herself into the air and releasing a psychic bubble that floated above the Tengus. Then concentrating another Homing Spear attack, she let it fly across while the bubble was above two distant Tengu's heads. A number of smaller bubbles appeared as they touched the Tengus, temporarily stunning them.

"Now's our chance to strike!" Nagi shouted, setting for the next attack. Leaping a short distance into the air, he fired a psychic ball downwards at one of the Tengus who were stunned.

"Crow Descent!" Nagi shouted, as he ended knocking the Tengu out. Yuina used her wings to ascend above the Tengus and everyone else and performed an airborne Homing Spear that took down another one of the Tengus. Nagi was also holding his own as he performed an even powerful version of his psychic ball attack, Psyche Shot Plus on two of the Tengus who went down after that attack.

"Yeah, you show them, Yuina and Nagi! Don't use anything too powerful on such simpletons!" Greg supported them from the back, only to turn back and saw a Tengu trying to slash at him from behind. However, Greg was quick enough to swing the Ascension behind his back to parry the katana blow, before he grabbed the Tengu by the head and slammed him down head first into the ground.

"Predictable!" Greg said, knocking the Tengu out. (Even with everyone else fighting, I can still give them a hand without losing control of myself, just yet.)

A few seconds later, the last set of Tengus were put down after Tot and Ran had cut them down, and Omi had shot several poison darts at a group of them. Ken also was good at some CQC, as he wore short retractable, metallic claws around his gloves to slash at the Tengus with vicious attacks. A short time later, most of the Tengus were down for the count. It was a short and exhausting fight, but everyone seemed to be okay because of the teamwork.

"Is that all of them?" Ran spoke, his katana still drawn out and watching everyone around him.

"Seems so…after ten or more Tengus, you would think there would be more of these guys at a place like this?" Greg spoke, standing upright, as he went over to face Yuina. "Yuina, you and Nagi did good back there. Good work, you two."

"Thanks, sempai. I knew I can be helpful to you if you let me fight with you." Yuina replied, nodding her head.

"Those attacks really worked better than I expected…some of them were a lot more stronger than what Crawford used to teach me." Nagi said, as Greg grinned a bit.

"Heh…glad to hear that." Greg replied, smiling as he faced everyone else. "Listen up, everyone, the next time Yuina goes into battle, you'd better get used to her and Seraph integrating more often. I know it's a bit out of the genre, but sorry for not telling everyone about this before…I just wanted to surprise everyone of what she's really capable of. There's a lot more than meets the eye with this kid."

"Right, Greg. We'll remember that from now on." Riku chuckled nervously as he put away his weapons. Greg then walked towards the two injured females, dematerialising the Ascension as he faced the women. "Now, do you believe me?"

"Who…are you people?" Mireille asked out of slight amazement.

"Allow us to introduce ourselves, that's my comrades from FOXHOUND, Riku Hanabishi, Nagi Naoe and his girlfriend, Tot." Greg said, introducing his friends to the women. "And that happens to be the assassin group…"

"Let me guess…Weiss." Mireille finished for Greg. "You're certainly Weiss, are you men not?"

"You're quite correct on that." Ran replied calmly. "But how do you know that?"

"…me and my partner happened to have come across information about a group of male assassins who take care of the dirty jobs in Japan." Mireille spoke. "When you're part of Noir, almost any source of information is not so hard to find."

Everyone, expecting, Greg and Yuina looked at each other in shock. They had little idea what they meant by that, as Omi stepped closer to Kirika.

"You're kidding! You're actually Noir?" Omi spoke in surprise.

"Excuse me, but just what do you meant by Noir? I think my knowledge of assassins and mercenaries stretch only to some limits while I was staying with Geese some years back while I was taking some time apart from FOXHOUND." Greg spoke, raising an arm.

"Greg…you never knew of the famous French assassin who was rumoured to be among the best this world had ever known?" Youji told him. "But I'd never thought there was more than one of them, much less them being attractive females."

"Now's not the time to hit on women while on business, Youji." Ken warned his friend.

"He's right about that." Mireille answered. "I'm Mireille Bouquet, and this is my partner, Kirika Yuumura."

(Wait a minute…there are assassins young as Yuina which are part of Noir?) Greg thought in astonishment to himself. (I thought people like James are trained to be killers…)

"There's only three of us, another girl the same age as me." Kirika spoke. "But she's not here now…I thought you were part of them."

"As I said, I'm not with Dead Cell, though I am what you can call a rogue agent." Greg said, then going into his investigative tone of voice. "Are they the ones who attacked you?"

"So they claim…a Romanian knife thrower and an African American woman with golden blonde hair." Mireille spoke. "They…ambushed us…we never saw what was coming…thanks to their friends."

"So…Vamp and Fortune were here, then?" Greg asked.

"Friends? You mean there were more than the two of them?" Riku asked.

"Yes…the members of Schwartz." Kirika said, as Nagi stepped out in a fit of anger.

"What did you say!" Nagi said, holding unto Kirika. "Did by any chance an American with glasses was with two other men, one with scars about his body and the other with orange and long hair?"

"Yes. How did you know about them?" Kirika replied.

Before Nagi could answer, Greg had already placed an arm on his shoulder to stop Nagi from answering.

(Nagi, I know you must be angry at knowing that Crawford was responsible for this, but don't tell them about past your relations with shorty, Carrot-top and Farfie just yet.) Greg spoke telepathically to Nagi.

(But…) Nagi stopped midway.

(Trust me on this, kid. We don't need to add coal to the fire as it is. If these two know you used to hung around with Schwartz…well, I'm not going there to answer that for you.) Greg spoke. (Give them some time first for them to trust us.)

Nagi reluctantly nodded to Greg as he heard this. (I…I understand. I'll be careful next time.)

Greg nodded as Nagi spoke ahead. "I…I only heard of some details about them in my time in FOXHOUND. So far, we haven't done much as to pinpointing their actions, especially for what happened with you two."

"Are you saying both the members of Dead Cell and Schwartz attacked the three of you and took your partner as well?" Riku asked.

"Yes…her name is Chloe." Kirika spoke.

"I see, so they took your friend, huh?" Omi asked and Kirika nodded.

"Any idea why they'd do that?" Greg asked.

"I'm…we're not really sure why. It happened so fast." Mireille spoke, holding unto her head. "Even with all our skills…we still were no match for them. They were too strong. We thought they had us for sure, but the leader…he suddenly called it off before they could finish it off."

"And they left you as you are like this?" Nagi asked trying to fight the urge not to get angry as he listened to their story.

"Not without leaving a message." Mireille spoke, but Greg already knew part of what she would say. "Crawford said, 'Don't interfere any longer if you want her to live.'"

(Solidus…I'm sure he's the one who organized this. He's sending ME that warning, I bet.) Greg thought, clenching his fists. (NO ONE tells me not to interfere in my plans and hurts other people just to send the message!)

"That's why we thought at first when we saw you, Greg Kinezono, you would have been one of them…the leader of Schwartz mentioned your name." Mireille spoke, looking at Greg. "You shouldn't have challenged me like that, you know? I would have ended up killing you if we didn't catch on seeing these men who attacked us."

Greg simply shrugged his shoulders. "Well, at least I got you to do some of the work done for me, I was going to use my powers to deflect the shots, but why play safe with fate when I can work a situation like before and turn it against the enemies? Actually…I was never really counting that trick would work anyway. It was a brave or grave situation."

Some of the people listening sweat dropped to Greg's comment, as Kirika started to grimace, holding unto her stomach. Omi ran over to help her up as she sat down on the fountain wall.

"Are you alright?" Omi asked.

"Ugghh…the bullet didn't go too far, but…" Kirika lowered her head, slowly losing consciousness. Mireille went over to her and held her at her sides, facing the Weiss members.

"Please…I don't think we could hold out any longer like this…" Mireille begged. "Do something…"

"Don't worry…we'll make sure to take good care of you two." Omi reassured. "Right, Ran?"

"I see no problems with this, but I have to talk to Manx and Birman about this development. They probably won't sound so happy when they hear the full details." Ran spoke. "Any ideas on how we should treat them, Riku?"

"Well, the first thing we should do is get you two to our current base of operations and get you guys healed." Riku spoke. "My Mom should be able to heal those wounds up in a few minutes, no prob."

"Okay, we got that department handled." Greg simply nodded to Riku's comment. He then looked at Nagi and Yuina before speaking. "I need you two to stay with me and help me scout the area first before we leave, just to make sure no more of these guys are planning a third attempt on anyone else that comes here."

"Okay, Greg. Want us to take point this time?" Nagi asked.

"Yeah, but don't go anywhere yet…I'm going to contact Rio first and tell her what's happened." Greg said, getting on one knee. "See if you can help Noir get to the transport van and meet back here when you're done."

"Okay, sempai." Yuina nodded, as she, Nagi, Riku, Omi and Tot carefully guided Kirika and Mireille out of danger and back to the van they came, as Greg activated his real time Codec 2 and switched to Rio's frequency. Her face instantly came onscreen.

"Greggie? What's going on?" Rio asked, slightly worried about what's happening. "Something went wrong?"

"No, mom…everyone's okay at my end." Greg replied as he looked around. "But we've come across some…snags."

"Snags?"

"We're in Tokyo-2 right now, in the high class rural areas." Greg said, confirming the location. "We encountered two injured female who seemed to have been attacked by Soldius's forces."

A shocked look came on Rio's face. "What! Why would they take advantage and do that?"

"These are not normal, average chicks I've come across. They claim to be the famous French assassin, Noir." Greg answered, causing Rio to look at him in surprise.

"Did you just say Noir?"

"Yeah…a French woman around your age and a Japanese girl around Omi's." Greg explained. "That's part of them, anyway…they were attacked a day before by what possibly been Schwartz and Dead Cell. They claim one of their members have been taken by them."

"Greg…if you're saying Solidus along with Schwartz in the same sentence, I'm already starting to think this was just no normal attack." Rio said, shaking her head. "We better approach this more carefully, Greggie. This thing is starting to be even hotter than what happened with Mantis."

"No kidding, it's just from one conspiracy after another." Greg said. "First, Reese and the Patriots, now Thorn and then this. What the hell's really going on around here?"

"I wished I knew too, Greg. If Solidus is preparing something even more nasty than what every other creep that made your life hell, I don't think we will stand a chance." Rio said.

"That's why I'm going to get to the bottom of this and get some answers." Greg spoke. "And stop them before they try anything else."

"So, what are you going to do now, Greg?"

"We're coming back to the mansion soon, so it's best you get Yanagi prepared to take care of Noir when they get there. They have some nasty wounds." Greg said.

"Okay, then, I'll get everyone prepared. Oh, Greggie…Nastsasha came up with some new information concerning Shade, she says it's important that you know about this when you see her." Rio spoke.

"See ya in a few." Greg said, as he switched off his Codec. He then stood up and looked at the mansion in front of him while thinking.

(Solidus…now you've gone and interfere with assassins in your little game.) Greg thought to himself. (Damn…just what is he plotting anyway? At first, both him and the Patriots don't want me, so he's joined up with Schwartz and have taken a female assassin. Is this some new twist to his plans? What are you really doing, Solidus?)

* * *

"Excellent work, Crawford." Solidus Snake spoke as he watched a sleeping Chloe in a holding cell back at SEELE headquarters. Behind them, Revolver Ocelot, Vamp, Fortune, Schuldich and Farfarello. "Your group certainly performed the tasks amazingly well, I should add." 

"It was no trouble." Crawford spoke, shrugging his shoulders. "It was quite a privilege to have done an errand like this for you."

"May I ask just why we had to go for this particular girl?" Schuldich asked. "According to the information concerning the Noir group, Kirika had more potential than this girl for our group."

"In a timing, Schuldich. You will learn why I chose her exceptionally." Solidus said. "Think of her as a…special case."

"Special case?" Crawford asked.

"This girl was originally dead, but somehow…she survived the mortal wounding given." Solidus spoke. "It appeared there something about her sanity level that would make a nice substitute for the Patriots S3 plan, but I have other plans for her. Noir also had S3 capabilities for Ultimatum Gear, but this one will do a nice substitute for Kinezono for now."

"Intriguing…" Crawford spoke. "But that doesn't answer why we would need her."

"You won't need to know just yet. It will come to light when the time comes." Solidus spoke. He then watched Schuldich. "I take it that your psychic powers will keep her subdued even as she wakes up?"

"Of course, this is a simple task for someone like myself. Want me to wake her up?" Schuldich asked as he grinned.

"Not yet…but I do want her under restraint if she tries anything." Solidus spoke. "Vamp, you and Farfarello can stay to make her welcome, but don't frighten the poor girl."

"Why certainly, King." Vamp spoke. "I know just how to handle children, I promise she will give no trouble."

"Crawford, I expect you in Keel's office in ten minutes, there's a matter revolving this issue that I must discuss with you and your group." Solidus spoke. "Your psychic better convert that girl at the end of the meeting by the time I see her again."

"You don't have to doubt my skills, I can easily put her on a leash through her mind and she will be controllable for your bidding." Schuldich spoke.

Ocelot simply scoffed at this as he walked out of the room ahead of everyone else. As Crawford stepped out, Fortune began to spoke as she walked alongside with him.

"I still don't see why you thought it was necessary to let those two live." Fortune spoke. "We could have finished them then and there..."

"Please, Ms. Jackson, this was done entirely out of necessity." Crawford replied calmly as he fixed his glasses.

"Necessity?" Fortune asked.

"The other young one of that group will be most useful later on." Crawford answered. "It won't be long until she'll developed quite the connection between her and the youngest member of Weiss. That is one of the factors that will lead up to that usefulness."

"Is this the same thing what Solidus was explaining about that girl?" Fortune asked. "I still don't see why you of all people would sympathises with his plans."

"Don't worry, I didn't make this decision on my own." Crawford said with a confident smile. "Just before I left I had a talk with Mr. Sears about this and he approved of this. After all, it's standard policy."

"And why didn't you inform us about this earlier?" Fortune asked suspiciously.

"There was no need for you to know." Crawford answered. "Now, if you excuse me…I have a meeting with him in a few moments. I do hope you take care of that girl as well…it appears that the rest of Solidus's plans rest entirely on her."

As Crawford walked off, Fortune only shook her head in disbelief. She knew something wasn't right with this.

(Why would Solidus want to have this particular girl?) Fortune thought to herself. (Going after Kinezono would be more worth the hassle compared to this…so what's so special about her that would help our plans come to reality?)

Fortune simply started to walk once more, thinking she would deal with the matter another time. Little did she know that Mr. M was hiding within the shadows, watching everything unfold. Next to his left ear, he had a cell phone and was talking to someone else on the other end.

"Yes…the girl is now in Solidus' custody." Mr. M spoke. "Just as you predicted…the remainder of Noir still lives. I think they should consider Kinezono and his groups' assistance given the present situation."

"……."

"No, Shade hasn't decided to join the fold yet. He is still unknown to be found." Mr. M spoke. "I suspect he will go after Kinezono and his friends soon….if that happens, it could very well upset our plans for him."

"……"

"I know what must be done at the time. By any means, Kinezono cannot perish just yet…his role in this war is vital to the success of the mission." Mr. M spoke. "I will await word on the next objective. Until then, I will keep a leash on Shalashashka. Thank you again for you time, sir."

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the Uruha mansion sometime later, in the living room area…. 

"There…all done." Yanagi Hanabishi spoke simply as she removed her hand from an open spot from Kirika's abdomen. Noir was being treated for their wounds, as Riku's mother used her natural healing powers to heal the damage done to the female assassins, while Greg, Nagi, Yuina, Seraph, Weiss, Riku and Tot stood near by in the living room of the mansion with Kurei, Recca, Neon and the fellow Uruha clan ninjas, Joker and Raiha. Rio and the rest of Warrior were also in the room, listening to the details of what they discovered earlier.

"Amazing….it feels as if they were never there." Mireille spoke, feeling a lot more better than she used to. She then glanced at Kurei and Recca. "I must thank the two of you for going through this amount of trouble of saving us, we'd wouldn't know what would have happened if the wounds were worst."

"It's not a problem…you should be thanking my wife really, she is quite useful in situations like this." Recca spoke.

"Take his word for it. She even healed my worst wounds which I got from fighting Shade and Mantis some time back." Greg spoke. "Now then…what about are you two going to do about finding Chloe?"

"We won't rest until we get her back somehow." Kirika spoke. "She may look like a bad person, but she is not like that…she even risked her life saving me."

"You saying you were enemies once?" Riku asked.

"Yes…she was part of major assassin organization called the Soldats." Mireille spoke. "They trained her and Kirika to be the best assassins alive, but they were responsible for erasing her memory as well. I helped her pieced back the puzzles of her past together until eventually we met up with Chloe."

"The three of us managed to get our answers to our questions, but Chloe…she died trying to protect us." Kirika spoke, nearing tears. "But…"

"But what happened?" Omi asked.

"We are still not sure of why it happened…the only thing which dead in her was her breathing, but not her heart. The wound wasn't really fatal." Kirika nodded. "It took a while, but we were able to nurse her back to health, while we hid out here in Japan using one of Mireille's accounts."

"So, things were pretty quiet and peaceful until Dead Cell and Schwartz attacked." Ran spoke.

"It does seem that NERV and Tokyo-3 just aren't on Dead Cell's most wanted list." Rio said. "Greggie…what should we do?"

"We're in over our heads with this…we got Solidus targeting assassins now just to get competition out of the way." Greg said, placing a hand on his chin. "He is certainly trying to buy me time from going after Reese and the Patriots by doing this. All in all…we got another conspiracy on our hands that we have to deal with for the time being."

"I'm more concerned about how Chloe was affected by Schuldich's and Crawford's telepathic powers." Nagi said to Kirika and Mireille. "Breaking Schuldich's hold on your friend won't be very easy."

"What do you mean?" Greg asked. "His telepathy can't be any stronger than Mantis' right?"

"I'm not so sure about that." Nagi answered. "You see Greg, you and Mantis had something that kept thoughts and all of that from entering your mind. Schuldich, who has had his powers from birth, doesn't and has never had one."

"Nani? You saying Carrot-top is capable of that?" Greg exclaimed. "How come?"

"That's why it's easier for him to read as well as take over people's minds." Nagi said. "In a way he's better at telepathy than any psychic I've met."

"Don't see how that guy can live from day to day without an empathic barrier and still be sane." Maya spoke.

"I don't know how exactly Schuldich does it, but he seems to have a way tune out what he doesn't wish to listen to." Nagi said.

"Hate to admit it, but Schuldich seems to fare batter in that area than I expected." Greg said, shaking his head. "For the time being that is."

"So, what are you suggesting?" Mireille spoke.

"Seems there's no other way to leave this hanging…" Greg said, looking at Kurei. "You two are already deemed targets by some of the nastiest bad guys we've come around and there's no telling if they will be in a good mood to spare your lives if you go at it next time. Kurei…would it be alright that they stay here until they fully recover and we pinpoint where their friend could be?"

"We always have extra rooms and hospitality here at the mansion and they seem willing enough to help us with information about what Schwartz is doing with Dead Cell." Kurei spoke.

"But…! We certainly can't just stay here and…" Mireille spoke, before Riku cut her off.

"Don't worry about us…almost everyone in s front of you two is capable of protecting one another if things get hot, and it's very unlikely that anyone of the bad guys would come here to try something." Riku spoke. "That's like making the biggest mistake in their lives."

"Besides, you two should be grateful I was concerned for both of you." Greg said. "I happen to have a generally high respect and charm for the women of this planet, so you don't have to worry about thanking me just yet. Take things easy for the time being and we will take care of everything."

"Uh, okay." Kirika said, getting up as a couple of maids standing close by stood next to the female assassins and showed them out of the living room to their own rooms. It was then Youji stepped closer to a concerned looking Omi.

"You seem to want to help that girl from Noir..." Youji noted.

"I don't want her to lose someone close to her because of Schwartz." Omi replied. "I know from experience how that feels. Also, I know what it's like to be manipulated by Schuldich; believe me, it isn't a pleasant experience. I don't want that other girl Chloe to suffer through that experience and end up doing something she'll regret forever..."

"Tell me about it…" Greg said, in a low tone as he looked at Yuina, who was clueless to what he was talking about.

Youji then grinned.

"I see..." He said. "It's so obvious now, you've gone and fallen for that Kirika girl, haven't you?"

"H-hey…wait a minute! It's nothing like that!" Omi exclaimed, blushing a little. "I just want to help."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say." Youji said and then turned to Ran. "Hey Ran, you think I'm right?"

"It's possible." Ran admitted simply.

"Ran, not you too!" Omi said.

"I guess that means I'm right since Ran knows you the best in this group." Youji said with a grin.

"Hey, if Omi wants to help the girl, let him do his thing." Greg said, overhearing the conversation. "You two normally tease Omi so often?"

"All the time whenever we're all together, like now." Omi spoke.

"Don't take it that way, Omi. It's natural for someone in your age to help out a girl the same age as you, right?" Greg said, turning his back. "Besides…from the looks of things, you're in some need of some pickup lines."

"Eh?" Omi looked on in shock, as some of people in the room started to laugh.

"I know a little 'something-something' on how to get girls to be eating out of your hand, so if you need my advice, be sure to ask me, okay?" Greg said, leaning closer to Omi.

"Normally, that would be my expertise, Greg, but I'm glad that you're willing to help Omi as well…he and I never had any luck with girls in the past." Youji said, with a sad grin. "I know it…all too well…"

Greg simply looked at the two men and suddenly picked up a strong emotional sense of past remorse and sadness from them. It was then he knew it was true what Youji meant. Before he got to ask what he meant, Nastasha Romanenko's voice spoke behind Greg's back.

"Greg…may I have a word with you please?" The Russian woman spoke. "It's very important."

"Ah, yes, Nas. I'll come to you in a minute." Greg said, then looking back at everyone else. "Look, I got to speak with something private with her for awhile. I'm sure Mireille still have questions about us, so Riku, I'm leaving the details of explaining what has happened so far to them."

"Why do I get to do it?" Riku asked, in a near unsatisfied tone.

"Because you're used to telling better details than I am and I did most of the talking from before with Yuhi, Chidori, Shota and the others back at the Suzumi place, remember?" Greg said with a grin. "Anymore of that and that in itself will be kind of repetitive, don't you think?"

"Whatever you say, Greg." Riku replied, shrugging his shoulders. "Might as well take Ran and the others with me…"

"Uh, uh….Nagi stays with me." Greg said, stopping Nagi before he walked off. "I'll be needing your help in a bit, Nagi, it's something very important."

"Okay, Greg. But we'd better not keep Nastasha waiting any longer." Nagi said, as he and Greg started to walk upstairs and meet her at the top of the staircase.

"Alright, Nas…what is it you got to tell us?" Greg folded his arms and asked.

"You're certain that Shade has been around for almost five centuries, correct?" Nastasha asked. "The information Geese told you about him seems kind of conspicuous until I did some research of my own and came with some…disturbing intel."

"Yeah, and that he participated insome majorwars in the past. What about the intel?" Greg replied, feeling a sort of instant disgust at the thought of that name and the person who bore it. (How I long to call him Mid-Boss again just to feel better…)

"One of them was theSecond Sino JapaneseWar in 1937, which he was part of the Japanese invasion of China." Nastasha spoke. "It was the Japanese who overrun Nanking, which at the time was a capital of China. One of the most horrendous acts he did when he was the colonel of that army, was using dead and wounded soilder to fill up trenches, just so the tanks have access. And it was also reported that if there weren't enough, his men shot people indiscrimnately to fill the trenches up."

"Good God..." was all Greg can mutter, but he tried not to show as the Russian woman continued.

"Over a count of ninety thousand troops who surrendered to the Japanese, were victims tothe 'kill all captives' command, which were forged by Shade himselfand also ordered bayonet practice on the prisoners, allowing inexperienced young troops and Shade himself to take part in this." Nastasha said, as Greg was now shaking his head in disbelief.

(This man's not even human to kill so many people in such a single lifetime...) Greg thought.

"That's not even the worst of it...his division was put in charge for hunting fugitive soldiers, but Shade ended up turning it into a hunt for young and old women, even children." Nastasha said. "He and his division raped their captives, while their superiors did nothing."

"How horrifying..." Nagi muttered as he listened in. Even as a former Schwartz assassin, this was too much for even him to believe.

"Thus, the Japanese looted plundered the city, while killing off thousands of civilians and it continued on in the Vietnam War that started in 1954 to 1975." Nastasha spoke. "As a French mercenary, Shade was also one for the Americans and was known for his brutality in the war as he and his men slaughtered hundreds of innocent victims,and also engaging in raping the the women he kidnapped. I can go on and on with the number of atrocities in Vietnam alone, but..."

"You don't need to go on if you don't want to, Nas." Greg said, putting up a hand. "Before I can say we've heard enough, is there any other details about his past we should know about?"

"Yes, there were the wars in the Afghanistan during the '80s'." Nastasha said. "At the time, he was a merc for the Russians, though he was really on a mission for the Patriots to turn the people against the Soviet backed government when insurgency began for the progressive government. Shade was sent in and his methods included brutally mudering hundreds of villagers."

"It's a cycle of violence and Shade's always the cause of it." Greg replied, now having heard enough, then a sick thought came to mind. "But, Nas...even for him to go as far as raping his female captives...how come he isn't...?"

"Sick from sickness? Shade has nothing to fear from sexually transmitted diseases…that is probably common for a human regenerator." She continued. "That…monster…has spend most of his extracurricular time in his life, raping and ruining women to the point that they were degraded to mere objects for his twisted desires."

Nagi only shook his head, as he suddenly watched Greg's face become darkened as he hung his head.

"So…we're dealing with a sadist, huh?" was Greg's simple question.

"The worst kind." Nastasha spoke, before walking closer to Greg. "I came across intel of one particular victim…her name is Sayoko Tachikawa. If you need some information about her, you should ask your apprentice and his friends."

"Nagi?" Greg asked him. "You know her?"

Nagi nodded his head. "I certainly do…she is quite a nice person once she gets to know you. I'm sure she will make good friends with you as well, Greg. But…"

"But what, Nagi?" Greg asked seriously.

"Well…I won't exactly tell you now, we'll just wait until we meet Sayoko and then, you'll see for yourself why I'm having the same resentment as you are having right now." Nagi said sadly before he started to walk off. But Greg stopped him before he lefty the area.

"Wait, Nagi!" Greg called out to him. "I know I'm sorry if this brought anything you dislike at the moment, but…"

"It's not really your fault, Greg. I don't like Shade as much as you do…but I think Nastasha is warning us that he is not a guy to be taken lightly by personality alone." Nagi said. "Greg…I know how much you want to at least avenge the evil he as done, but be careful about this. You're not the kind of guy to let people like Shade get to you."

"Yeah…I got to stop getting this over my head." Greg said, then patting Nagi. "Actually…this is something I'm concerned if you're not trying to get your hands dirty, but I need this particular info."

"About what, Greg?" Nagi asked. "I'll be sure to get it for you without any trouble."

"Okay then…I'll need as much of the old Delta Squad reports on…Victor Masterson." Greg said seriously, causing Nagi's eyes to widen. He knew Greg was somehow referring to Silent Scorpion's own late father.

"James Masterson's father!" Nagi exclaimed, as Greg did a hush signal over his lips. "Why would you ask for your best friend's family records?"

"Nagi…in this world, you got to play outside the rules to win. I'm just making sure to take some sideline action before we do anything else." Greg said, standing upright. "If Reese was able to go as far and eliminate my records of joining FOXHOUND from existence, he may have something vital from the Delta Squad Victor used to take command in. There's a particular and very important person I must find."

"But…what about Campbell or Riku? Or as a matter of fact, everyone else?" Nagi asked in a nervous tone.

"If they ask, tell them it's for the good of the mission." Greg replied. "Don't worry…you'll thank me when I find 'that man'."

"I'll get to work right away." Nagi bowed to Greg reluctantly. "Should I have Omi help me with the work as well?"

"Yeah, you might better as do it…if he asks why, just give him the same answer like before." Greg said, as Nagi walked off, trying to figure out why Greg would want to see his best friend's family records. Little did Nagi and everyone else know, Greg was going all out in finding the one person who can at least curb his bloodlust in battle. Suddenly taking out the Ascension, he started to examine the serrated blades of the spear. It was still tainted in blood. Greg started to shake his head, as a pounding came unto his body as he started to think about Shade.

"Shade…must burn for this…" Greg said, gripping his chest as if he was getting a heart attack. Shutting his eyes, he concentrated himself not to lose control of his powers right there and then. But the guilt of knowing Shade had done so much horrendous things in the past hung unto Greg like a second skin.

(No…not here…not now…I'm not like them yet…) Greg said, returning his senses to reality. He simply wiped his sweat calming over his forehead and took some deep breaths. (The sooner I find the famous swordmaker, Hanzo Hattori…the better. If his skills can somehow create a reversed blade version for my Ascension, I won't have to worry so much about using it in battle. But that means I still have to make…'adjustments'. This means I still have calls to make…when will this madness ever end?)

Greg simply shook his head as he started to walk out of the living room, unknowing to him that Rio was standing at a far corner, watching him in silence. She was remembering the conversation Greg had with Kyo and Iori concerning his powers.

(So…there will be a time my own powers will betray me once again. Is there any salvation for me, just when I only want to protect everyone dear to me?) Greg's words ran through her mind in an echo.

"You just hang on a bit longer, Greggie. I'm sure there's a way you can use your powers without having to hurt yourself from now." Rio said to herself. "You can count on me."

Meanwhile, somewhere else at the mansion, while Riku was approaching Noir's resting quarters. He was in a middle of the Codec conversation with Michael Hansen, who was somehow intrigued by the discovery of Noir in Japan by Greg and how things got to be.

"So, did Greg said just how he managed to find the assassin called Noir?" Michael asked.

"Never mentioned it. I think he's on to something, he just won't say what it is, though." Riku said.

"Hmm…I'd suggest you keep watch on Greg for the time being. I don't like where this is going, especially if Greg is responsible for finding those two women like that." Michael said. "I'm sure when sensei Yukimura gets there, he will get to the bottom of what's going on as well."

"Sanada-san is coming here?" Riku asked.

"Yes, he's coming to see Greg about something important." Michael answered. "Look Riku, just promise that you won't let Greg know too much about sensei Yukimura without his permission."

"Of course, Michael, but why?" Riku asked in reply.

"You certainly do well know why." Michael replied. "I mean…from what you said about Greg, I don't think he's going to accept Yukimura so easily like that, especially when he knows about his background. Just try to keep things quiet about him until he thinks it's the right time, okay?"

"I got you. I'll be sure the message gets through." Riku said, as he logged off. (I'm sure this will get more complicated later on…Greg, what is it that's about you that makes so much enemies attracted to you? And what is it that you know that makes you be hunted so often?)

* * *

Meanwhile in the United States, in the famed Geese Towers at the centre of SouthTown…. 

Geese Howard was seated behind his desk, reading a newspaper. Most of the reports were still surrounding the happenings of Tokyo-3, Greg, SEELE and NERV and vice versa. He started to shake his head, thinking when Greg will put his foot to stop the growing evil by seeing about the Virtuous Mission soon.

"This plan of yours…you think it's just an excuse to execute revenge on those who harmed his life like this?" a woman's voice spoke from the darkness at the side of his desk. "Greg is not the kind of person who will go down that kind of road."

"That is true, but Greg has the ability so snap himself back before he could corrupt himself." Geese simply replied. "I did sponsor the research responsible for his powers…I know of the possible details what his powers could go through if he goes insane once more."

"And…THAT is part of the grand plan?" the woman spoke. "What kind of sensei you are to Greg to threat him like this? Slowly and surely, he'll lose path of his ideals and he'll become an inhumane monster with a lust for blood and destruction!"

"So says one of the people who raised him…you know of this as well as I do. It's not his entire fault that his powers continue to ravage him…his own cursed powers are doing that for him." Geese simply replied. "Worry not…Greg thinks I'm not concerned about his welfare and future, but in reality, I'm pulling out all the stops as a dictator and a crime lord to help him from where I sit. You and everyone involved in Greg's life will be in for one hell of a surprise when you see the results."

There was a sigh from the woman. "Of course…there's nothing Geese Howard is capable of accomplishing…you're only helping Greg achieve his goals."

"You may be still of some good use." Geese spoke. "Get the other two of Greg's oldest friends with you and prepare to return to Japan. He will certainly be needing your help then…Aika Sumeragi."

A blonde Japanese woman in a red, tight fitting dress and an extremely short skirt appeared from the shadows and bowed to Geese. "About time…and here I thought you wanted me to stay out of the situation for a bit longer. You suggested it in the first place when the thing with Mantis began."

"Now is your time to complete your training with Greg…his time of another hard battle draws near and now I fear for him." Geese spoke. "If you are too late…"

"I understand. I must do what is necessary to help Greg." Aika said, before turning her back. "But if you dare pull anything to harm Greg's life, or those around him…you'll have to answer to me."

Geese simply smirked as Aika left the room. After he was left to himself, Geese stood up and watched the city he had in his grasp as he contemplated what lied in store for Greg Kinezono.

"It won't be long before everything goes to hell soon…Greg must be prepared to face the fact of his powers or all that matters to him will be lost…." Geese said to himself as he watched the city in silence.

Greg's true battle has merely begun…

* * *

ShardclawK: And that concludes this chapter. Sorry if you didn't get the amount of action and details you wanted, I'm still somewhat slumping to this writer's block I have. That's probably why I took long to update, but things should get kicking sooner or later, as we're nearing the end of the arc of this fic. The next arc will be not like anything you've thought was possible in this fic, and it will be one of the darkest parts to be portrayed in this fic as well, so things will get real grim at the turn of Chapter 25. Be on the lookout for that. That reminds me…I still got more of my OC's to introduce, not to mention a couple of more surprise twists that will show up later on. Better get on those right away when I get the chance… 

Ran: And now for an important announcement, Shardclaw wants to thank DarkFusion if he's reading this greatly for sending him the subbed collection of the Weiss Kreuz series which he got through the mail last week. He says how he was quite compelled watching the anime and thoroughly enjoyed it to the end. He even approved of some of the pairings for that one…you should have seen him look at the scenes with Nagi and Tot together.

ShardclawK watching Tot and Nagi kissing on Episode 22: Awww…that is SO CUTE! (Ahem.) Anyway, I'm sure to get some good ideas for this fic and COE later on with that collection, but I must deal with getting Youji hooked up later. Don't worry, there will be more of a romance between Omi and Kirika, and I already have someone planned for Mireille as well, (you will have to read on to find out) but as a word of advice, be sure to grab Agent Aika before you advance with the fic, because now's the time to finally bring them back along with a few surprises!

Greg: I'm already getting a funny feeling about this…soon, he's going to have a horde of miniskirt wearing women chasing me for my powers. I'm living a nightmare…

ShardclawK: Anyway, I do hope this update has satisfied you fans, as I got some doubt how quickly I can cook up the next update. By the time I do that, DMC 3, (which is rumoured to be out next week) will pretty much take up much of my social life if I don't get Xenosaga Episode 2 first that is. At least I'll get ideas to finish End of Eva May Cry…

Just then, the girls of Steel Angel Kurumi, which were Kurumi, Saki and Karinka stepped in, wearing sexy, revealing sophomore vest tops, and tight mini skirts. They started to gang up on me with their ecchiness.

Kurumi: Shardclaw-sama…we heard you got a nasty writer's block. Poor boy! But don't worry…until DF sends his shipments over to you, Tempest said that we'll must take the initiative to help you solve your problem with our…voracious appetites for…'meat.'

Saki: Along with us, we brought a shipment of our sexy schoolgirl clothing for the Negima girls you have, as well as enough ice cubes and ice cream you can use as…massage on our bodies, because we tend to…get hot easily. And the usual large resupply of…'vital supplies.'

ShardclawK: Aw, snap! You girls are too much! Why am I still here? I'm in dire need to be cured!

As I get carried off once more, Ran simply shook his head.

Ran: I guess that's all to it, folks. We'd better hope Shardclaw-san will use the power he is given and portray us just as well as he did before prior watching the series, as well give him ideas. I wonder what surprises lay in store for the next updates?

Ken: We might as well stayed tuned…I'm sure this will be one hell of a ride.

Collis aka ShardclawKusanagi.


	25. The Hunted, Part 6

Disclaimer: As always, I own nothing from the material used in this story, as it and Greg Kinezono are among the only things I owe in this fic.

ShardclawK: Welcome back to another update of the story. Thanks to those who reviewed the last update, I was surprised to see the good responses as always, especially to those who reacted to the hint of Kill Bill in this fic. Yes, I have decided to include some reference to that movie, since it's one of my favourites among most of the people who have read this fic, and I had also got one particular surprise as to why that movie is important in this story.

Ran: I wonder what that could be, Shardclaw?

Ken: I'm sure he will show us what it is about sooner or later, but we should also advice the audience that there's not much going to have any action for this chapter, as most of it is a recap of the events that have occurred in this story so far.

Omi: Not to mention, more focus on the aspects of Flame of Recca characters and references, as more of them will show up later in this fic. Just think of this chapter as a 'story reference' chapter of sorts, as it still has several other surprises to come along the way.

ShardclawK: That's just about right. And an important note, as of this chapter, future music references used in battle scenes or anything else important will be marked in bold italics. I will be making this change in future COE chapters as well. Like I said some time ago, I'm taking my fiction to new heights, to make it totally different than what some what people would think of them. Anyway, I do hope you enjoy this update; it's going to be good.

Before anything else happens, Rowdy Reiko, Sgt. Clements, Judgement, Mistress Spencer, Rebecca Welsh, Killer Kahn, Showbiz, Noble Rose, BBQ and Dr. Cutter, the alter egos of the girls from Rumble Roses stepped in, wearing their normal, yet sexy and revealing outfits. Also with them was the cute NPC, Ellie from La Pucelle Tactics, wearing a tight tank top and very short and loose miniskirt. Rowdy Reiko, Ellie, Mistress Spencer and Noble Rose started to gang up on me, while Mistress Spencer licked her whip and passed it along the way of my thigh.

Mistress Spencer: Kusanagi, how dare you ignore us this time? Are you in need for another spanking for being such a…bad boy?

ShardclawK: Um, no Queen. I'm really behaving like you instructed before. Please, don't have Miyabi, Tsuande, Nancy, Morrigan and Seras gang up on me and 'discipline' me for not keeping up with the updates often.

Sgt. Clements as twirls a pair of handcuffs: Well, there's only one way we can be certain of that…a little game of 'Tie Shardclaw-sama to the Bedpost' is in order.

Ellie: And then, we will take turns in groups of four or more to satisfy our voracious appetites for…'meat'. Worry not, Shardclaw-sama…we promise we won't bite…too hard. And not at the same time at once either. Eri!

ShardclawK: Aw, crap…I'm done for. Hope they spare me by the time this chapter is done. Anyway, I'm leaving the rest of this in your hands, fellas!

As always when I get carried off to the master bedroom, the Weiss boys only shook their heads in shock.

Ran: He has to start locking those women of his if he wants to run this thing right. Let's just get on with the show, everyone. The audience must be getting tired of the suspense. Enjoy as always.

* * *

ShardclawKusanagi presents: 

Metal Gear Solid: Soldier X

Chapter 24: The Hunted, 6

* * *

Somewhere in the rural, busy streets of old Tokyo, at an apartment settlement, Shade walked out through one of the doors. He was wearing a trench coat that covered his tall and muscular built body and had already put on his hat. He had a satisfying, yet twisted and lecherous smile on his face as if he had done something to enjoy himself at. 

From the distance where he walked, the sounds of a woman, heavily sobbing and wailing inside the room he just came from was heard. Shade simply shook his head as he smiled.

"As always, these women of the streets are always the best to torment and satisfy 'my needs.'" Shade said to himself as he left the building. "Even down to the prostitutes, but they lose worth over time as well."

Shade started to trek to his location, thinking that he is confident in defeating and killing Greg Kinezono. He also has plans to do the same to Riku, Nagi, and Tot, as well as anyone who has associated with them in this fight. But he has to consider why Solidus had done in allying with Schwartz.

"Schwartz…what a bunch of fools." Shade spoke to himself as he walked. "What purpose will you gain if you ally yourselves with Dead Cell? I can easily smite Kinezono without anyone's help…and I'll prove it soon, once I find him. Yes…you are very close, Kinezono, I can sense you. Let's see if you be able to brag over me the next time we meet."

Shade also remembered he still had to deal with Reese for making him face Greg unprepared. He has attempted many tries to gain information of his whereabouts, but to of no avail. He will eventually get to deal with Reese soon, but his priority is taking care of Greg and his group of close friends first.

(Soon, Kinezono…you days are numbered once I find you and your friends.) Shade thought as he suddenly stepped into the shadows of a nearby wall and into thin air.

Unknown to him, a shadowy figure that seemed to have a cloak over its head stood nearby on one of the buildings rooftops, watching Shade's every move.

"Yes, sir. It is confirmed…that level of ninjitsu certainly fits him alright." The figure spoke to a small mic next to its mouth. "I still don't understand why our intervention is needed at the appointed time…are you sure this will work?"

"We are doing this for Greg as well as his comrades sake." Another voice said from the other end. "You do know we should be on standby until that time."

"I still wish I can go and see him again, sir…"

"I know how much you want to, but the shock will be too much for him." The male voice said. "Until that time, do not allow Shade or any of our enemies suspect you are tailing him. We still have to set the timing of the events that will happen to Greg soon."

With a sigh, the cloaked figure nodded. "Understood…Zero. I'm returning to base to await further orders."

After the figure turned off the radio, it nodded its head as it watched to the horizon of the city as it was meditating in deep thought.

(Soon, my student…we'll see if you've become more than just the child I brought up all those years ago…) the figure spoke, as it stepped back. While it did, the cloak simply blew over, leaving a space of nothingness where it formerly stood.

* * *

Later on that evening, back at the Uruha mansion, 

Mireille Bouquet and Kirika Yuumura were seated on the beds in their own rooms, while Neon, Kurei, Recca, Yanagi and Kagero explained to them about the members of the Uruha ninja clan. Riku, Yuina, Seraph, Team Warrior and Weiss were also sharing their stories as well, about FOXHOUND and Philanthropy, as well as the own teams who had been allied with them. Riku and Yuina took turns explaining the events of what happened to Greg up to this point.

"I see…so that's what happened." Kirika nodded after understanding most of the situation.

"Yeah, so that' why Greg is doing what he does now." Riku replied. "He's pretty pissed off after all that's happened to him, Yuina and mostly Mantis."

"Well, I won't argue with that, but as you said before, there are other people who will want to come after Greg, aren't they?" Mireille spoke.

"That's right…all of them brought up trouble for my Greggie at some point in time before." Rio said. "Now we got to deal with monsters sent by mad scientists. The thought of that really makes me steam."

"It's highly possible there are more than just the Patriots are behind this…" Kurei spoke.

"Probably, but we can't be sure of how much." Maki answered. "Greg's got himself a handful of enemies, and I don't mean just within or outside FOXHOUND while he was part of it either."

"What's that suppose to mean?" Ran Fujimiya asked.

"Greg did spend some serious time with Geese, so it's natural he may have drawn some enemies from KOF." Maki explained. "One of those on his list happens to be Wolfgang Krauser, Geese's own stepbrother. Then we got those from the NESTS cartel, but from last we heard, Kula, Foxy and Diana are hiding under the protection of K', Maxima and Whip. K9999 and Angel are probably around somewhere together, causing havoc to someone…"

"Ugghh…K9999." Rio shook her head. "That Tetsuo reject better think twice before trying to start something with my Greggie the next time he runs into him…the thought that NESTS is even after Greg is scary though. They are as powerful as the Patriots and some of the other creeps we've ran before that wanted Greg."

"So, you see why Greg has to stay here with us. We are doing our job to help and protect a good friend who's been through enough already." Recca spoke. "It's rather natural of us ninja to do this, and we will do the same for you guys as well."

"All we want is to get Chloe back safe and sound." Mireille spoke. "We don't want to get involved in your problems if it's this complicated."

"It's not a problem for us…we have enough resources and trusted ninja here, they'd be happy to help you get your friend back." Kagero spoke.

Just then, Greg simply entered the room, wearing simply a black long sleeve shirt with a white, large crucifix in the middle.

"She's right, you know." Greg said to the two female assassins. "They have no qualms of going out all the way to help someone who's gotten mixed up with Solidus's cause, just like they are doing with me now."

"We need to think about what's going to happen at first." Kurei spoke. "Solidus is most certainly after something before he makes any move against NERV…something that he sees in Chloe that we don't…"

"It's only a matter of time before he could fully utilize Chloe's skills for his goals." Ran spoke. "And I'm sure it's not stopping there too…"

Greg simply looked at everyone in silence, before lowering his head a bit to look at the women of Noir. It was then Riku began to speak.

"Look…I'm not sure myself why this is exactly happening…what I do know that this concern has brought all of us here together for a good reason." Riku spoke. "We should to what we can to help Noir out, dad."

"That's right…we're not certain if either the Patriots or Dead Cell will come after them again or we can't sit around while their friend is being used against her will by Solidus and Schwartz." Recca said.

"It's best you two stay here with us and rest. We will make sure to take care of everything." Kurei said, giving Noir some assurance.

"By the way, Greg…you never exactly mentioned just how we were able to find Noir in time." Youji Kudou asked Greg all of a sudden.

"He's right…no one on the planet would have known about where we hid, not to mention what was happening to us." Kirika said.

"Care to do some explaining for us, Greg?" Riku asked, folding his arms, as well as everyone else in the room did, staring at him.

"Nani? What's this all of a sudden?" Greg asked, with a nervous glare. "Look, as I said before…I was informed that these two were in some kind of trouble from a source, that's all. There was nothing strange in how I got it, so there's no reason for all of you to gang up on me with your curiosity."

(Nothing strange, eh…? What about that mysterious caller the other night who was referred as Zero?) Greg thought to himself.

Riku only looked at Greg for a moment, before he spoke. "Well…the most important thing we are overlooking is that we managed to save Noir from getting killed by a group of Tengus. That's all that matters."

"Yeah, I guess that's true." Tot nodded. "You shouldn't worry too much about it. I'm sure the people at the Uruha here can take good care of your needs."

"Okay, if you say so…we'll might as well stay here and learn more of this place and of you people." Mireille spoke.

"We've all have a long day, so I think its best you two better get something to eat and then relax yourselves, leave the handiwork to me and my friends." Greg said, beginning to leave the room. The other people in the room also followed suit and left Noir to themselves.

"It's getting pretty late…we should go back to the shop and report to Manx and Birman about today." Ran spoke to Riku.

"I wonder how they will take this news…" Riku spoke.

"It will probably surprise them both, but I'm sure they will think of a way to let us help Noir as well." Ken said.

"Well, you guys do what you can. I'm sure Greg himself will find a way to help Noir as well, but for now, we'd better focus on keeping them safe from the likes of Solidus and Schwartz." Riku said.

"I agree." Ran nodded, before he headed out of the door. "Well, then…we'll make sure to keep each other informed. See you guys again soon, Riku and Greg."

"It was fun, fellas." Greg simply remarked to the Weiss boys as they left the mansion. Greg then turned to Riku.

"Okay…seems we have to take this one step at a time from now on." Greg said to Riku.

"Yeah…now assassins are become targets by our enemies." Riku said. "Greg…something tells me that this conspiracy which brewed up doesn't exactly look like an average mission we've come up in the past."

"I guess it's natural for a ninja like you to sense these things." Greg simply remarked. "I already knew from day after the whole ordeal with Mantis, there's more than it seems here. How little did we know it would involve the famous Noir?"

"No one could, Greg. I'm sure Crawford must have guessed that this would have happened." Riku said.

"Hmmm…well, it's not like we could do anything about it now for the time being. We can't just charge into SEELE headquarters and tear everything up to rescue Chloe…it's not going to be easy as the time we went to rescue Lilica and Yuina."

"Yeah…" Riku said, before he started to yawn. "Anyway, we might as well sleep on it…we'll figure out our next move tomorrow bright and early."

"Okay, then…wait, just a moment, Riku. "By chance it's true you know of a Sayoko Tachikawa?" Greg called out to his friend before he left the living room, but he wasn't expecting the reaction from Riku when he said this.

Riku was silent, but his eyes were lowered in a saddened expression that was a rare sight for him. Greg could immediately sense a feeling of sorrow, mixed with anger coming from his friend too.

"I guess this is a sensitive subject for you too, huh?" Greg asked. "I asked Nagi and his response was the same as yours. Is it the same with Tot too?"

"Yeah, on both counts." Riku answered, avoiding Greg's gaze. "It's not something any of us like to talk about. I will say this though, Sayoko is a very good friend of ours and the three of us have sworn to make Shade pay dearly for what he did to her."

(Man…I'd never thought I was to see that kind of expression from Riku in a long time. He was serious as hell when he talked about this Sayoko character.) Greg thought to himself solemnly. (No use asking Tot about it as well, she may as well show the same kind of expression as Nagi and Riku did. Now that I think of it…just what kind of harm Shade had done to Sayoko to have Riku react like this? Maybe its best I don't ever find out for my power's sake…)

"Sorry if I struck something up, Riku." Greg said in an apologetic tone, rubbing his forehead. "You three seem to care a lot about this Sayoko, huh?"

Riku nodded his head sadly, trying to grin a bit. "Yeah, more than anyone else who knows her?"

"Who else does know Sayoko?" Greg asked Riku.

"There those from FOXHOUND, Michael, Garland and Maggie." Riku explained. "The same goes for everyone from Weiss, Manx and Birman included and my grandma, Kagero."

"I see...well, since you know much of where she lives, when you get the chance, I want to meet her." Greg said to Riku sternly. "You think that's possible, Riku?"

"I'm sure you have reasons to why you want to do that, and I won't ask why. We can do that once we get the chance, since we're busy now protecting Noir at the moment." Riku replied.

"Thanks a lot, Riku." Greg nodded his head, before looking at his watch. "Hmm…look, Riku, there are some calls I got to make and stuff to check on, so I better might as well turn in for the night at this time."

Before Greg walked off to his room, Riku called out to him. "Hey, Greg…can I ask you something now?"

"Sure, Riku…what is it about?"

"You wanted Nagi earlier for something important, right?" Riku asked, gaining Greg's nod.

"Yeah….you can say that." Greg replied. "I just wanted him to find some Intel relating to some of the famous Delta Squads from the past. One of the particular ones I want happens to be of James' late father, Victor Masterson."

"Greg…I can't believe you would even go that low." Riku shook his head. "Are you certain that info Nagi will find will be of any help?"

"Well…I'm actually looking for a particular someone whose good enough to temper a reverse edge for my spear. I think it's beginning to lose it's effectiveness since I last used it…" Greg stopped midway. (Damn…Riku's right about it. All I really needed is to get the information for Hanzo Hatori's location…)

"Hey, you don't have to answer this if you don't want to." Riku spoke. "But does this plan for a reverse blade for your Ascension have anything to do with what happened with Shiju?"

Greg's eyes widened in a slight show of surprise as Riku said this. (How did he know about…? Sure, he, Rio and even Tessa were there when I was doing battle, but how accurately would Riku know about what I want to do with the Ascension?)

"Hey, it's not like that." Greg nervously rubbed the back of his head. "But since when were you able to guess what I was planning?"

"I may not be a psychic, but as a ninja I'm able to read people almost as well." Riku answered. "I noticed that your not wanting to take part in the fight with those Tengus earlier had more to do than just wanting to see Nagi and Yuina's skills."

Once again, Greg was at a loss for words for a moment. He tried to hide his innocent, naivety by laughing a bit, though he was rather bad at it.

"My, my…you actually saw why I let them do that, Riku?" Greg said, rubbing the back of his head. "Well, you see….I was…I was feeling under the weather at the time, you see. I didn't want to look bad in front of my apprentices if some sign that's something's wrong with me gets to them, you know. But, I'm fine now, so you shouldn't worry too much about me."

Riku simply sighed and shrugged his shoulders, deciding he won't press on the subject any further.

"I'm not going to pry into your business, don't worry about that." Riku assured him. "But I just want you to know that if whatever problem you're having is too much, my friends and I are ready to step in to help you at anytime."

"Oh, yeah…sure. Thanks a lot, Riku." Greg simply said, smiling a bit. As he saw Riku walk off to his direction, Greg started to think to himself. (At least you're one of the people most concerned of helping me out in this mess, second to Nagi and Tot…but I have a feeling that won't be enough later on. I may need a bit more than that if you guys can do something about my powers…)

Greg didn't want to ponder too much on the bad thoughts, especially with his powers are concerned. He had to take his mind of off these things for the time being.

(Might as well cancel training with Nagi and Yuina for this evening only, with all that's going on, I'm sure they are probably tired.) Greg thought to himself. (I'd better start making final preparations regarding everything that has happened to me so far and piece as much clues together about who and why so many people are after me. Maybe I can get some answers and hopefully, a link to where Reese and the Patriots are hiding.)

Greg got into his room and immediately locked the door of the mansion room. Taking a glance around, he can see his room had been tided up since he left earlier in the day with Riku, Nagi, Tot, Yuina, Seraph and the rest of Weiss to find Noir.

(Can't blame the lovely maids in this mansion, it is part of their job anyway.) Greg thought to himself as he sat down on the posture bed. The maids respected Greg's privacy, as well as his secret documents. He has yet to see the profiles of those he had to confront in his upcoming Virtuous Mission. But before he did that, he had to make a list of those who would want him and draw out a possible plan for most susceptible person who would want Greg to himself. He wanted to thin out the numbers before things got out of hand.

"Let's get things started off with Matthew Reese…" Greg said to himself, looking at the picture and profile of FOXHOUND's most hated Lieutenant. Greg simply gritted his teeth and activated his Codec 2 MP3 player. He selected 50 Cents and G-Unit's, '_**Many Men.**_' Greg happened to be a hardcore fan of pre Second Impact rap. Ever since Greg could remember, Reese has been in one of the leader's of the group long before he joined. It was surprise to Greg that since then, Reese was quite an asshole and why Campbell was too naïve to see that Reese was bad news from the start. Reese has true intolerance towards the new generation of FOXHOUND recruits, especially to those who gained powerful skills and abilities, or had complicated pasts. He went as far as to put his own recruits' lives on danger on several occasions just to satisfy his perverted view of command.

It was because of Reese that Yuina's life has been for the worst; Psycho Mantis was disturbed and corrupted by the Patriots, having him do things against his will. Greg will never rest easily until this man has been put to sleep PERMANENTLY for all the evil he has done.

"That's number one…your time of judgement will soon come, I can assure you, Reese." Greg said to himself, sorting his profile. The next to appear was the mercenary known as Shade. Greg remembered running into him just before he faced off with Mantis. The two faced off in a heated battle, and thanks to Greg's augmented strength, he was able to even his chance with Shade, giving him the shot to send him running.

From what he had gathered thus far, Shade is actually an experienced high level ninja that has been around for half a millennium, to be exact, over 400 years old. He has been in involved in a majority of the World Wars, killed, maimed and even raped most of his female victims and is quite a sadist who can't seem to get enough of his twisted actions. He was also responsible for killing Michael Hansen's unit, as well as his fiancée a few years back. Andy Bogard also happened to be one of the countless victims under Shade's list.

"How come someone so evil, be so powerful?" Greg said to himself, now sipping out of a beer can he took out from the small refrigerator he had in the room. "I'm sure he has more surprises that he didn't get the chance to show me as yet…I'd better be ready for them if I run into him again soon, which I'm sure of it. I'm looking forward to pounding you into the ground for all the sins you've committed, Mid-boss."

Greg puts aside Shade's profile and ended up looking at the files of Brad Crawford, Schuldich and Farfarello, the three remaining members of Schwartz, an assassin group. Nagi Naoe was formerly of this group, as well as being Crawford's own apprentice. But now, Nagi is part of FOXHOUND and is now, second to Yuina, happens to be Greg's apprentice of using his psychic gifts.

Schwartz wasn't involved entirely in Greg's situation…it was Farfarello who was sent to kill Seraph and Greg managed to rescue her sometime before he went off to rescue Lilica and Yuina from Mantis. Farfarello happens to be an Irish knife thrower who has the ability to ignore psychical pain. The only injuries that seem to affect him seem are to be the self inflicted wounds he has about from his body.

Schuldich was a strong German telepath who could very fast in battle. Schuldich loves to manipulate and toy with people's minds.

Brad Crawford is an American businessman who is a skilled boxer and could read the future by mere moments. He is used to deceiving his enemies for his and Schwartz's own pursuits.

"Farfie, Carrot-top and shorty…what do you think you can gain by allying yourselves with Dead Cell?" Greg asked himself, mentioning the pet names for his enemies for this group.

Greg thought back to a possible connection. Schwartz wanted Yuina to become their newest member, but Greg got in the way of that twice in the past. In the end, they tried to recruit him, but he flat out refused the offer and offered to beat the living hell out of them instead for trying to harm Yuina. This was just some time after he recovered from fighting Mantis. However, as mighty Schwartz would seem, they couldn't quite match up to Greg's skills. This encounter also caused Greg to encounter Weiss, who happened to be Schwartz's enemies, with the exception of Nagi. Greg wants to know more of Crawford's motive as to why he wants to work with Solidus and more especially, what they have in mind for Chloe.

"The sooner I find the answer to that, the better. I have to intercept now before one of the psychics does something to mentally damage Chloe." Greg said to himself, putting the files of the Schwartz group into a separate case. He will have to keep these as he goes on…any added intel he can use against his enemies, he can certainly put to use against them later on.

"Evil can't be one step ahead in this game…that's not fair, I tell you." Greg said, now looking at Robert Thorn's profile.

Thorn happens to be a brilliant, yet twisted man of genetic manipulation and splicing, capable of creating human and monster hybrids with his research. He too wanted Greg for his own uses. He had sent a chimera named Shiju to test Greg's skills. Greg managed to kill Shiju, but was overwhelmed by Thorn's psychic powers later on. It was true that Thorn has used his own experiments to increase his own strength. Greg is sure that Thorn is not done pursuing him just yet.

(He did say he have more than chimeras in store for me…) Greg thought to himself, placing the file aside. (I'd better be prepared for any surprises he will throw at me as well.)

The last possible one of Greg's list happened to be of General Drake, a man also very capable of toying with people and their emotions just to get what he needs. He is quite able in terms of strategy and using it to conquer those he desires to do his bidding. Greg had been noted by Drake to consider working for him, but Greg didn't consider it right away, as he was more focused on the prelude to the Virtuous Mission before and the safety of his friends over everything else at the moment.

Greg is sure since he's been alive for long enough, that people like Drake would easily get to him if he plays with his head for a bit longer and continues to refuse him. But Greg is more of a people person…his life experience has taught him to how to deal with people otherwise. He won't have to worry too much about Drake, but he will still have to be careful.

"It's not like Drake has anything I want that he can help me with…" Greg said, placing his profile on the 'Possible Enemy' list, being marked as number one. The psychic stood up, stretched himself and gathered the information he collected so far. He started to do a little reminiscing.

"At first…Reese and the Patriots had to make arrangements for me to be their so called by-product of the S3." Greg said to himself as he paced in the room. "Mantis, Yuina and I could be as well being part of that plan, but it doesn't end there. Ocelot and Solidus also have expectations of me in this…but didn't bother to interfere with what the Patriots did when I rescued Lilica and Yuina. They stood on the sidelines, while people like Schwartz, Thorn and Drake show up."

Greg took out another beer and started to sip it, while he thought some more. "If that's the case…are the Patriots allowing these things to happen in a way to test my capabilities? No…that's what Dead Cell would expect. Something bigger is involved…something that probably connects me to this thing about Third Impact. But at the moment, I don't have any idea if it's a good thing or a bad one…"

All in all, Greg has guessed since his the time when Lilica was kidnapped, he was being tested for something grand. Reese, Shade, Thorn, Schwartz…these are the faces of evil Greg knows that will not give up coming after him. Greg knows there are probably more evil ones that are after him soon.

"If this keeps up, I will never get to deal with the Virtuous Mission…" Greg said to himself, finishing the can of beer and opening another. "In conclusion, it seems that I got quite a fight ahead of me before I can consider dealing with the Virtuous Mission…."

Just then, Greg heard a soft knock at the door. He went to open it and saw his surrogate mother, Rio standing there, wearing a large robe.

"Mom?" Greg simply asked a bit surprised to see her. "What's the matter?"

"It's nothing…I was just wondering…are you okay?" Rio's tone in her voice was different than usual, it's as if she knew the hurting Greg was going through and it could get worse soon. Greg simply raised an eyebrow while looking at her, even though he picked up a sense of sadness and great pity from Rio. "I'm sure you must be hungry, why don't you come on down and eat with the rest of us?"

"That's nice, mom…but not tonight." Greg simply replied. "I'm still trying to figure out what's Solidus plotting with this thing with Chloe…it just doesn't add up one bit."

"Yeah…he must really have something planned for her, but I'm sure we'll stop him before he tries anything." Rio said, reaching for Greg's nanoarm. She then started to hold his artificial hand. "Greggie…I'm just worried about you, that's' all. If you think something is going to happen beyond your control, let me know. Everyone in Warrior cares for you like family, you know."

"Thanks, mom…I'd really appreciate it." Greg said. "Look, I'll come down and eat for a bit, but if the dinner is good as always, leave extras for later when I start to do some more research on our enemies."

Rio suddenly tightened her grip on his hand. Greg sensed something wasn't up with her.

"Oh, Greg…how much you've changed…" Rio spoke, as the sadness in her voice grew. "Even before joining FOXHOUND, you've never cared about these things like power and strength. All you ever wanted was the perfect peace."

Greg suddenly watched Rio with widened eyes as he slowly and gently pulled his arm from Rio, then turning his back away from her.

"My ideals DO NOT contradict that goal!" Greg replied simply, before sighing. Rio stepped back a bit, covering her mouth. "I…I'm sorry, mom…I just can't relax until I see to it that everyone I care about is safe from people like Reese, Shade, Thorn and whoever else does work with the side of evil. I could never forgive people like them if they messed up my and Yuina's lives like this."

Rio stood silent for awhile, before she nodded her head. "I understand, Greg. I won't pressure you to take it easy. But, at least put a little faith in us more often, huh?"

"I'll…I'll try." Greg replied, opening the door. "Let me get changed first, I'll be down there in a few. "

As Greg stepped inside his room to get changed for dinner, a trickle of tears ran down Rio's left eye.

(So…it's going to happen like that. He is already showing the signs, just as he did twelve years ago. He just doesn't see it coming…it's as if he has forgotten that time completely.) Rio thought to herself sadly. (Am I too late to help Greg now? He's almost out of time…I don't Greg will be able to contain his powers the next time he fights…I have to do something NOW!)

From the other side of the door, Greg was clutching his chest and had already broken into a cold sweat. He clearly heard Rio's thoughts…something was going wrong with his powers. It won't be long until the next battle fully brings them out on the most dangerous levels.

(She's right…I've never in my life reacted that way to Rio before.) Greg thought, falling on one knee. (This can't be happening…are the limits for the barrier for people's resonating emotions starting to weaken after all this time? What should I do…?)

Greg could feel his inner muscles begin to burn with pain, and his head began to throb with pain. He reached for his Ascension at once before the pain got even worse. Twirling out the spear, he grabbed the sharpened edge of the spear and raised it over his head. He then brought it down with a strong, intended force and it ended up stabbing his right thigh, causing Greg to grimace most of the pain in a muffled shout. As a hint of blood started to run out, Greg started to pant heavily as the pain began to subside a little over time.

(Damn…this is…getting too serious…) Greg thought, breathing heavily. (Can't let the others know that my powers are getting a bit out of hand…I have to play it safe until I can find a way to put things back to normal soon…)

Greg simply stood up and went over to the bathroom to threat the cut he made. The nanomachines should be able to take care of the rest of it.

"Maybe I'll eat enough just to forget what just happened…what's really going on with me?" Greg thought to himself as he left the room after refreshing himself.

* * *

The next morning, Greg had decided to sleep in a little more late than usual, while everyone else was about in their daily routine activities. Riku, Nagi, Tot and Yuina had the job of touring Noir around the Uruha mansion. They were getting to know one another quite well thanks to this opportunity. 

"This is quite an intriguing place, Riku." Kirika spoke. "I've never knew Kurei was so resourceful in both maintaining a fortune and a base this like this."

"Also makes for a good cover to deceive our enemies as well." Riku said. As he walked on further, he then ran into Kagero, who was with Lilica, Nastasha, Yuji and Maya.

"Riku? Can you and Yuina come over here for a moment?" Kagero called him over, as the two youngsters met him.

"What is it, grandma?" Riku asked.

"I was thinking that you and your friends needed an extra boost courtesy of some of the madogu I have kept here." Kagero spoke, showing Riku a sphere, which he instantly recognized.

"Grandma this is..." Riku said as he looked at the sphere Kagero had handed to him. "This is the Eikai Gyoku! Why are...?"

"You will probably need it more than I do." Kagero replied. "You've seen me use it enough to know how to use it yourself, so I'm not worried about your making any mistakes. Just remember to return it when you come back."

"Of course, grandma." Riku said.

"Oh one more thing, Riku." Kagero said seriously. "If you in anyway misuse the madogu, I will know."

"Whatever makes you think I'd do that?" Riku asked innocently. (Damn...)

(I think I have idea why Kagero advised him not to use that for any wrong purpose.) Nagi jokingly told Yuina telepathically.

(What's that suppose to mean, Nagi?) Yuina replied.

(Come on, Yuina…with something like that to take you places that you'd imagined, the only limits are your imagination.) Nagi replied. This caused Yuina to open her eyes as she realized this.

(Oh…I think I get it now…) Yuina replied nervously, as she saw Kagero approach her now.

"Yuina…I was told much about your integration powers with Seraph and I think having this with you will mostly give you a chance whenever you're in flight in battle." Kagero handed Yuina the madogu. The madogu looked like a small pair of wings that looked attachable to the person's back area.

"This is known to us Uruha as the Hizangu. This will allow you to fly at supersonic speeds. Also, the feathers can also be used to throw at the enemy like daggers." Kagero explained.

"Awesome!" Yuina exclaimed happily. "I know this can help me greatly."

"Oh, can you give this to Greg as well?" Kagero spoke. She showed another unique madougu. "This one is called Sekichu; it's a defensive type madougu. It attracts stone to one's body, acting as a sort of armour. I think Greg may need this since he has a tendency to go into battle unprotected these days."

"Riku, it seems you know about the madougu you have, it seems important." Nagi said.

"This madougu is also called the Shadow Sphere, as it allows both teleportation through shadows and the viewing of distant events." Riku explained. "In other words, the madogu can teleport the user anyplace where a shadow is. There's a downside to it though...the Eikai Ball does not allow the user to hear what is going on, so if were to use it to spy on Solidus and Dead Cell, or the Patriots, I'll be able to see them, but I won't hear what they're saying."

"Well, nevertheless, it will still be useful later on." Tot spoke, only to hear a loud yawning from behind them. Greg entered the area and looked at his friends with a tired look. There were even some bags under his eyes.

"Sempai, are you okay?" Yuina walked over to him and asked.

"Hardly got any sleep last night for some reason…" Greg said, rubbing his head. He then looked at the group after stretching himself a bit. "Anyway….don't worry about me, I'm sure it's some combat fatigue that's catching up to me. What's going on?"

"Kagero was just offering us some madougu we can use later on." Riku said. "Greg, Yuina has this for you."

After Greg is handed the madougu and was told what it could do, Riku and Kagero walked off to a certain part of the mansion's yard which seems more like a restricted point for non ninja occupants of the mansion like Greg, Yuina, Nagi, Tot and Noir.

"Wait here." Riku instructed. "Only I can enter this point."

"What do you mean?" Kirika asked.

"Take a look." Riku answered, pointing at the ground in front of him.

Greg and co. looked and saw a circle made entirely of a series of strange symbols surrounding the two pedestals ahead of them.

"Only those with the blood of the Hokage clan leaders may safely walk into this circle." Riku said. "This is to prevent theft by enemies."

"What would happen if one of us walked in?" Tot asked nervously.

"The seals would instantly suck away the life of whomever or whatever entered that didn't pass the requirements." Riku answered. "The life force of the victim or victims would add more power to the seal."

"Really?" Greg said, in an intrigued tone, while everyone else gaped. "Does this automatically mean that you got yourself some powerful magic relics?"

"Well, here you are two of the Hokage clans most powerful and dangerous madogu ever created." Riku said as he stepped out of the circle and showed them the two items.

"A stick and a glowing crystal ball?" Greg asked.

"This stick just so happens to be the more dangerous of the two." Riku replied seriously. "The Koukai Gyouku. A madogu that can cause anything physical; people, mountains, buildings, anything like that, to cease to exist."

"You mean it instantly kills right?" Nagi asked.

Riku shook his head. "No. Nothing is destroyed or killed, it just vanishes from existence, like it had never been born or made. The only things excluded are things like memories or diseases."

Everyone who listened to Riku, excepting Kagero looked on in surprise at Riku's comment. It was then Riku then looked at Greg.

"Before you ask me to use this on Shade or the Patriots, or you decide to use this thing yourself, let me tell you something very important." Riku warned Greg. "This madogu has a cost in order for it to be wielded. The wielder must forfeit something of himself, of equal value to whatever it is they wish to erase from existence."

"Like what?" Yuina asked.

"The last wielder of this thing gave up his voice, emotions, sight, and hearing." Riku answered. "The one before him gave up the life of a close friend. That was hundreds of years ago and the Koukai Gyouku haven't been used since."

"And this one?" Greg asked, looking at the glowing orb nervously.

"That is the Tendou Jigoku, the Heaven and Hell, madogu." Riku answered. "This madogu has the power to grant and take away eternal life. This is the madogu my Dad and Uncle Kurei used to remove Grandma's immortality."

"Riku's right about that." Kagero spoke, causing Greg to look at her inquisitively.

"So that's why you look around an average thirty, when it's true you're around for four hundred years…" Greg said sullenly.

"I'm not sure if using this to grant anyone, even you Greg, immortality is a good idea." Riku said. "This might just work once per person and I don't think you want to live forever. Eternal life is a curse; far from a blessing, just ask my grandmother about that."

Kagero only looked on in silence as Greg sensed a great sadness emitted from her. He had to do something and try and cheer her and everyone else up, so he looked at Nagi.

"Hey, Nagi. Since we started to know each other, I did never get your age, didn't I?" Greg asked him. "You must be around Riku's age, am I right?"

Nagi shook his head suddenly. "Nope, I'm actually 17 now. Now that I look at it, you can say that I was underage when you took us to that nightclub a couple of days ago. The people that are older than me are Riku and Tot. She is about the same age as he is."

"Nani!" Greg exclaimed, glaring at Riku. "How come you never told me this, Riku?"

"Actually, you never really asked." Riku spoke with a grin. "And since your reputation got us in without those guys having to check our IDs, no harm done."

"So that means I probably could have come along after all." Yuina said with a miffed look at Greg. Greg simply rubbed his head nervously as his apprentice stared at him.

"Ah, come on, Yuina. It's not like you would have wanted to hang around a place like that." Greg put up his hands. "That place is really not for kids, especially during the karaoke sessions. I am a fan of hardcore, gangster rap after all."

"That's not the point!" Yuina said to him, causing the people around him to laugh. Greg was feeling so embarrassed, but he was enjoying the moment as well.

"Still, you could have mentioned that to me before." Greg said to Riku.

"Actually, it wouldn't have really mattered." Nagi spoke. "I have a fake ID for those kinds of things which I use on missions, I made it myself actually."

"It probably would have worked too, since Nagi worked on it until even the best in FOXHOUND had a hard time telling it was a fake." Riku commented.

"Remind me to get several of those made for our mission in the States soon. We would probably make good use of them to cover our true identities." Greg said, approving of Nagi's skill.

"Hey, Greg…just why is it that you had to see Kyo and Iori anyway?" Riku asked. "I'm sure it's not about your powers, am I right?"

"That's right. I also wanted to see Chizuru Kagura on how KOF was going." Greg explained. "You see, since we won't be in Japan for awhile soon, there's no way anyone of us can rest easy while our friends in FOXHOUND over in Tokyo-3 are under siege by the enemy. My plan is to have another KOF tourney there, as a cover to prevent Solidus and his men, or anyone else who wants to give NERV problems."

"Hey, that sounds like a good plan, Greg." Nagi said. "I'm sure with all those fighters in the city, Dead Cell will think twice of attacking NERV head on."

"Yeah, all I'm doing is trying to delay their movements until we get back. It seems that if I do go back now, a big war could start because of me." Greg spoke. "Hey, maybe that could give you three a shot in a fight against some of the popular fighters you met at the club sometime back."

"Well, it looks like we're going to get our wish after all." Riku said with a grin and then turned to Nagi and Tot. "Since the next King of Fighters tournament is going to be in Tokyo-3, why don't we enter?"

"We definitely will." Nagi said with a confident nod, while Tot nodded as well.

"There's one problem though." Tot spoke. "Since we're going to be going to America soon for who knows how long, there's a chance we might not make it."

"Heh…you kids worry too much." Greg said with a smirk. "I specifically told Chizuru that since she's doing a favour for us, the next KOF tourney won't take place UNTIL I get back to Tokyo-3. I do need a chance to participate this year anyway, not to mention finalise my training with Kyo and Iori."

"Is that so? Wow, Greg…you're really thinking ahead of this thing, I'm amazed you're going through this amount of lengths before going on your mission." Nagi said.

"You know, I just thought of something." Riku spoke and turned to Greg. "Hey Greg, did Kyo ever mention having any relatives around our age?"

"None that I know of." Greg answered. "Why?"

"There was a classmate of ours in high school named Shizuma Kusanagi, who also had the power to control flames." Riku replied. "I was just curious to see if they were related or not."

"Kyo never really mentioned a Shizuma before, but chances are he's probably a distant cousin he doesn't know of." Greg answered. "If the chances are high that your friend Shizuma can manipulate flames as well, it could be possible it's also hereditary as well."

"Hey, Greg…since you're having KOF go into Tokyo-3 soon, we should have the Hokage clan team up with the ninja clans from those participating in the tourney there to ease things a whole lot better." Kagero spoke.

"You know what they say, Kagero…'Great minds think alike.' I like your idea." Greg approved of her plan. "This could be useful for Mai to check up on Michael as well, she can even bring along her own clan as well."

"Well, the Shiranui clan will probably agree to the alliance so we've already sent a messenger." Riku said. "What I need to know is about the other clans. I need to know whether they'll be allies we can rely on later on."

"Alright, which ones do you want to know about?" Greg asked.

"First let's start with the Hizoku clan." Riku answered. "I'm afraid our info on them isn't much since it's a Chinese ninja clan. So, since you know one of their members, can you vouch for them?"

"Not a problem…I'm sure Lin is aware of my situation, so he'll probably go along with the plan. He is an honourable and decent guy, despite his looks." Greg spoke.

"And the Kisaragi clan?" Riku asked.

"What? Didn't I tell you about Reiji?" Greg spoke. "It's been years since he has dissociated with Iori, and not on friendly terms I must add. Not only that, things will seriously get too hot if people from the Sakazaki and the Kisaragi's are in the same room."

"I've heard of the clan's feud with the Sakurazaki." Riku admitted. "But if we're going to fight the Patriots and Dead Cell, I don't think it would be a good idea to be picky with allies. I just need to know two things about these guys, one, if they can be trusted not to run away or stab us in the back when things get rough, and two, whether or not to bother sending messengers to the Kisaragis. I really don't want to send some of our own clan members into danger."

"The Kisaragi clan is a pretty old ninja clan, Riku, shouldn't your grandmother knows something about them?" Greg asked.

"She told me that the relations between the Hokage and the Kisaragis were neither hostile nor friendly." Riku answered. "It was a simple 'you don't bother us, we don't bother you' arrangement, so the clans didn't interact very much."

"Well, we can only cross our fingers that something works out somehow. It would be useful if Reiji was among those helping the ninjas from KOF in this…" Greg said.

"Sempai, the next time you go partying and meet people from KOF, you're going to take me and Seraph with you!" Yuina sternly told him.

"Not happening! I'm not going to spoil or corrupt someone as innocent and pure like you, Yuina." Greg said, backing off a bit.

"I don't mind listening to you sing to some explicit rap song, but it would make me feel better if I can get to be with you more often." Yuina said.

(I have to lose her somehow…no way I'm capable of holding my own against a teenager like Yuina.) Greg thought to himself, trying to devise a way to evade Yuina, though he admired her curiosity about him. Then an idea came to mind. Greg looked at the distance behind Yuina and the rest of the group and began to panic.

"Oh my God! It's a berserk, Evangelion Unit 01! It's come all the way here to attack us!" Greg said, pointing over to the distance. "Run for your lives!"

"Huh? What did you mean by that, Greg?" Riku said, while everyone looked behind their back. As soon as they did, they only saw the normal environment behind them and by the time they turned back, they saw Greg sneaking off away from them from a good distance.

"Sempai! Don't run from the subject!" Yuina called out to Greg as he started to run off. The group started to laugh as Greg was already far from them.

"Too late!" Greg shouted, already turning in the corner wall of the mansion. While everyone collected their senses together after seeing Greg run off from Yuina, it was Yuina herself who came to Riku.

"Hey, Riku…I just want to know something." She said. "Why is it that you want to help Greg so much, no matter how much he may seem to refuse it?"

"Don't tell Greg I said this, but after knowing him for years, I know that if you leave him alone, Greg always finds something to blame himself for." Riku answered. "I wouldn't be surprised if one day he doesn't think that his 'lack of effort' is the reason there isn't any world peace or something like that."

"Is that so?" Yuina asked. "I guess that's why he tries extra hard nowadays to make up for that…"

"Yeah…" Riku nodded his head sadly, just then Greg came back outside. He had a somewhat serious, yet focused look on his face from before.

"Hey, guys…mom wants me to go back to the city for some supplies." Greg said. "As usual, you five have to take me there."

"Another errand to run, Greg?" Riku asked.

"You can say that." Greg replied, while staring at Nagi. (So, any luck yet, Nagi? Have you found Hanzo Hatori's locale?)

(I'm getting warmer, Greg. Just give me some more time on it again.) He spoke telepathically. (But I can tell you one thing…)

(That is?)

(It may be coincidence, but there's a chance he's related to Yuina.) Nagi thought, as he looked at her.

(Just as I thought…) Greg thought back. (I don't want to ask her at the moment if she knows about him, but we'll just wait until we get the intel of his location. For now, let's keep this a secret from her, okay?)

(Got it.) Nagi nodded in silence.

"Well, then…where are we heading today, Greg?" Riku asked his friend.

* * *

"Ahh…if I knew mom wanted so much stuff, I would have never opted to go for her. If she wants to get stuff she needed, she should have come herself." Greg said, resting a set of new clothing into her van. Thanks to Greg's large money accounts, he was able to get enough clothing for Rio at a half price sale at on of Rio's favourite clothing stores for twenty people. Greg could have put the shop out of business if he didn't decide to stop buying stuff after going on a spree for an hour. 

"Well, you are doing what you can to satisfy her, aren't you?" Riku said, resting his bag.

"She's tormenting me for something…I can sense it. If that's not the case, then she is trying to set me up with the rest of Umi, Inuko and Tatsuko's referee, cosplaying friends." Greg said feeling bushed. (Does this have to do with last night?)

"Anyway, after this, we should grab a bite somewhere and eat." Yuina said.

"Not a bad idea…I'm buying as usual, your threat." Greg spoke. We'll take a walk and we should bounce up a restaurant or eatery somewhere."

"I'll make sure to lock the van." Riku said as he secured the van and joined Greg and co. as whey walked down the street. It was nearly getting late, and only a few people can be seen about on the streets. It was then during the walk, Greg sensed something wrong, which caused him to stop.

"Hmmm?" Greg suddenly turned to an open alleyway to his left.

"Greg? Is something wrong?" Nagi looked at Greg in curiosity.

"You sense that?" he asked everyone. There was some silence from the group until Yuina spoke.

"Now that you say it, sempai…I feel a sudden chill coming from that direction." She spoke, clutching her sides. "And it's not like it's a cold that you can feel with your body….this chill goes all the way through your body."

"I'm getting a similar feeling." Nagi spoke, stepping up. "I knew I sensed an aura like this before…a feeling of deepened dread and malice."

Before Greg said anything, he started to sprint down the alleyway before anyone stopped him.

"Hey, Greg! Wait up!" Riku called out, as he, Nagi, Tot, Yuina and Seraph followed suit after him.

After managing to catch up to him, they found themselves in a rundown, partially destroyed apartment building near one of the sunken settlements of old Tokyo, where only the tops of some of the tall buildings could be seen. The group stopped behind Greg, as he himself stopped when he saw a young homeless girl who appeared to be eight years old front of him. She was covered in cardboard box which provided as a blanket over her soiled body.

(That was weird…were my powers giving off a false alarm of sorts?) Greg thought getting closer to the girl and examines her. He can sense her heart was beating, which meant she was still alive. "She's still alive, but her temperature's high. Probably from the air in this region of the city…"

"Oh, no…" Tot muttered sadly. "Greg, we should take her somewhere safe and have her taken care of."

"Yeah…I guess that's the right thing to do." Nagi spoke, stepping closer to her. Just then, the girl mumbled as she woke up. Now seeing the people in front of her, she huddled back towards the wall behind her.

"Uaahh! Please, I beg you…don't hurt me…" the girl cried out. She had long, straight, dirty black hair, and had a strange coloured, yet mysterious and innocent pair of crystal blue eyes. Greg extended his right nano arm as he tried to console the girl.

"Hey, take it easy…we're not here to hurt you." Greg simply said. The girl then looked at Greg with a concerned look in her eyes.

"You're…not going to anything bad to me?" she asked.

"Who in the right mind would do such a thing to a precious thing like you?" Greg simply shook his head. "Anyway, you have a name?"

"It's…its Ambrosia." The girl cried. "Ambrosia Melrose."

"So, you're not from around here, huh?" Nagi asked.

"I…I come all the way from England…" Ambrosia said between sobs.

"Why would you be here, Amber?" Tot asked.

"I got separated from my daddy and mommy…I really can't remember when…" Amber said, clutching her head in grief. "Ahhh! Please…leave them alone…! Don't come near me…!"

(What the fu…? Is she a psychic as well? At this age to add?) Greg thought to himself, as he tried to console her. "Hey, who's going to hurt you? Tell me, it's alright…me and three of my friends are just like you."

"You can trust us to help and take care of you." Nagi spoke. "What is it that you see, Amber?"

"I…I see…a man…a very, evil and bad man…he wants…he wants to kill…" Amber stopped before pointing her finger specifically at Greg himself. "You."

Everyone, excepting Greg, was in utter shock at this. Greg simply looked at the girl and held her by her shoulders, while Riku talked.

"Greg, I think I'm getting to sense what's going on." Riku spoke.

(Just who really are you, Amber?) Greg thought to the girl telepathically.

(I can't tell you that just yet…oh, no! He's here!) Amber thought in horror. (He's somewhere, hiding within one of the shadows.)

(I…I can sense him as well…his presence is stronger than before.) Greg thought seriously, letting go of Amber. Greg stood up and glanced further into the darkness.

"Of all the places I'd least expect to sense someone as evil as some wanksters I've run into before…I'm sure you was going to go after this girl as well?" Greg spoke to the darkness.

A small, malicious laughter from it was then heard as a reply to Greg's question.

"Oh, please…don't fool yourself into thinking I was paedophile, Kinezono. Besides, I just got here after finally tailing you and your friends at last." The voice spoke as the figure stepped out. It just happened to be Shade himself. "It's been a while, Kinezono. Last I heard of you, the Patriots were making your life a complete hell after you failed to save Mantis from them, am I right?"

"You're one to talk…you're the one who got his ass handed over when you know damn well you shouldn't have pissed me off in the first place, making comments about my younger sister if you ever got to her." Greg replied in a bitter tone.

Yuina stood closer to Greg and clutched the back of his jacket tightly.

"Sempai…this…this man is the source of all that malice we've felt from before. There's something…inhumane within him." Yuina spoke in a near frightened tone. "I'm scared…"

"It's alright, Yuina. We will make sure this creep doesn't come near you, Seraph and Amber." Greg said to her with a confident grin.

The rest of the group came forward and watched Shade with some rather confident looking grins on their faces.

"Hey, it's Mid-Boss." Riku said. "So, why are you here? Didn't Greg pound your ass into the ground enough not too long ago, or are you thirsty for more?"

Shade simply scoffed at Riku's comment. "Make as much fun as you young punks want, but it won't be the same from this point on. You all have yet to feel the real, true meaning of fear."

"Dammit, Mid-Boss…can't you at least come up with something better than that?" Greg simply stared at him with a glare of hatred. "I just don't understand it…when you run into certain bad guys who are supposed to be lethal, they should come up with a bad-ass lecture with ACTUAL meaning. And from all your years living as a near five hundred year old antique, you can't come up with a dialogue that will make you go, 'Oh, crap…this guy's serious as hell, I guess that makes him waaay cool.' How shameful of you, Mid Boss. The most you should do is show some flair when you're making entrances."

Shade got infuriated by Greg's comment as he simply waved an arm and got into a stance.

"Enough of your insolence! I won't stand to be humiliated any further by the likes of you!" Shade said. "Prepare yourselves, you'll soon find that I'm far from an ordinary mid boss."

"Hey! You just admitted that you're a mid boss." Tot spoke.

"Shut up!" Shade shouted angrily. "This time I'll kill you all so that I never hear the name 'Mid-Boss' again!"

"A man with guts and honour…I like that." Greg cracked his knuckles. "But I must say you're at a big disadvantage. It's a five to one situation, and my skills have improved since we last fought. I must add that Yuina here is capable of wiping the floor with you as well, and Nagi has gained some experience from me to put on some good use against the likes of you. Start doing the math."

Shade only showed a frightening grin as he crossed his arms together, then performing a ninjitsu seal with his hands, he then pressed them against the ground. Just then, a bright, white light started to emanate from the ground surrounding Shade. The light started to become raw energy and it began to envelope his entire body with a small swirling, energy tornado.

Greg and the others stepped back in shock to see Shade releasing this kind of power as the cry he emitted began to change into something even more horrifying.

"What…what the hell?" Riku muttered in shock, shielding his eyes from the bright, yet malicious looking flame that Shade was engulfed in. "What kind of seal is that?"

(This power he's emitting…is this…true evil at its purest?) Greg thought to himself, as he realized something. (This is just like Garland in his Berserker state…no, something even darker, more…powerful than 'D' itself. I swore I've felt this resonance somewhere before…)

"Uaaah! Sempai!" Yuina cried out. "This…terror…he's…his entire soul is corrupted enough that he's totally…"

Just after a few seconds of hearing Shade scream, the tornado died down and Shade stood up, but with some shocking changes to his body and appearance. He was a few meters tall than before, his skin colour had changed to a dark brown, as his hair had been shifted to a grim, white colour. There was a large tattoo imprinted across his chest, as it looked a bit of a circle with lines strewn from it. His eyes had become white, and his muscles had developed slightly. There was also a strong emanating, dark aura surrounding his body as well.

Everyone who stood before him stood in utter shock at the transformed Shade, as he simply breathed a deep breath before smiling at the people before him.

"Kinezono…" The change in his twisted and warped voice sent ice cold daggers down everyone's backs. He had become a true, living nightmare. "I know you take part in the King of Fighters…I'm certain you may have heard of the Orochi, hmm?"

"What the fuck! It can't be…you're part of that clan!" Greg's eyes widened in shock at the comment.

"Precisely, Kinezono." Shade simply commented. "It's been too long since I tested my powers as an Orochi against someone as practice, I might as well use all of you to see if I gotten any…rusty."

"Houston…we have a problem…" Greg muttered as spoke to Yuina and Seraph without looking at them. "Seraph, get yourself, Yuina and Amber far away from here as possible. This WILL get nasty."

"But, sempai…" Yuina cried out, wanting to help Greg, but he stared at her with and a look on his face that meant this was getting more serious than it looks.

"Dammit, Yuina! Now is not the time to disobey your teacher!" Greg shouted. "I don't want you or Seraph involved in this fight, just run…run and don't look back!"

"I'm not leaving my friends behind!" Yuina cried out. "I want to help you and everyone else, and whatever you say, I'm not going to use this as an excuse for running away from my problems anymore!"

Greg only stared at her and glanced back at Shade who was calling over someone to challenge him. Clenching his fists, he simply shook his head.

"Yuina…you're a brave girl, and I admire that." Greg assured her. "You're free to fight with the rest of us, but the main priority is getting Amber away from here. You think you can run fast enough and get back in time to help out?"

Some tears began to run down her eyes, as she began to nod. "Yes, I can certainly do that. The madougu can help us to a safe place and get back here in time."

"Okay, I'm counting on you to come back soon." Greg said. "Seraph, go with her and when you get Amber out of here, integrate with Yuina and meet back here."

"Be careful, everyone…" Seraph said, taking Yuina and Amber with her out of the building. As Greg watched them leave, he heard Shade talk.

"I was actually being courteous to allow those girls to leave, so I can properly deal with you children my way." Orochi Shade spoke. "Now, then...on with business then. Who's ready to die first?"

(Looks like this could be big trouble…and I don't even have my Ascension with me!) Greg thought. (I'd better focus on protecting Riku and his partners more than handling Shade like this…)

* * *

Meanwhile, in the middle of one of Japan's busy highways… 

"You sure this is the right address?" A blonde Japanese girl, with short cut and bouncy hair spoke while looking at her Global Positional Satellite portable computer. She was wearing rounded spectacles, a short yellow shirt and a green miniskirt. "I'm sure Greg is still the type to move about all the time."

"He should be…he must." Another woman with long, red hair, her eyes that gave off a mysterious and conspicuous glance spoke. "If he's not at the appointed location, we're screwed."

"And it makes things worst if we don't get to him in time before he totally loses his powers." Aika Sumeragi spoke, as she drove a rental car at a quick speed. "Rion, Maypia…I'm starting to doubt we could get to him in time."

"Hey, don't say that!" Rion Aida shouted, clutching unto Aika's shoulder. "I won't accept the fact that Greg is at the end of the rope with this, and now you feel like giving up!"

"I'd never say that…as long we get to him whether the effects of his powers changed him for the worst or not, I'm certain there is a way that he can be brought some time." Aika said. (The only question is…who will do it and how?)

"We can worry about that when we get to him; let's just get through this traffic." Maypia Alexiametlia answered, as the car they travelled sped through the less than busy traffic.

* * *

ShardclawK: Oh, boy…things doesn't look too good for Greg and friends, as they have to deal with a powered up version of Shade, not to mention that Greg's losing control of his powers! This is a bad omen to befall our heroes, and things just seem to get worst by the minute. 

Ran: Are you saying that even Greg and everyone else with him won't stand a chance against this version of Shade? That's almost scary to believe, Shardclaw.

Omi: Oh, I certainly hope the next chapter can show some kind of hope…as it will be an all-out, no holds barred fight with Greg, Nagi, Riku, and Tot against Orochi Shade! And what's with Amber knowing about Greg, not to mention the mysterious individuals that want a piece of the action, and not just Aika alone? You will have to wait for a special 25 anniversary chapter of Soldier X to find out, as it will prelude the beginning of another new arc of the story.

ShardclawK: Right, this is the last chapter of the Hunted series. I hoped everyone liked the arc and where it's going, but be warned for the following set of chapters, things will get so bad for Greg; it's going to be so dark it may bring tears to your eyes.

Ken: And now, for some Easter Eggs. In case for those who didn't notice before, Shardclaw based most of Yuina's abilities and attacks mostly from Dizzy and a few from Millia Rage of the Guilty Gear X series.

ShardclawK: I can't help it…whenever I see Yuina, I see that cute and delectable humanoid commander Gear, and it's vice versa for Dizzy as well, so I think her attacks for Yuina will fit her just nicely. So, think of Yuina as something Guilty Gear fans like I can relate to.

Youji: Also, the scene which Greg talks to Rio before leaving her was part of a conversation quote Rolento used on Sodom after beating him in the Arcade Mode version of Street Fighter Alpha 3, one of Shardclaw's all time favourite games as well. And the scene with Shade transforming into the Orochi version was a mix of Naruto, (whenever a character makes a jutsu animation) Devil May Cry 1, (when Greg comments on Shade being a man with 'Guts and Honour, and up to the point Nelo Angelo transforms) and the finalised look for Shade in his Orochi appearance was inspired by the image of Omega Rugal from Capcom vs. SNK 2.

ShardclawK: That reminds me…Devil May Cry 3 is out already, right? If DarkFusion is reading this by the he gets it before I do by this weekend, God willing, please tell me in you usual mail after the update, (and sending of shipments) if it's better than what people hyped it up to be, as I know the anticipation surrounding the game to surpass the lame sequel in more ways than one. I'm certain that game will give me enough ideas for completing End of Evangelion May Cry, since I know it will have an actual, good story that will make it worthwhile. I'll be sure to look out for Shin Megami Tensi: Nocturne as well, I'm sure that too will give me ideas, but the real problem is that now I got my PS2 back, I have so many unfinished games right now, it's hard to concentrate on just one, since there are plenty of others along the way. If that's not enough, I have to pursue in my anime hunt as well…

Just as I said that, the girls from the ecchi anime Hand Maid May entered, in human sized forms. Mami, May, Sara, Kei, Rena and Kasumi Tani began to huddle against me, wearing sexy, revealing and slinky nurses outfits.

May: Shardclaw-sama, you may have more time with games, but what about our needs?

Kei: Yes, we need attention with your…'hand to hand coordination' as well, if you know what we mean.

ShardclawK: Let me guess…Tempest sent you guys as well, huh?

Sara: Not only that…he also sent an experimental ONMI-2 pill. Use it with care, it's not yet tested.

ShardclawK: Aw, snap! Well, there's only way to find out if it's effective enough…on to the bedroom, girls.

As the maids carry me off to the bedroom, the Weiss boys look on, shaking their heads.

Ran: Anyway, we might as well close off the chapter. On a note forgotten by Shardclaw, he's going to update both SX and COE at the same time (if he can) on the anniversary date for COE. Be expecting some changes for the better then, this chapter were just a sneak preview of things to come. See you in the next update.

Collis aka ShardclawKusanagi.


	26. Bonus Chapter 1: Aika's Arrival

ShardclawK: And I'm still alive! Sorry for the very long wait, the severe case of writer's block just had to hit when I was getting set to write one of the landmark chapters for this story yet. But after a long hiatus (and preparing new chapters for End of Evangelion May Cry) I'm here to continue Greg's ass kicking adventure in this anniversary chapter for the fans. (So many of my stories that need catching up….)

But first, a word to a certain flamer who goes by Crushed-Source, who's review for the last chapter don't even do much to faze me one bit. Yeah, this is for you specifically. Same goes for your story, since it's barely even reading material; I hate it when people who claim they think they are good in writing attempt to prove themselves in that area, as if challenging me in a GGXX fight boasting they have skills and they really don't, when only to show they don't even have logic in their stories. I'd rather be criticised by people with enough common sense and decency for other people and society than crazy writer wannabes like you in this site, you're the last kind of people this site needs right now. So take examples from real fiction before you claim your own fiction can even step up to mine's, as I've been into this stint for much longer than you have, and I got more experience and support from fans than you ever think. Oh, and another thing, the girls I got are loyal to me, always, they never go after amateurs. I only use the most powerful stuff, medical approved for yours truly. You should be taking notes about this.

Ran: Geez, Shardclaw…you really have to take it out like that on the guy?

ShardclawK: He's the one who started it! Anyway, enough about him…it's about time for a recap for what has happened to Greg and friends to this point! Remember your lines, boys!

Omi: Okay, here we go…for the past several chapters of Soldier X, we got to see our psychic hero meet new friends and enemies alike, varying from more of Greg's and Riku's oldest friends ranging from fighters in the King of Fighters, to women who possessed incredible celestial powers, female assassins and secret military organizations. They also had to deal with mad scientists, chimeras, century old assassins and scheming double agents, while in the meantime, plotting vengeance against those who have caused his current turmoil.

Ken: During these events, Greg learns more of the people around him as he prepares his biggest mission yet, but in turn, discovers even more horrifying truths of the evils he has encountered to this point. A different kind of storm is approaching and Greg's in the centre of it. How different things will be when the truths of himself is revealed to everyone and how will he face his true destiny?

Ran: The next set of chapters will now reveal to all why Greg is being haunted so much by his enemies and ultimately his own self. Only then, his codename of Soldier X will be lived up to those who heed his help. Keep in mind that we're already heading into some of the darkest areas of the story, so things would get rather grim from here on in.

ShardclawK: That's the low down, folks. I do hope you won't find things get to grisly soon, since this is really supposed to be a humour fic and everything. But it's gotta happen to make way for some more changes for Greg. Now as soon as I really get this writer's block out of the way, I should be working like crazy as always…

Girl's voice in backstage: Did Shardclaw-sama say 'writer's block'?

Second girl's voice: We must do everything in our powers to help him then!

Just as that was said, cat girl Prier and Dark Éclair stepped in, wearing sexy, lacy bodysuits that hugged their figures nicely, as Setsuna Sakurazaki, Kazumi Asakura, Misa Kakizaki, Madoka Kugiyama and Sakurako Shiina from Negima! stepped in, wearing revealing, tight school girl outfits, complete with mini skirts. With those girls as well, were lion girl Tina, wearing a cute tank top and mini skirt, cow girl Taeko wearing a lacy maid's uniform and bunny girl Miyabi, wearing a slinky and tight teacher's uniform. They all begin to huddle against me, as Prier took the lead of pressing her bosoms on my face.

Prier: Gotcha. Rawr.

Miyabi: Shardclaw-sama, you like what you see?

ShardclawK: Ulp…yes, I do, yes I do!

Dark Éclair: Good boy…there's more of that where it came from, because we've been ordering 'samples' of clothing to make our Shardclaw-sama happy and surely deal with the writer's block.

Tina: As always, we got the whipped cream, chocolate syrup and enough Solider pills to keep you 'active' for an entire week's session of 'bedroom activities'. But that's not all…we've also brought the birthday shipments DarkFusion sent! That's your cue, girls!

Soon after that was said, the uber cute and hawt girls of the PC H-game, Tokimeki Check-in entered. They was Ayumi Shimizu, Kyoka Akiyama, Mai Sakura, Yuki Matsuno, Natsuki Asakura, Kumi Kawano, Nanami Ito, Makoto Jinnai, Misato Amano, and Keiko Takaya and they all were wearing slinky, thin revealing fishnet, vests and miniskirts and thin, see thru, lacy thongs. They were all holding unto complimentary whipped cream, bananas, strawberries, K-Y lubricant and enough extra strength condoms for a seven month period of the year.

ShardclawK: Oh…crap. Oh, man…I think I may need a new pair of jeans right now….

Misato Amano: It is our greatest pleasure to your exclusive birthday shipments this year for you, Shardclaw-sama.

Nanami: If you be a good boy, we promise we won't tire you out while we have our fun with you. It is our orders from Dark-san to make sure we take you to heaven and prevent any further possible blocks in the future.

ShardclawK: Ulp…damn, seems like DarkFusion isn't going to let me off that easily. (Starts to swallow Spartan and ONMI level pills)…well, I won't keep the audience back, so I leave the rest of this to you guys. Good luck!

As I get carried off to the bedroom as always, Ran simply coughs and starts the chapter.

Ran: Ahem…anyway, we shall proceed with the chapter. Everyone, I'm sure Shardclaw will compensate for the long wait, so hang onto your seats for more crazy stuff to happen. But before we do so, it's time to send out thanks for those who've been enjoying this story so far.

_To DarkFusion_: Thanks again for all the nice comments, suggestions, ideas and inserts for the fic so far, keep them coming. Be expecting more of the Flame of Recca characters to show up from this chapter on, as well as some surprises to show up in this chapter as well and onwards, you're in for a wild ride. Thanks also for sending in as much of Flame of Recca and Ceres manga so far as well until I get the complete collections of both series soon, they are helping me a lot and they are a really decent read, I'm already hooked.

_To GreyWolf4_: Thanks for the advice and comments so far, it is true Greg is headed for disaster and everyone will see that in the upcoming chapters, but not especially in the ways you'd expected. But that also means that it's not totally the end for our favourite psychic loudmouth hero, his true battle against fate has only begun. There is still hope for him yet…anyway, stick around for some more crazy shit to happen, I bet you'll enjoy it.

_To wingwingxs_: I'm really surprised to see that you're backing Greg 100 in his adventures for the future, but the next set of chappies won't be happy ones, I warn you. Bear with me, this is but a temporary prelude for the hell Greg will raise later on. Thanks for all the nice words and comments so far.

_To Majin Naraku: _Thanks for the continuing support, but don't expect the showing up of the Kill Bill characters to show up soon. Sorry to disappoint, but please bear with me for the time being with the current set of chapters. There will be some dark chapters ahead after this one, but things will get back to normal once that's out of the way. (If you'd only consider the things that go on in this story normal starting from Greg, sheesh.)

_To Neo Exodia: _I know you want to see Kill Bill crossed into this as well, I was surprised by the amount of people who wanted to see characters from the movies appear, but not just yet. Just be prepared for some crazy stuff to happen in the following chappies, they are merely appetizers for what's in store for our star psychic. Thanks for the nice comments as always.

_To Prince of War_: Another new COE fan getting hooked to SX? You've just made Greg very happy and he and his large cast will certainly do what is possible to entertain you in the future. Sorry if the cast of characters seem too large, but almost a good set of mainstream anime are being integrated into the fic and I have to make sure no one is forgotten aside from the companion stories. It is a multicrossover fic, after all. But at least my reedited introduction of characters should make references better, so good luck finding the anime/story/games that are listed on the first chapter of this story.

Youji: Anyway, time to get the chapter rolling. Enjoy as always.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

ShardclawKusanagi presents:

Metal Gear: Soldier X

Bonus Chapter 1: Aika's Arrival

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Inside the cell quarters area of SEELE headquarters, Chloe had finally woken up after what it seemed to be an eternity of sleep. Her head throbbed with a light pain, while her vision was cloudy and blurred for a few seconds after she woke up. She had no idea where she was or what had exactly happened before she found herself in the cell.

"So…you're finally awake." A deep, male's voice spoke from the other side of the cell in the darkness. Chloe couldn't make out exactly who the voice belonged to, but she stepped back a little in a form of defence, and before she could advance further, her abdomen then began to pain that instantly weakened her.

"Uggh!" Chloe grimaced, clutching her side. "Wh…where is this place? Why am I here?"

"There's no need for you to be frightened, little girl. You are safe with us now." The voice continued, as he stepped out. It happened to be Vamp. Standing a good distance from him was Farfarello.

"Welcome to your new home, Chloe." Farfarello spoke with a somewhat welcoming smile.

"How did you know who I am?" Chloe asked, still dazed and confused.

"We've longed for one like you, one who is capable of carrying the torch of being one of the greatest child assassins that ever lived." Vamp spoke. "One who was able to defy death, yet yearn for it on others…you are a true definition of a death bringer, emotionless, willing to carry out your orders and your joy for the taking of lives. We three share a common trait, young one."

"There are those who will hunt you for your unique skills, but by joining us, we can take down those willing to be our enemies and turn the tables on them." Farfarello spoke, licking one his throwing swords.

"My…head hurts…why do I have to do your bidding?" Chloe said, stepping back a bit. She was becoming unsure what to decide or do, but it appeared she was being left with only a few options.

"We can assure you that we will take the best care of you….your skills as an assassin of your age have no other calibre, this is a grand chance you must consider, Chloe." Vamp offered.

"Yes…your reputation as the Shin Noir will be a great asset to us." Farfarello spoke. "You can surpass all the wannabe assassins that are trying to topple you right now."

"There…there's no one else better than I am." Chloe spoke.

"Are you certain of that?" another man's voice spoke from the darkness, as he stepped next to Farfarello as well. It was Schuldich's. "Just how lethal you really are, or are the reputation you've claimed you have is just a farce, hmm?"

"That's not true!" Chloe shouted. "I'll show them, I'll prove everyone of them wrong!"

"Now, then…that means you will take the challenge of joining our group?" Vamp asked.

"Yes…to eliminate everyone who opposes ones like us?" Chloe spoke, hanging her head. "Even if it means defying my own instincts as an assassin, this only matters now from now on…"

A small grin approached Schuldich's face as he thought to himself. (That was almost too easy…her mind was far too fragile to even suspect the brainwashing effect Crawford had placed on her before right after we defeated Noir, while I did the rest of the work to have her submitted to do our plans. But it still bothers me why would Sears want her exclusively…she seems quite important to his plans for these old men at SEELE, just as he certainly depends on that loudmouth Kinezono as well.)

As the redhead German left the cell area, he simply smirked to himself as he put the thought aside. (I'm certain Crawford will get to know about what's going on with Sears sooner or later, and that he has a plan ready for him as well. I doubt Solidus and the entirety of Dead Cell will appreciate us getting to the centre of their dubious plans before they and anyone else does.)6

As he started his walk around the captured headquarters, Fortune was with Solidus himself in Keele's office, watching the monitors that were recording the actions in both the cell areas and after Schuldich had left them.

"Seems that Schwartz is preparing something against us." Fortune said to her commander. "Hooking up with these assassins and going after more of them were really not the most subtle of choices, King."

"Let them do as they want…the real plan has yet to get into motion, Fortune." Solidus spoke without looking at her. "We're still in the early phases of our exacting revenge against the Patriots, and as much as I deplore working with assassins at a time like this, we can use their skills to our advantage until it's time to dispose of them."

"Still…I just can't understand why Kinezono's an important element and we haven't even caught him as yet." Fortune said.

"That's because as of now, he serves no political value, but soon….quite very soon, Fortune…the truth that we've been ignored about the Patriots will be revealed to all, starting with Kinezono newest test." Solidus smiled wickedly. "As of now, it appears our rouge shinobi known as Shade has begun to use his full power to eliminate Greg and those with him…"

"Really? Does even Kinezono have a chance?"

"Not likely…as predicted, his powers are reaching their limits. Soon, he won't be able to contain all that strength within him. That is the true power source for Ultimatum Gear…the true living S3 data." Solidus said.

(Hmm…so that's why Kinezono is being hunted so much, but that is still unclear….I thought it was the White Devil that has the Patriot's data stored within him, now it's in another host?) Fortune thought to herself. (But how can a psychic strong enough to defend against Angel's attacks, and live after fighting Mantis can even be subdued if all that power will get out of control soon?)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Back at the Uruha mansion, there was a specific new area that was now Nanvel's makeshift workshop, which she can continue her work of making inventions and perform modifications on Nan-bot. Today, she was doing the latter, giving Nan-bot a much needed maintenance check and a new upgrade, all the while as she had a Calorie Mate in her mouth. According to Maki Kawasaki and Nastasha Romanenko both, it would make the ideal diet snack for Nanvel, since she has been eating nothing but those sweets Greg brought for her some days back. (A.N: See all the way back in Soldier X, Chapter 15.)

In the room with her, Yuji Naruo was with her, talking to a majority of the Urabutousatsujin female cosplay referees that were watching Nanvel in action. Among them were Umi, Tatsuko and Inuko, three of Greg's old time friends of the referee group.

Umi represented the Year of the Rabbit, thus having to wear a bunny suit and this does not at least ease the thoughts Greg has in his head about cute, animal cosplays. She is a quite timid girl compared to some of the others.

Tatsuko was representing the year of the Year of the Dragon, wearing dragon related accessories. She enjoys the limelight of the moment and work together with Demi, who represents the Year of the Mouse. Demi wore mouse related costume wear and is known to be the Number Two ref after Tatsuko. The two happened to be good friends, but were also rivals.

Inuko was the representing the Year of the dog, having dog related cosplay and a banner across her chest area saying, '_Running Wild'_. She's the most hardworking of all the refs with a bit of a kind streak. She is also one of Greg's oldest friends amongst the Uruha ninja clan.

Then there were the recent ones who never got a chance to hang with Greg, but are getting a chance to like Amagi, a cute freckled girl who represented the Year of the Horse. She does what she can to support Demi and is a good natured girl whose friends with Enma, who represented the Year of the monkey. Enma is a good natured and always cheerful, but questions had arisen for her taste in gender.

Yoko was among these girls, having to represent the Year of the Sheep or Ram. She is one of the most self assured and outgoing of all the referees, having no doubt to her own attractiveness and loves to work the audience. She also craves attention, limelight and admiration more than Tatsuko and is the source of confidence. Despite all these qualities, she prefers to dress in her ref outfit than do the task she wore it for in the first place.

Then there's the youngest of the refs, named Inoko. She represents the Year of the Pig, though hasn't done any of her duties as a referee as yet, she still had quite a fanbase. She happened to have an eye patch over her left eye like Solidus Snake, but her cute appearance puts aside anyone's guesses of her being much like the current, ex President-turned leader of the terrorist group, Dead Cell who's currently in control of SEELE headquarters. Inoko happens to be one of Domon Ishijima's fans.

Next was Midori, who represented the Year of the Bird. She wore a cosplay that closely resembled a large bird. She happens to be one of the spunkier referees, not hesitating to yell back to the audience who make comments about her body.

Last and the most notably ref would be Ushino, who represented the Year of the Cow. It would deem obvious that since she is the bustiest of all the refs and she has to wear cow related costume wear consisting of a cow bell around her neck, two rings on her left leg, along with a pair of cute, rounded glasses. Like Umi, she is timid, and has a habit of flinching when the fighting for one of the participants start to go bad as well as hiding her eyes during a fight. She is not such a big fan of violence.

Seven of these referees got to hear much of Greg from their friends, Umi, Tatsuko and Inuko, and were amazed by the rumours that surrounded him since they met him and Linn a couple years back while they and Warrior visited the mansion for the first time. Now, they all have one thing in common, to support Greg in any way possible during his stay with them. Yuji was getting almost jealous that his surrogate nephew was getting such admiration by all of the Urabutousatsujin referees.

(Man…I'm sure if the laws of nature allowed it, Greg would be allowed to have his own harem by now if he's such a playboy and get women's attention like this.) Yuji thought to himself, placing a hand under his chin. (Guess he was able to take what I taught him and take it further than even I imagined…)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Meanwhile, in the real world, somewhere in my master bedroom underneath the bed sheets and surrounded by a dozen, half naked anime and game chicks…

"Aaacchhoo!" I sneezed loudly. "Damn…did someone say 'harem'? I guessed the chapter must reach that part with Yuji mentioning harem by now…can't be really helped."

"Bless you, Shardclaw-sama." Prier said sweetly, wiping my nose for me with her pink, silk panties while my hands were full 'having fun' with lion girl Tina.

"Now, Tina…where was we?" I asked. "Oh, yes…you were acting as the naughty catgirl whose getting 'disciplined' by her master and fellow servants…"

"Rawwwr!" Tina replied in happiness as we shift back to the story.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"So, Nanvel, what is it that you're doing to Nan-bot again?" Yuji asked, almost uninterested in what she was up to.

"Giving her a modification which will allow her to download a random set of her opponent's attacks and emulate them using her battle spec system." Nanvel answered back. "I'm also giving her a new FRC chip that will decrease her use of tension attacks in a Roman Cancel by only 25."

"Wow…that must sound like real fun, Nanvel-san." Amagi spoke while in reality being almost bored. Like a few of the referees in the room, they'd rather see Greg train than see a fighting capable robot being serviced.

"When is Greg ever coming back?" Yoko asked her hand on her chin to one of her referee friends in a low tone.

"He should be back soon…" Ushino replied.

"Actually, this is just a minor, medial work…Greg left his Codec 2 with me to download some new music into its MP3 player." Nanvel said with a light grin. "Lately, he's been really playing a lot of that old Devil May Cry 3 game…he's actually singing the lyrics of the battle themes, I won't be surprised of what they can do to his head later on."

"That's Greg for you…the only black psychic who has heavy metal as part of his music library." Yuji simply grinned as he said this. Just then, Rio Kinezono stepped in, wearing average casual clothing of a black shirt and blue 3 quarters. She had a near sad and worried look on her face.

"Hey, Rio…you look beat." Yuji noticed her as she stepped in. "What's wrong?"

"Can I talk to you guys somewhere private, away from the referees? It's pretty confidential." The blonde Japanese said, as Yuji and Nanvel followed her out of the room and met up in the hallway.

"Okay, Rio…what's the deal with the secrecy?" Yuji asked.

Rio only shook her head before she answered. "I really can't say…I'm having one of those pains again, the kind only a mother would feel when her offspring is in trouble. Guys, I think something's going on with Greg…and it's only getting serious."

"What would make you say that, Rio?" Nanvel asked.

"He may look fine on the outside, but something's starting to affect him. I think what happened years ago may be ready to happen again…" Rio said. "Last night…he and I talked and he was a totally different person…we even almost had an argument and that never happened before!"

Both Yuji and Nanvel stared at each other in silence. They had an idea of what's going on with Greg.

"Rio, if you knew this was going on with Greg, why didn't you say something earlier?" Yuji asked. "Where is Greg anyway?"

"He stepped out a while ago with Riku and Yuina and their friends to do some shopping and…" Before Rio could finish, Nanvel stood up.

"Rio, why did you do that? You can never tell when something's going to happen with Greg's powers if they go out of control again!" she said. "Come on…we have to them and do something about it before it only gets worse!"

"Look, I don't like this as much as you do, Nanvel…but I prayed this day never happen again and I just don't want Greg's own friends to see the outcome of his powers getting out of hand." Rio said.

"Well, I'm hoping that we get to him and help Greg in time before the worst case scenario happens." Nanvel replied.

"We should get Maya and Lilica to come along." Yuji said, as the three went ahead to the living room and found Maya studying recordings of the Devil May Cry 3 mission cutscenes, mainly those with Lady in it. She was engrossed in seeing the cutscene at the end of Mission 9. Doing this may help her improver her own use in the gun area.

"From this day forward, I will be just like you, Lady!" Maya said, standing up in a determined form. She was beginning to idolize a game character, which seemed weird to everyone else in the room who watched her.

"Maya, what are you doing?" Rio asked her.

"Hey, Rio! I was just thinking if I watched this enough, it wouldn't be long that I would do the same thing too with some practice." Maya said.

"Well, you have to reserve that for a next time…we think Greg's in some kind of danger." Nanvel said seriously.

"How do you guys know that?"

"Gut feeling…" Rio simply said lowly. Maya noticed the look in her face and realized the seriousness instantly. Picking up her handgun, she placed it into her holster and nodded.

"Well, I'm coming along too. Lilica's outside with the three Nincompoops, Neon, Kurei, Maki and their kids." Maya said. "Wait…would it be wise for her to come along as well, Rio?"

"She knows of this thing with Greg just as the rest of us do, she might as well come along…" Rio replied as she and the rest of WARRIOR went outside to the mansion's garden.

"You guys look as if something's wrong…" Lilica asked, as Rio was the first to reply.

"We think it has to be with Greg." Rio said simply, shaking her head. "I don't want to believe this, but his powers are probably getting set to do something to him that we don't like."

"Rio…are you saying what happened with Greg years ago are going to happen again?" Maki stood up. "Are you certain you're prepared to go through this again?"

"I'm not sure of that anymore, Maki! What I'm sure is that my son is in danger because of his own existence!" Rio shouted, as some tears streamed down her eyes. "He doesn't deserve to go through all this pain because he wants to live!"

"Rio, calm down!" Yuji held her arm. Kurei stood up and calmed a tearful Rio by patting both her shoulders.

"Now, Miss Kinezono…you shouldn't be too hard on yourself." Kurei said. "But is this true that you know something's going to happen to Greg?"

"Yeah…and it won't be a pretty picture either…" Rio replied.

"Rio, you should have known…we went through this before, and Greg is still alive thanks to you." Maki said. "Not to mention with our support as well, he managed to keep himself in check till now. It's obvious by now that it's his style to keep it a secret from those closest to him about the truth about his powers."

"I guess he was afraid he was going to hurt those close to him if things got out of hand, that's why he fights with himself to keep it a secret." Lilica said. "Rio, the most you can do is help him realise he doesn't have to go through this by himself."

"That's right. God alone knows what he must do to keep his powers at bay." Yuji said. "But we are willing to keep on helping you guys deal with that, no matter what."

"We've been like family thanks to him, and it will stay that way for his sake." Nanvel said. "You have my support as always, Rio."

"Same here too, Rio. I'm always here to back you up too." Maya smiled, nodding her head.

"We all will pitch in to help you, Rio. One way or the next, we won't let Greg's fight be in vain because his own past is now starting to catch up to him." Maki said.

"And you will always have the backing of the Uruha mansion with you, you altogether with Greg are part of the family, you know." Kurei spoke.

"Yes, so please be honest with us and you can tell us all that you know about what's wrong with Greg." Neon said. Rio looked around after hearing everyone's supporting words and smiled to herself, knowing that she can help Greg now. She was dead certain of helping her surrogate son deal with the growing horrors of his powers.

"Thanks…all of you." Rio nodded her head at the group. "I don't know what Greg or I would be without you."

"Awww, how touching. Still, it doesn't exactly justify your actions towards Greg's growing powers at this point now, doesn't it?" another woman's voice spoke from behind Rio and the group. "You should have acted sooner before this mess happened, Rio Kinezono."

"That voice…" Rio turned around and sighted a Japanese woman in her late twenties, wearing a red, slinky outfit, complete with miniskirt. It was Aika Sumeragi, and along with her were Rion Aida and Maypia Alexymetalia, who were watching the entire drama with Rio and Warrior unfolded. Rio started to glare at Aika upon seeing her.

"You! How dare you show your face around here!" Rio exclaimed, getting into a fighting pose. But before she could do anything else, the three Nincompoops had already steeped in front of her, ready to defend her, Warrior and the Uruha estate.

Tsumemaru happened to be the fat Nincompoop, and the one who possesses the Oni's Tsume, or the 'Nailbiter.' It was an orb that created blades of wind for its attacks.

The other was Hanemaru or the Wingman. He was the possessor of the Hizangu which grants the wearer the power of flight.

Kuchibashimaru was the masked one, referred to the 'Beak King', or Kuchibashi Oh. It was a madogu that was referred to as Domon's 'lobster claw', attached to a chain and is capable of protecting the hand holding it for launching attacks.

The three had been fellow, die hard members for the Uruha and have the obligation of reporting to Joker. They also happened to be blood related brothers and were also known to be the Three Bakas. Taking Aika and her companions for enemies, they were ready to take the intruders on.

"Miss Kinezono, this must be one of your son's enemies!" Tsumemaru shouted, setting up a stance.

"We will deal with her accordingly! Leave it to us!" Hanemaru stated.

"Wait! This isn't what you…!" Lilica shouted to the three idiotic loyal servants to Joker. Unfortunately, they are going to have a taste of Aika's lethal martial arts skills for not paying attention to Lilica's warning.

"Are these guys stupid or something?" Maypia asked Aika.

"That's probably the case…no wonder we were able to get this far thanks to Geese's information about the Uruha's security system he was willing to let us share with him." Aika said. "You two better step aside and let me take care of this…"

"Uh, okay, Aika. Don't hurt them too much." Rion spoke as she stepped aside to let Aika get into a fighting stance herself.

"I don't have time to waste…" Aika simply said, already seeing how these ninjas will attack her. Tsumemaru was the one to feel Aika's pain, as she suddenly dashed to the side when he swung his Oni Tsume, as a triple set of wind blades were thrown at Aika. The blonde woman simply sidestepped them with minor problems.

"Your madogu may impress Greg-san with their attacks, but I already have been able to deal with such magic tricks." Aika was already on him and performed a serious barrage of karate chops from her hands, before performing one of her special kick attacks.

"Blade Kick!" Aika shouted, performing a powerful roundhouse that ignored Tsumemaru's defence and sent him staggering, giving Aika her chance to attack once more.

"I'm just getting warmed up…Razor Slide!" Aika shouted, now performing a sliding knockdown kick that knocked Tsumemaru down. As he was flattened, Aika then leapt from the ground and performed a leaping, one footed stand as her foot moved like a drill and landed on his chest.

"How do you like my Spinal Tap attack? You like what you see?" Aika taunted, as Tsumemaru was overwhelmed by both Aika's attacks and the sight of her white underwear.

"Yes, I think I died and gone into heaven!" the Nincompoop spoke, before fainting from Aika's swift attacks.

"Is this all that the Hokage has to offer?" Aika asked, shrugging her shoulders. "Now I see why Greg doesn't get as much exercise like he used to…"

"Brother!" Hanemaru shouted as he saw Tsumemaru taken down by Aika. "Fear not, me and Kuchibashimaru will take revenge for your loss!"

"Aw, geez…" Aika shook her head, as she didn't want to beat these poor ninjas up. "Feel free to give up when you boys want to."

"Rrragh!" both of the remaining Nincompoops charged at Aika and had their own madogu set. Aika continued to shake her head.

"Have it your way then…" Aika said, getting set to do another attack to defend herself with. Leaping off an unconscious Tsumemaru into a single somersault, she then went into a spinning drop kick as it was taken by Hanemaru in the face. But she wasn't done, as Aika then grabbed the ninja by the collar and performed a handstand for a few seconds on his head.

"What the…?" Hanemaru shouted in disbelief, seeing a woman was easily giving him a run for his money. Using his Hizangu, he started to take flight and attempted to flip Aika over, but she was already ready for this.

"I have you now, woman!" Hanemaru shouted, taking out some kunai. But Aika only smiled at the ninja.

"You think so, wouldn't you?" she simply stated. While the two were turning in mid air, Aika let go of her enemy and suddenly placed her hands on the ground, while both her feet lashed out in a horizontal slice-like kick, juggling Hanemaru by surprise. As she did this, she spun her body to get into a position which she can lift her body upwards, kicking Hanemaru around his chin with an upward aerial spike kick.

"Reverse Top!" Aika shouted, hitting Hanemaru with her kick, but she wasn't done. As she had already done this attack, Aika had opened her long, slender legs and grabbed his neck area with the back of her knee area. After locking them in place, Aika then started to spin violently as she and Hanemaru fell down at breakneck speeds.

"Dynamite Roll!" Aika shouted, crashing Hanemaru into the ground, head first. Hanemaru was down for the count from that attack. It was truly amazing to both Kurei and Neon who were watching this, seeing a few of their own members getting taken down by one of Greg's many masters in the martial arts.

"Maybe we should help them, Kurei…" Neon got up, but Kurei placed an arm outwards, stopping her.

"No, I don't think this woman has any harmful intent against us…let's see how she fares some more." Kurei said. "I want to see for myself if it's true she is also one of Greg's martial artist's masters."

"If you say so, but I doubt Joker will take it lightly seeing his trusted men getting beaten to a pulp by a woman…" Neon spoke.

Team Warrior was taking in this fight, while Yuji was recording Aika's panty shots during the fight.

"Put that camera away or I'll put away, Yuji." Maya Jingu warned him as he miserably put the camera away with a gun pointed at him.

"Yes, ma'am." Yuji replied sorrowfully.

"Is this the best the Hokage has to offer? How utterly disappointing." Aika called out to Kuchibashimaru, who had his lobster claw ready for Aika. Taking a swing, he sent the claw flying at her, but suddenly, Aika had already taken out a baton, similar to the ones Rio use. The claw had bitten the baton instead and was starting to pull Aika towards her.

"It's over for you!" Kuchibashimaru shouted, using a free hand to try and smash Aika's face in. But the blonde had parried the hand in time, before using her baton and wrapping the wrist around and using her other hand, used a karate chop to knock her enemy into a staggering position, as he lost his concentration using the lobster claw. Aika released her hold on her opponent and got firmly on her feet.

"Eat this! Bullet Kick!" Aika shouted, executing a flying kick at her enemy. As she landed the hit around his chest area, she then spun her body to perform a rising cartwheel kick into the air on a handstand.

"Lift Off!" Aika shouted, twirling her legs into a drill like kick while ascending, giving Kuchibashimaru many hits. But she wasn't done yet, as she simply then lifted her body up and executed a drop kick on him that sent him down flying to knock him out.

"Sledgehammer Drop!" Aika said as her attack landed, knocking out her opponent. After landing back on the ground over the defeated Three Nincompoops, Aika only sighed with a slight tone of boredom in her voice.

"Now, if you boys didn't rush into things without getting into a situation like this, you wouldn't have ended up like this now, would you?" she simply stated, looking at Rio and Warrior now. Before Rio stepped forward, Kurei was the one to step forward towards Aika, but now, both Joker and Raiha were also with them, curious to know what just transpired.

"Okay woman. You better start explaining why you just beaten up my three followers." Joker asked in a serious tone.

"Sorry, but they started it. Besides, I'm not your enemy." Aika replied, dusting herself. "Rio herself should know, right?"

"That doesn't fully explain why would be here, Miss…" Raiha spoke, until Rio answered for as Rion and Maypia stepped right up behind Aika.

"This is Greg's second master, Aika Sumeragi. The two with them are Rion Aida and Maypia Alexymetilia." Rio spoke as she stepped forward to Aika face to face.

"Ah, so you three are his friends, am I correct?" Kurei asked. "All he has been running into recently is a bunch of trouble lately."

"Aika, why are you here anyway?" Rio asked seriously.

"You should already know. I came here to take Greg back to Geese for some…administrative training. The time has come." Aika said seriously, causing Rio to open her eyes in shock. "With each growing day, he's getting worse and if he's not administered the treatment and training to subdue his powers, he's in for a whole new level of hell for his life."

"What? No way! You can't be serious, Aika!" Rio shouted. "Why Geese didn't say something the last time about 'training'? Isn't there another way we can help Greg?"

"Sorry, Rio, but we both know what could happen if this get out of hand with Greg's powers." Aika said. "If he's not isolated when his powers truly get out of hand, a lot of people around him will get hurt. There's no telling what could happen if that thought becomes reality."

"Isolated?" Lilica said in shock as Aika looked at her. "Is it…THAT serious?"

"I'm afraid it is, Lilica. That's why we must find him as soon as possible." Aika said.

"Greggie…" Rio muttered. (So the worst nightmare for both of us has indeed come through…)

"But…don't start to let that get to you." Rion came across to Rio and Warrior. "It's not a bad thing what's going to happen, Aika has something new developed for Greg's nanos that should help, but we won't know if it will work till we get to him."

"Then why are we still wasting time for!" Rio exclaimed as she turned to Nanvel. "Is there any way we can track him from here, Nanvel?"

"I can have Nan-bot track his nanomachine DNA down, easy like that." She said with a confident smile. "I'll get right on it."

"Thanks, Nanvel." Rio said, as Nanvel left in a hurry. But as she did, Mirelle Bouquet and Kirika Bouquet of Noir stepped into the garden, having seen the commotion Aika caused.

"What happened here?" Mirelle asked.

"Yeah, we heard a battle outside here and we thought it was something serious…" Kirika looked at the beaten Three Nincompoops as they steadily got up from Aika's punishment.

"No need to worry, Kirika. It was a false alarm." Yuji told her, now saving his recording and labelling the tape 'Aika's Strike on the Hokage!'

"She thinks Greg and whoever's with him are in trouble…" Maya told Mirelle.

"And you guys are going to find that out for yourselves?" Mirelle asked, getting a nod from her and Maki. "If that's the case, let us come with you."

"Why is that?" Maki asked.

"I really can't say I'm grateful for what Greg and the rest of you here have done to help and protect me and Kirika so far, but I want to offer my services as an assassin to you if it means getting Chloe back safely." Mirelle said seriously. "We're in your debt."

"Me too, Miss Kawasaki." Kirika spoke. "After we learned of what the Patriots are capable of, and what they have done to affect those around Greg, I can't rest thinking such people would go through such lengths to control this world…so you have my skills to your disposal as well."

"Thanks, you two. I'll surely not forget this." Rio smiled, nodding at the two women. "Well, by the time Nan-bot's have found Greg, Riku, Nagi and the others, we should be on our way. Let's go, everyone."

As the group left to the mansion, Rion stepped closer to Aika.

"So Geese's information was right. It has come to this…." Rion spoke sadly.

"We are not giving up because of the odds against us, Rion! We will help Greg one way or the other." Aika said seriously, clenching her fist. "Besides…it's Geese's orders. Greg must be in the fittest of conditions to confront the Virtuous Mission soon, because time is starting to run out. Geese can only delay the timing for so long, but he needs Greg to start making his movements now."

"You think Rio will approve of this?" Maypia asked.

"It's doubtful, but we can't ignore this." Aika said. "Come on, then…the sooner we find Greg, the better chance he has of going through this alive…"

The three women followed on another into the mansion, knowing for sure that Greg's problems are getting serious, but little they know just HOW serious…

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Back on the sunken areas of old Tokyo, Greg was surely feeling the emanating dark aura of the enemy in front of him and his group, the assassin ninja known as Shade had just transformed into an Orochi version of himself. This spells big problems for Greg even more, as his powers are starting to feel a sort of 'static' thanks to the amount of dark energy flowing from Shade.

"Well, Greg….will you be the first to die, or do you want me to go after your precious friends first and slaughter them before your eyes?" Orochi Shade spoke with an evil grin on his face.

"S-shut up, dumbass! You want to kill my friends; you have to go through me first!" Greg dared the man, despite the fact he was scared as hell, facing an Orochi based warrior.

(Shee-it! This guy's serious! He wants to kill all of us using his Orochi powers! And the bad part is, if I wasn't in such bad shape with my powers, I would have easily seen it coming, but why am I getting interference at a time like THIS!) Greg thought, setting up for a pose. (Dammit all to hell…I hate it when things don't go according to the script!)

A small laugh came out from Orochi Shade. "I commend your bravery, Kinezono. But alas, I will silence you and everyone else who seem to have placed so much hope and confidence in you, thinking that you can defeat one of the Orochi. I will make sure to make your death swift and painful, because you really abhor me with your insults!"

"Aw, get used to it, asshole!" Greg spat at the five hundred year old ninja. Before he got into an attack, he heard Nagi's voice telepathically talk to him, as he was busy guarding Tot from Orochi Shade.

(Hey Greg, since you know about the Orochi clan do you have any idea how we're supposed to fight something like this?) Nagi asked Greg telepathically. (Do these guys have any sort of weaknesses?)

(You're asking ME!) Greg replied in thought. (As much it would be much help to know if they had any weaknesses, I don't even know they are even vulnerable to catching a cold! I've never taken on an Orochi member who was using this amount of power at full strength!)

(Then that means…)

(Yeah, we in some pretty deep shit now, Nagi.) Greg replied, clenching his fists. (I'm sorry if I got you and Tot involved in this somehow…because of me, now you guys are in…)

(Don't think of it like that, Greg!) Nagi replied. (This didn't happen because of you, but Tot and I have no intention of running away. We're going to do what we can to defend you long enough until some kind of help comes.)

(You can count on us, Greg.) Tot said, taking out her Muramasa blade.

(Nagi…Tot…) Greg thought, then glaring at Shade once more. He had to formulate a plan to keep Yuina, Seraph and Amber safe as well. Greg looked over at Riku's direction.

(Riku…we have to cover Yuina, Seraph and Amber till help arrives. So you and I will take this freak of nature on ourselves.) Greg said telepathically, raising his clenched fists. (I will use my Double Vision skills to confuse the flames you throw, to create an opening. I will rush him then.)

(Sounds like a plan. Just hoping it works somehow…) Riku replied.

(It has to.) Greg simply replied. (Okay, Riku….now!)

Riku lifted his right arm and threw a trio of flames in the variation of bullets, coming straight towards Orochi Shade. Greg extended his right nano mesh to use his psychic doppelganger Double Vision move on the flames to double their amount. Soon the flames spilt into six than three, but Orochi Shade simply put up a shield and it somehow absorbed the flames.

"Dark Absorb!" Orochi Shade shouted, as the flames then shot back at Greg and Riku at breakneck speed. Greg was able to put up a psychic shield in time before they got hurt, but Orochi Shade suddenly moved from his position and started to bum rush Greg with a series of critical punches to his stomach area.

(He…he used my strategy against me! How!) Greg thought as he was getting pummelled by Orochi Shade's punches. Greg was able to catch one of them after getting used to the rhythm and countered it by flipping Orochi Shade over. The ninja flipped back on the ground as normal as before and stuck the ground with his fist, as an electric charge shot up from the ground and gave Greg a few thousand bolts throughout his body.

"Dark Thunder!" Orochi Shade shouted, attacking Greg with his move.

"Grrrrrraaaaaggggghhhh!" Greg shouted, feeling the Orochi power tearing up his insides for a few seconds, but Greg shut his eyes and uses his powers to burst out of the current before it did anymore severe damage to his body. Landing on his knees, he can already taste his own blood in his mouth as he spit it out from the internal damage Orochi Shade caused by his power infused punches.

(This level of power…not even a normal human being can't contain such power.) Greg thought to himself. (If he kills me, there will be no one left to save Riku, Yuina and the others from this wankster!)

(_That's right, no one left to protect them…)_

(If it has come to that then, that means I will have to…unlock the final safety precautions for my nanomachines and go all out on him.) Greg thought. (It's the only way I can assure of everyone's safety. But I can't do it just yet…can't show my friends…the other me I've been running from all this time…and then there's my powers…who knows what else can happen since they are already out of control. I have to gamble this fight and hope for good results…)

Riku couldn't help but feel dread as he saw this new version of Shade. The feeling Riku was getting from him was overpowering, as if Shade had suddenly become the incarnation of terror itself. Riku immediately suppressed that feeling of fear.

(I don't know if we can beat this guy, but there's no choice but to try if we're going to protect Seraph and Amber) Riku thought. (Oh well, with Greg here we might have a chance.)

He took a glance at Greg and saw the different look in his eyes, something Riku or anyone else around in FOXHOUND would rarely see in Greg. It was the look of knowing fear. Greg had it etched on his face right now, and Riku didn't want to know what is it that Greg was planning to deal with Orochi Shade.

(Then again…we may not.) Riku thought, though personally hating to admit this. He has a hard fight ahead of him…one which he and his friends have a very slim chance of surviving….

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

ShardclawK: And that concludes this chapter, and things are still not looking too well for our heroes. Greg's severely injured, and Shade's got more for Riku, Nagi and Tot. Will they stand a chance against Orochi Shade? What about Rio and the rest of Warrior that are hurriedly on the way to find Greg in time before his powers take full effect? Or how will Aika and her cohorts will manage? Who will get to Greg first? What plans Solidus knows about that for Greg that no one else does?

Ran: Oh, man…this suspense is just too much. I do everyone will be okay, or else with the main characters dead, there won't be much of a story anymore, now will it?

ShardclawK: That's true. Anyway, I do hope you enjoyed this bonus chapter, it had to focus on Aika arriving mainly, because my head got mad ideas concerning her attacks, DarkFusion, I'll be sure to send her moveslist soon enough as soon as I complete them. I also hoped on how I introduced the rest of the referees from Flame of Recca, I had fun highlighting them so far, so be expecting more of their and the rest of the Flame of Recca cast members to show up later. And one final thing, thanks so much for sending the anime collections of Mahoromatic, Ai Yori Aoshi, Burn up eXcess, and Noir for me as well as sending in Xenosaga: The Animation, the Weiss Kreuz OVAs and La Verite as free stuff. (I got them last week and I am really enjoying the first shipment alone till I get the second set soon!) I'll be sure to mail you soon with information concerning the repayment of the collections, so you will have to trust me on this one because I will need some information from you before settling business.

Omi: And to think that's just a sample of stuff you're getting for the future, Shardclaw-kun. But I wonder…will he still be sending you girls from H-games anytime you update this and COE once more?

ShardclawK: I'm not sure…I like surprises and I am keeping back a shipment he already has waiting for me, so I'll wait and see who he sends. By the meantime, Tempest's birthday shipments will keep me busy till then…

From the stage door, the girls from the H-game, I'm Gonna Serve You 4 step in, wear nothing but aprons. They were Himeko Koji, Takano Aoyama, Chizuru Tahara, and Leo Akasaka. Also with them were the cute girls from the H-game, Let's Meow Meow! Stepped in, wearing tight tank tops and miniskirts. They were Mikan, the cat girl maid, Hanabi, the bunny girl, Shinju, the dog girl, Koboshi, the android cat girl, Nanami Aoba, another cute cat girl, and Kohaku, a shrine maiden cat girl.

ShardclawK: I think I landed into hawt, animal/girl hybrid heaven…

Mikan: Shardclaw-sama, I hope you're not tired to play with us. We're ready for another session in bed to cure that writer's block of yours.

ShardclawK: I guess you guys never let up. Well, I'm off again guys.

Youji: Maybe we should definitely give writing a shot if we have to get girls like he does…

Ran: It depends, I guess on how well you do it. We'll leave the audience to their reviewing and…imagining as always till the next update. See you in the next one.

Collis aka ShardclawKusanagi.


	27. The Drowning Man, Part 1

Disclaimer: As always, I only own Greg and the story, as everything else and the characters that appear in this story belong to their respective author/game/anime or manga material.

ShardclawK: Yes, folks. Believe it or not, but I'm back to bring you another new update for favourite psychic soldier and his crazy adventures! Sorry to those who waited for an eternity for an update, but you know me…aside from the onslaught of uber cute and hawt PC H-game chicks that were sent to me for my birthday, I had to deal with work and a lot to problems that prevented me from getting this fic going. Hopefully, I still have what it takes to entertain the masses after seeing the fans that went crazy over the last End of Evangelion May Cry updates…

Greg: What, we thought that the reason for the updating delays was how really sore you got when those girls had their fun with you.

ShardclawK: Dammit, Greg! Don't give away too much info! But really, I do envy DarkFusion for being able to play those kind of games, but that isn't no scene there, since I'm a member of an online hentai board, I can actually access the 'goodies' of what the girls are capable of, so we're almost even. (Just you wait till I get my own computer one of these days and unleash my power, world!) Damn, I've never been sore since last years Christmas holidays…

Just before I went on, Miyabi aka-Slinky, Seductive and Scandalous as hell-Kagurazaki stepped in, wearing what it appears to be a red, tight lacy swimsuit.

Miyabi: Shardclaw-sama, how can you keep Dark-san and your other faithful fans waiting for so long on an update on this story? You do know what happens if you don't follow up on time, do you? Or are you deliberately making this happen?

ShardclawK: No, Miyabi, I said before I was going through some problems getting this chapter ready, so cut me some slack! I'm only human.

Miyabi: Well, I think you need to be 're-evaluated' to suit the needs of your fans on a more regular basis. (Snaps her fingers.) Come out, girls.

From the side of the stage door, the girls from the H game, Nocturnal Illusion stepped in, all of them wearing see thru, loose, lacy negligee in varying, exotic colours. They were, Maya Okazaki, Arisa, Misao, Miwako, Sari, Yukina, Yura, Mistress of the Mansion, Red Hood, and Mermaid Princess. Mistress and Arisa huddles against me.

Arisa: Shardclaw-sama, we do hope that you've haven't gone out of…'practice'.

Mistress: Yes, we have been noted to tell you that Dark-san has a slew of other hawt chicks like us waiting in line to be shipped for you, and only heaven knows their extent of their sexual, voracious appetites for 'meat' and 'milk'.

ShardclawK: Aw, crap. You love tormenting me like this, don't you, Miyabi?

Miyabi: My, my, my. There isn't anyway you can run now. Take him inside, girls and let's get this over with.

As I get carried off, Greg looks on at the Weiss boys as he shrugged.

Ran: I don't understand how you can put up with him at time like that…

Greg: I wonder sometimes. Anyway, let's cut to the recap and this time, Omi has the honours.

Omi: So far in SX, Greg and his group of close friends had a nasty encounter with Shade, who himself revealed to them to be a descendant of the Orochi, making him an invincible foe. All the while to attempt him getting close to a homeless girl named Ambrosia, their attempts up to this point are becoming feeble because of his immense strength. Meanwhile, Aika Sumeragi arrives in the hope to counter the problems growing within Greg, but will she make it in time along with WARRIOR, Noir and the Uruha ninja group behind?

Ken: Well, we will just have to hang unto our seats for some wild stuff to happen in this chapter. Let's gets the show on the road.

Youji: Right, so everyone, do enjoy as always, despite it heading towards a dark arc. But Shardclaw guarantees it will still be worth the read.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Metal Gear: Soldier X

Chapter 26: The Drowning Man, Part 1

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Greg was still trying his hardest to get through with Orochi Shade's attacks, but even with the Sekichu madougu equipped, the transformed powers of Orochi Shade ate through the defences Greg put up and he was still being trashed around by the mercenary ninja's attacks.

"Dark Gospel!" Orochi Shade shouted, throwing three dark energy disks at Greg. The young psychic put up a forcefield to block the attack, but the attempt was feeble when Orochi Shade was using this to flank him into an even deadlier attack.

"Storm Crush!" Orochi Shade shouted, as a dark shield of energy penetrated Greg's defence and sent him hurling back a few feet. Greg used his feet to stop sliding back and gain some momentum as he looked on at the power fed Shade smiling at him and his friends who stood around him, witnessing this nightmare.

Greg stood upright for a moment, until he ended up holding unto his abdomen's area, as blood started to trickle down the right side of his temple, now nearly covering his right eye in red.

"Guuaaahhhh….." Greg muttered, as his body trembled with pain coursing through his body. But most of it didn't come from Shade's previous attacks, as most of it was contributed by his own powers. No one, not even Shade, was aware of this.

"Heh, are you finished already, Kinezono?" Orochi Shade asked arrogantly. "You were so enthusiastic a minute ago..."

"Greg!" Riku shouted.

"Sempai!" Yuina shouted.

"Stay back!" Greg shouted in reply. He didn't want to get his friends and his apprentices, Yuina and Nagi involved, but it was too late. He knew they are not skilled, let alone, strong enough to take on one of the Orochi.

(Dammit, I got to do something!) Riku shouted, watching by the sidelines as he made sure Yuina was busy getting herself, Seraph and Amber out of danger. (I can't sit around and watch Greg keep getting himself being pounded around like this. And surely Yuina can't stand the same thing as well.)

Looking over to Nagi and Tot's direction, he sensed the same kind of fear facing Shade like this. Nagi was in a stance in front of Tot's position, ready to protect her at any costs.

(Stay back, Tot. I won't let that bastard hurt you!) Nagi telepathically spoke to her. (Greg doesn't seem to be in the best of shape to take Shade on right now, but I got something that should work. Get your weapons ready!)

Tot only nodded in reply to Nagi's plan and now realised something that she forgot.

(Uh...Nagi, there's a problem.) Tot spoke to Nagi, via telepathy. (I kind of forgot one of my weapons.)

(Which ones?) Nagi asked hesitantly.

(Just the Kuchibashio madogu.) Tot answered. (Kuchibashimaru asked me if he could borrow it for a little so I did, so...)

(This is so not a good day.) Riku thought to himself as he heard this too. He looked back at Greg's direction and saw the now contorted look on Greg's face, as if he was reeling from extreme pain, which was a rare thing for Riku to see, knowing Greg is the type to tolerate pain to an extent, even during a battle, but his premonition as a ninja told him Greg was going through something worst at the moment than facing Orochi Shade right now.

(Something's seriously wrong with Greg, and he might just do something crazy that it may put all of us in danger.) Riku thought for a moment and reconsidered. (No, not even Greg will risk harming us just to stop Shade like this, but even so…)

"No matter how you look at it, any attack you throw at me is just futile." Orochi Shade spoke. "Why not make it easier for me, Kinezono and just give up, so you wont' have to prolong your death?"

"It…will take more…than just the…cursed…Orochi to stop me…mid-boss." Greg muttered as he stood up. "I faced even worst of your kind who were drunk on booze like this and came out walking."

"But it appears you are not in good shape, yourself, aren't you, Kinezono?" Orochi Shade replied, charging up his fists. "Let's see if you can handle…THIS!"

Shade charged up a powerful, dark electric charge and threw it at Greg's direction, and before it reached him, split into three discs as if Shade had turned them into the chakram weapon he had. Greg managed to deflect on with his psychic shield, but the other two soon penetrated it and sent Greg flying back a few feet.

(H…how!) Greg pondered as his defence was broken easily. (It's not because he's an Orochi I couldn't defend myself…is it because my powers are starting to fail me now too?)

As he started to recover from the projectile attack, Orochi Shade was now approaching Greg at a quick pace, when suddenly…

"Genjutsu Wakemi!" was a shout Greg heard from Riku's direction as Greg saw a few copies of Riku dashed out at Orochi Shade and gave him several quick jabs to get Shade to focus on Riku instead. Riku was prepared to face Shade, with his fire blade, Saiha drawn out.

(Alright, this guy's gotten buffed up with that transformation so maybe he's gotten slower.) Riku thought. (If I use my speed, I should be able to avoid his attacks, and hopefully wear him out...that is if these Orochi people can get tired.)

"So, you plan to get in the way, you pesky kid?" Shade stared at him with a grin on his face. "Well, at least I was getting bored beating the life out of Kinezono like this, I'll be sure to get some entertainment of you."

"You're very much welcome to go ahead and try." Riku growled at Shade, getting into a standoff. Just then, Nagi joined Riku at the side, ready to back him up.

"Well, well…certainly this has gotten even more interesting. Come on, you two can both attack me with everything you got!" Shade beckoned the two as Greg shouted from the background.

"No, Riku! Nagi! Don't do it!" Greg shouted back, but felt the pain increase in his chest from Shade's attacks and his own powers going on a fritz. Yuina, Amber and Seraph came rushing to his aid.

"Sempai! Are you okay?" Yuina shook Greg as he groggily looked at her.

"Just…barely." Greg muttered clenching unto his chest, as Seraph looked on.

"I have analyzed the historic data of the Earth culture since the beginning of humankind's time to this date during my time with Yuina. The Orochi is also included in the database." Seraph spoke.

"And what did you find out?" Yuina asked.

"From what I can analyze at the current situation, it is confirmed Shade's a participant for the Orochinagi culture, though, this is just a minor use of his power he is using right now." Seraph said. "He may be just holding back the source of his strength for a good reason…"

"Well, we can't just sit around and watch him pummel sempai and our friends to death like this!" Yuina cried out. She then stared at Greg, holding unto his right nano hand. "Sempai, let me use the madogu I was given against Shade in my emulate form."

"No way, Yuina! This is suicide if you're going to face him!" Greg shouted at her.

"I'm not going to run from a monster whose only intent is to take away the ones I care about so much from me again! I won't stand for it!" Yuina replied, gripping unto Greg's jacket. "Please, sempai, let me and Seraph fight."

"Yuina…" Greg muttered as Amber simply patted his left shoulder and spoke to him.

"Have faith in them, they may have a chance." She replied. Greg gritted his teeth as he had to confide in Yuina with this until he can come with a way to put Orochi Shade down. For now, this was a chance to help distract Shade with something he never saw coming.

"Fine, then…I'll be watching for an opening then we both hit him with everything we got!" Greg muttered. "You can do this, Yuina! Use the powers you used when you fought me during that time with Mantis, so Shade can't seriously hurt you or anyone else, got it?"

"I understand sempai! I won't fail you." Yuina got up and stood watching Riku and Nagi take on Orochi Shade, who was barely even fazed by the attacks they threw at him. Nagi was in the lead of attacking Shade with his psychic attacks.

"Hyper Psyche Shot!" Nagi shouted at Shade, throwing a barrage of psychic energy globes at Shade, which he simply deflected away using a flick of his arm.

"That was pathetic…is this true strength of psychics these days?" Shade muttered. "I know you can do much better than that!"

"Dammit!" Nagi muttered, as Shade came rushing towards him. Thanks to the training he had with Greg and Yuina for the time he met them, Nagi was able to use his powers to be used in CQC defence techniques. Still, each punch and quick Orochi Shade that threw at him still penetrates the guards he put up and his body began to hurt like hell. Tot began to quiver at the sight of seeing Nagi attempt deflecting Orochi Shade's brutal attacks.

"Nagi!" Tot screamed aloud as she saw Shade reached for Nagi's head area in an attempt to go for his neck area. She rushed in at Shade with her Muramasa and slashed into his back, expecting him to go down, but the slash she made never registered, as Shade quickly turned around and kicked her stomach with a roundhouse kick. Then grabbing Nagi by the collar, he threw him at Tot, which knocked over the two and sent them flying back a distance. Greg, Yuina, Seraph and Riku looked on horror to see Nagi and Tot get taken down together at the same time by Shade.

"Bothersome." Orochi Shade simply said, as he glanced at Riku now, who was ticked off at seeing his two partners get hurt like this. "Oh, don't worry, they are still alive, so I still have my little plans of enjoying their deaths once the rest of you are out of the way."

"That was uncalled for!" Yuina shouted at Orochi Shade. "They were only trying to help!"

"And that what happens to those who get in the way, little one." Orochi Shade said, now grinning at her direction. "My, my…you're the prize that Mantis had taken, I see. I can surely see why he did what he had to do, but why you would waste your time around that Kinezono is simply a thought I can't really comprehend…"

"RRRRRRRAGGGGHHH!" Greg's shout from behind suddenly sounded more like an injured animal's roar, as suddenly a rush of flames emitted towards Shade's direction and send him crashing into a wall. It happened so quickly that no one, not even Riku saw it coming, but to their shock, they suddenly saw Greg's psychic powers on full effect like this as he had to step out of the way. He looked onto the ground and to his surprise, saw foot prints with steam rising out of them. Anything contacted with water in the path of Greg's flames was soon evaporated as Greg pryokinetic powers were generating enough heat to melt the asphalt around him.

"S…sempai?" Yuina said, as she saw Greg on the other side of the wall in front of them, Shade knocked into it, creating a huge crater behind it, as steam, ashes and blood creeping out of Greg's nano arm had pierced Shade's chest area. It was then both Riku, Yuina, Amber and Seraph came to a realisation…the rush of flames they saw that hit Shade a while ago WAS Greg! They can clearly see the burn marks about his upper body, and most of the jacket and shirt he was wearing was now in molten rags. Greg suddenly pulled back from Shade, now in a dazed state.

"Greg…? Hey, Greg, say something!" Riku said stepping in front of him, but to his surprise, saw another shocking sight. Greg's eyes were dilated, his arms now hung in front of his body.

"Bad…call…to even speak to Yuina like that…Mid-Boss." Greg muttered, as if he had gone into shock and before falling over backwards unconscious and heavily injured.

"Sempai!" Yuina cried out, as she ran towards him and held him up. Riku would take the time to think what exactly happened, but if the noise behind him didn't give him the choice, he would have used it to get Yuina out of there, because Shade began to move out from the crater.

"My, my…it seems our psychic friend went a little overboard, didn't he?" Shade spoke, as the wound Greg made with his nano arm heal. "Still, it would take more than just that to stop me, Kinezono. You're not the only one who is special."

Yuina simply clenched her fists as she gripped on Greg's unconscious body even tighter. Looking at Riku, she began to speak telepathically to him.

(Riku, we have to do something before…) Yuina said to him telepathically before he cut in.

(I know, Yuina. I won't let this guy get you, Amber and Seraph in anyway. I got a plan that may work.) Riku replied. (Think you can get into emulate form and help Nagi and Tot while I distract Shade?)

(I should be able to do so.) Yuina replied. (Then, I can focus on helping sempai as well.)

(Sounds like a plan.) Riku nodded, as Shade, still in his Orochi appearance, walked towards them.

"Well, I don't have all day, young ones. The faster you die now, the better I can live along without having to deal with the likes of you brats ever again will be much fitting." Orochi Shade said, as suddenly, a burst of light emerged from Yuina's body.

"I've had it with you! All you ever do is torment, destroy and ruin people's lives for the sake of your twisted enjoyment!" Yuina cried out.

"So what about it, hmm?" Shade replied calmly. "It's the process of survival of those living in this world, didn't you know that?"

"That's not true!" Yuina said, as the long ponytail she had was loosened out and she took off her glasses.

(Hmm…can this one be a…C-genome? No, it's not possible…the taller woman is also resonating the same kind of power with her…) Shade thought to himself, while Riku looked as well.

(Oh, boy…looks like Shade got Yuina pretty pissed right now. I wonder if this can help the situation.) Riku thought, as he then saw Yuina holding unto the Sekichu madogu now. (She has Greg's madogu as well! Maybe with her powers, we may have a chance of living against this guy.)

"I don't want my sempai, and those closest to me get hurt ever again! I will stop you with everything Greg has taught me with!" Yuina shouted "Seraph, lend me your power!"

Suddenly, the light around Yuina got brighter and engulfed her and Seraph both as they two then integrated into Yuina's, beautiful, angelic emulate form. Yuina let her large wings folded out, as she stared at Shade with a determined glance in her eyes, while Shade was barely impressed by this.

"Heh, so…you're not a tennyo, huh? But the power is almost…similar and yet, intriguing." Orochi Shade said. "No matter, I do hope you can provide a better fight than your worthless master."

"I'll make you regret you ever harmed a human in the first place!" Yuina said as she and Riku got into position for battle against Orochi Shade.

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Meanwhile, somewhere else in Neo Tokyo….

"Step on it, Yuji! We don't know how much more time we got to reach Greg in time!" Rio shouted, over Yuji's shoulder, who was furiously driving the Team WARRIOR van through the streets. In the van with them as well, were Aika, Kurei, the three Bakas, Lilica, Maypia, Rion and Nanvel. Two other SUVs' that came from the Uruha mansion as well were behind them, those containing Noir, Raiha, Maki, Nastasha and Joker.

"I'm going as fast as I can, Rio! But even if I go through these shortcuts, it won't be enough!" Yuji spoke, using his mad driving skills to get through this.

"Hey, Rio…I'm sure by the time we get to Greg, it won't be as bad as the last time." Nanvel said.

"I highly doubt it." Aika said, making everyone turn heads. Rio sternly looked at her.

"What the hell that supposed to mean?" she asked.

"If his powers are beyond help now, all we can do is just prepared for the worst." Aika said. "I really don't like it myself, but I even have doubts he will even stay sane if he goes into RIOT mode the next time, that's why he has to be administered as soon as possible."

"But, still…even though Geese knew this would happen, why he didn't say anything?" Kurei asked.

"There must be a conspiracy to why he did so." Aika said. "Look, we can't let this get us down totally, as always, I'm sure Greg has a plan for all of this."

"'Where's there's a will, there's a way', right?" Rio asked. "You think you can buy a way out of this with that?"

"Since when you're in doubt of the will of your own son, Rio?" Aika asked. "No matter how grim things get, he's going to pull something out of his bag of tricks and surprise us all in a matter of days. I can promise you that."

(I have a feeling she's not letting on everything we need to know about Greg's powers. Unless there's something that…) Rio shook her head as she focused on getting Greg some help. (Just hang on, Greggie…I won't anyone do anything that you won't want to do if you only want to go on living, I can promise you that!)

"Another four kilometres till we've reached the location Greg and the others are!" Lilica reported. "ETA is approximately ten minutes!"

"I'm flooring it!" Yuji said, as he mashed the gas pedal and the van increased in speed, heading closer towards the location where Greg and the others were having their showdown against Shade.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Meanwhile, back to the isolated region of Old Tokyo, the battle between good and evil raged on, as Riku and Yuina held their own against Shade in a heated battle.

"Dragon Strike!" Riku shouted, striking Orochi Shade's chest area with an enclosed right fist blow. The flame then set fire on Shade's body as then Yuina used her Fall from Grace move to pincer Orochi Shade with an energy stun attack from midair.

"Romantic!" Yuina cried out, now cancelling her move into a Homing Spear move, and with her Hizangu equipped, and her increased emulate powers on the maximum input, she was nearly untouchable from Orochi Shade's attack.

"Grrrrgh!" Orochi Shade felt the combination of attacks, but it really didn't affect him. He simply shrugged off the pain and pressed on his attacks on Riku, who used his Genjutsu Wakemi to make more copies of him to attack Shade, while the real copy used authentic attacks on him.

"Double Dragon Strike!" Riku shouted, using his left fist this time and hitting Orochi Shade with multiple hits, setting him on fire more, while the Riku copies rushed him.

Yuina then used her Seraph Install move to temporarily increase her speed and strength stats and started to pincer Orochi Shade with her Energy Sword moves, cutting into Orochi Shade's body with light based attacks.

"Holy Extension!" Yuina said, using her emulate powers to summon an energy spike from the ground and ambush Shade. Orochi Shade avoided the move and smacked Yuina back with a Dark Gospel move, but she quickly recovered while in mid air and used three Homing Spears at the same time to target Orochi Shade. They all missed at the time he vanished into the shadow and was right in front of Riku, who was met with a brutal gut punch and, then taking out a kunai from one of Riku's packets, stabbed the area where he got kicked from.

"Riku!" Yuina cried out, seeing him get hurt while ignoring her own wounds.

(Yuina, you're badly hurt! Further combat is impossible in our condition!) Seraph spoke to her.

(But…) Yuina muttered.

(Regenerating damaged areas.) Seraph reported. (Yuina, I want to do this as much as you can, but I won't be able to keep up with you on maximum strength any longer. This fight has to end soon, or else…)

(You guys worry too much.) Riku's voice spoke telepathically to the two. (Seraph's right, though…we got to end this fight as quickly as possible before Shade gets really annoyed and we won't make it out alive.)

(But how?) Yuina asked.

(There's no way I can fight this guy toe to toe without getting myself killed.) Riku thought. (My best bet would be to do something to keep him occupied...Alright, if I do 'that' it should buy a few seconds, but I'd better at least try to look like I'm being serious in order to buy more time and keep him from finding out. I just hope I don't get killed in the process...)

(Riku…? Just what are you planning?) Yuina asked, hearing his plan, as she then saw Nagi and Tot wake up in time to see what was happening before them.

"Greg!" Nagi shouted, seeing an unconscious Greg lying down, and then looking over to see Yuina and Riku facing off Orochi Shade. Yuina glanced over at Nagi and called out to him.

"Nagi! Try to get sempai to wake up!" Yuina said to him. "I have an idea too!"

"We'll try." Tot said, getting over to where Amber was looking over an injured and unconscious Greg and helping him up.

"Yuina, on my mark, you use your long distance attacks and keep Shade at bay, while I will use a jutsu to keep him in place, so by the time Greg gets back up, you and Greg put together your powers like you said before and take care of Shade once and for all." Riku said. "Think you can do that?"

"For sempai and everyone else, I have to." Yuina bravely said, nodding her head. Just then, Shade simply powered up himself to charge at Yuina, but the girl was set of keeping Shade at bay with her string of Holy Extension moves.

"Holy Extension!" Yuina cried out, pinning Shade in place. The mercenary ninja punched away the spike with his bare hands, but Yuina pressed on.

"Holy Extension!"

"Holy Extension!"

"Holy Extension!"

"Holy Extension!"

"Holy Extension!"

"Holy Extension!"

"Holy Extension!"

Each spike was enough to bring some distance between Shade and the group he so much wanted to destroy, but he can easily smash through them using his inhumane powers. He then saw Riku preparing a somewhat, familiar stance.

"You insist on delaying the inevitable...how amusing." Orochi Shade grinned at Riku. "But in all seriousness, why don't you save the both of us trouble and accept your fate and die like a ninja?"

"My time of dying is not on today's calendar, sadly." Riku muttered. Then he saw Shade eyeing Greg's direction, and started to power up as he sent a shockwave into the ground to shatter all the spikes Yuina created in front of him.

(Damn, this guy is strong!) Riku thought, breathing heavily as he stood up despite his wound. (But I still need to keep Shade occupied, and at the same time make sure he doesn't figure out what I'm planning.)

"Well little dragon, are you ready to continue?" Orochi Shade asked arrogantly. "I'm ready to escort you to your funeral now."

"You think just because you managed to hurt me that this is going to be easy?" Riku asked in reply and got into a fighting position. "I'll show you the true strength of Hokage here and now. Prepare yourself!"

"Of course." Orochi Shade grinned. "When this battle is through, I'll make sure to deliver what's left of you to Kagero for old time's sake. I can't wait to see her expression as she tries to recognize your remains."

Riku can see Shade was dead serious now. Glancing quickly at Greg's direction, he can see Greg slowly regaining consciousness. Yuina got into her feet firmly and opened up her wings. He knew she was up to something as well.

"Guard Yuina and help Greg!" Riku ordered to Nagi and Tot as he made a rush to Shade. "I'll distract Shade!"

"How?" Nagi shouted back. However, Greg placed a hand on Nagi's shoulder and suddenly he was back on his feet. The right side of his face was now covered in blood and some of the nanomachines had integrated into the living natural veins of his face. He looked as close to something of a sci-fi flick.

"Trust…Riku on this one." Greg muttered, only ignoring his appearance and walked over to Yuina's position.

"Yuina, on my command…get ready to unleash the attack we learned…together!" Greg shouted. Yuina looked over at Greg's position and nodded in reply as energy gathered around her upper wing areas.

"Ahhhhhh!" Yuina cried out, holding unto her sides, generating strength. Meanwhile, Riku attempted one more rush against Shade.

"SHADE!" Riku shouted, causing Shade's attention to turn to Riku, who jumped into the air and threw a kunai shuriken at him. "Die you sick son of a bitch!"

"Are you serious?" Shade asked with a sadistic grin as he sidestepped from the incoming shuriken with ease.

"Sempai…it's starting to…" Yuina cried out, but Greg objected.

"Not yet, Yuina! Wait till Riku's out of the way!" Greg shouted. He was waiting for a chance when Shade wasn't mobile enough to evade this move.

"It's useless!" Orochi Shade said, now setting up for an attack. "I'll smite the angel wannabe before…hmmm?"

Shade felt something was wrong now as he noticed why Riku missed on purpose.

(What the?) Shade thought and looked behind him. He then saw the kunai shuriken Riku had thrown at him earlier stuck to his shadow. The shuriken had a piece of paper attached to it with a set of kanji and symbols written on it, which Shade instantly recognized. (A shadow binding jutsu!)

"Heh, too late." Riku grinned, despite his wounds. "Let's see how well you fight now."

"No! I won't be able to move out of this!" Shade thought out of horror, as he then saw Greg smirking devilishly at him, waving at Orochi Shade as he spoke to Yuina.

"Time to say good bye, Mid-Boss!" Greg said. "Yuina, do it now! Dual Tech Master and Student Dual Tech…"

"GAMMA RAY!" Both Greg and Yuina shouted at the same time, as the energy Yuina was storing up in her wings and soon after, two laser like beams of light shot out from the tip of her wings, hitting Shade, but the big surprise was a giant burst of light that came from Yuina's wings which formed themselves into a cannon like weapon, emitting a stream of mental energy at Shade's direction. Soon after, they saw a giant spot where Shade was and the giant crater that went as far into the next building.

"Did…did we get him?" Nagi asked, almost shocked to see a spectacle like this in front of him.

"I don't know…as long as he's gone, that's all that matters." Greg answered, now holding unto Yuina. She was extremely tired from performing an attack like that. "It's all over now…"

Before the group can organize to get out, they suddenly heard an evil like cackle from behind them. That suddenly sent chills down their back as they looked around to survey the area.

"What the…?" Greg asked, before he can see a flying object heading towards Yuina's direction. It was Shade's chakram. Yuina screamed in horror to this as she thought this would be the end for her. Greg put out his arm to knock Yuina down and was successful, but the chakram passes just above Greg's back in an upper vertical slash.

"Guuuuaaahhh!" Greg shouted as he fell down head first in a heap. Yuina saw what happened to Greg and came to his aid, and to her and everyone's sight, they saw Shade standing before them, the wounds he got from the previous attacks did a number on his body, which was healing by now like nothing.

"No…we failed…" Tot muttered.

"After everything we threw at the guy…" Riku said, barely able to stand. Shade merely grinned at the group.

"Well, that was quite a show, but now, you've really done it now. It's time for you all to die very painfully for what you just did to me." Shade said. Before he can do something else, all of a sudden a burst of wind came forth between him and the group suddenly. It was powerful enough that it created a windscreen of sorts and soon when the dust was cleared, Shade found himself looking at a clear spot where the group was.

"How did…?" Shade asked when suddenly he turned and saw a tall, figure of a male Japanese person, with long dark greyish hair. He was suited in casual clothing of a white, button dress up shirt and blue jeans. In his hand, held a long Japanese sword of ancient Japanese origin.

"I think you have done enough harm for one day, Shingen." The man spoke harshly at Shade. "Unless you have enough of that cursed strength to deal with me."

"Heh…well, it seems you too are in need to die as well…Sanada." Shade replied. "I'll make this little meeting brief so I can go after those pesky brats and deal them in."

"I don't think so." A voice said right behind Shade. "I've taken them to a place where you will never harm them again."

Shade turned around and met a man of Japanese decent as well, with black hair with short bangs. He was wearing a traditional jounin's outfit with the Uruha insignia's on it. Shade started to step away from the ninja and the samurai, as he felt his cell-phone on vibrate call him.

"Gentlemen, I would like to take the time to take your lives, but I'm behind schedule for an important meeting." Shade said, putting up his arm over his face. "I'm certain this won't be the last time in a while we've met, Sanada."

"Stop!" the samurai spoke as he ran towards the spot where Shade disappeared into darkness.

"He's long gone, Yukimura-san." The ninja spoke calmly.

"I'm sure he'll show up again soon." Yukimura Sanada said. "Where have you secured Riku and the others?"

"They are with their family members, the rest of the clan had arrived looking for them." The ninja replied. "We must go to them at once, that psychic friend of theirs is injured the most."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Greggie! Greggie!" Rio shouted, as Greg slowly woke up and saw Rio, Yuina, and Lilica looking over him. "Are you okay?"

Greg sat up suddenly and looked around him, as he was back at the Uruha mansion on the outside garden and in the SUV he was being treated. The damage that the nanos did to his face seems to have reverted to normal now.

"What…happened to me…?" Greg muttered, still dazed out over what happened. Before anyone can answer, Yuina suddenly hugged him tightly.

"Oh, sempai…! You had me and everyone else so worried! I thought you were actually…" Yuina cried in his arms. "And you risked your life to save me from that horrible man as well…you have to stop doing this."

Greg simply hung his head as he slowly took Yuina's arms from holding unto his bandage covered chest area. "Sorry about that…everyone…I tried my best to be careful, but…"

"Well, you've certainly went and down it now, haven't you, Greg?" Aika's voice said as Greg noticed her at once and stood in front of her, not even caring of putting on a shirt to hide the wounds he bore.

"Sensei Aika! You're here?" Greg asked.

"For good reasons." Aika said, as she looked around and saw the ninja from before approached them. Greg instantly noticed him.

"Kenshin Mori aka Shadow Dragon…" Greg simply said. He knew the eldest son of Kurei since his times in FOXHOUND. "You're here too?"

"Greg, you are a mess. It's a good thing you were treated in time or else you wouldn't have made it alive." Kenshin spoke, giving space to Riku and another male who entered the area. During then, Yukimura was speaking secretly to Riku before they got within Greg's listening distance.

"Oh one more thing, Riku." Yukimura added. "Until I say otherwise, call me Masanori and not Yukimura for now."

"So Greg won't figure anything out about whom you really are, huh?" Riku asked in reply and Yukimura nodded. "Alright, your secret's safe with us, though I still don't see much point with all this secret identity stuff."

"You'll understand someday." Yukimura replied as he met Greg now. "Gregory Kinezono, I was along the way with Kenshin back to the Uruha when we saw the fighting and stepped in time."

"Yeah, he's another old friend of the Uruha, so he's pretty much dependable." Riku spoke.

"You seem to know this guy, Riku." Greg spoke, while eyeing Yukimura strangely.

"Yeah, Yu-Masanori-san is a friend of the family." Riku replied, and then quickly turned to Yukimura. "Anyway, this is quite a surprise; we weren't expecting you, Masanori-san. So what brings you here today?"

Greg could immediately sense there was something behind what Riku was saying, but decided not to say anything.

"Well, all I can say is that my friends and I are in your debts, you two. You came in the nick of time before that antique did us in." Greg simply said, as he then walked up the stairs. "Dammit, after a near death experience like that, I need a drink…it surely scared the hell out of me…"

"We were all scared, Greg." Riku said. "Nagi, Tot, Seraph and Amber are resting inside, but the experience really left them rattled. I don't think they would want to face Shade with a brave face ever again."

"That's for sure." Greg said, before he stopped again. "Riku, just to ask you this…why did you stick your neck out during that fight when you knew the dangers?"

"Hey, I wouldn't feel better about myself if I stood around and saw you take the beatings like that." Riku replied. "You looked as if you need the help anyways, so I had to take the shot."

"Heh, thanks much appreciated." Greg said, he continued inside the mansion. Riku lowered his gaze and remembered what he was told about Greg's powers when he decided to come to Rio and demand some answers from her.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Flashback: Twenty minutes prior Greg has awakened and Riku was in the WARRIOR transport van. Kurei, Lilica and Nanvel were administering to everyone's wounds.

"Rio, I know that this is hard for you, but I need to know what the hell is going on with Greg." Riku said seriously.

"Riku…I want to say it….but…it's just too much right now." Rio spoke as she treated Greg's nano arm with Aika's help, who was administering a new colony into it.

"First I've noticed Greg's been acting a little strange recently." Riku said. "For a while I assumed it was either from stress of what's been going on with the Patriots or he just wasn't feeling well. But that fight we had with Shade threw that idea out the window."

"It's not that we were surprised Shade was able to overpower Greg." Nagi spoke in. "Orochi or not, we know Shade is never one to be underestimated."

"Yeah, it was how Greg was throughout the battle..." Riku said. "He obviously wasn't his usual self. One look at him then would have told you something else was up besides Shade."

Rio's eyes started to water as she clenched her fists to tell Riku the truth with Greg's powers. "We think…Greg's losing control of his powers, they are starting to affect his mentality. We don't know why this is happening, maybe he has gone through enough stress to make it happen, but it's something else…"

"You're saying its possible Greg can…?" Riku muttered, as Aika spoke for him.

"Greg's changing to something he doesn't want to be and unless that process is stopped, he is lost." Aika answered, causing Riku and Nagi to hear this.

(It's a good thing Yuina isn't here to hear this. So Greg's power is affecting him in ways worse than anyone could have predicted.) Riku thought to himself. (And from what Rio and that Aika woman told us, if his power goes out of control...)

Riku's eyes then, almost involuntarily, strayed to a kunai shuriken he had hidden at his sleeve.

(If Greg's power goes out of control, and there is no way to save him...will one of us have to... In order to protect my friends and my clan, will I...can I...?) Riku then shut his eyes and shook his head violently as if to banish the thought that was about to form in his mind.

(What the hell am I thinking!) Riku thought, and then sighed. (This is just too much. I'll just get some rest and hopefully I can sort this out in the morning with everyone else.)

As he began making his way inside, he suddenly met the Three Nincompoops, all of them covered in bandages in various places.

"You guys look like you went through a nasty fight yourself." Riku spoke, noticing the bandages the three were wearing. "What the hell happened to you guys anyway?"

"Uh...we err...fell down the stairs, Riku-sama." Hanemaru answered quickly.

"The three of you...fell down the stairs...at the same time..." Riku sweat dropped as he could already find this hard to believe.

"Actually, that Aika woman did that to them, when they mistook her for an intruder and attacked her out of the blue." Mireille simply said, overhearing the conversation.

"She's right; we were there when it happened." Kirika said.

(This Aika character has mystery emanating around her, besides the fact she's both Greg and Kenshin's martial arts teacher, she knows more than us about this thing with Greg.) Riku thought to himself. (Oh, well…once everyone's settled down by the next morning, we should be fixing this mess once and for all.)

"Hey, did anyone tell Greg that he's got a waiting visitor in his room?" Mireille said, causing Riku, Rio, Yuina and everyone else to stop.

"A visitor?" Rio asked.

"Yeah, an attractive lady stopped by and said she would wait for Greg." Raiha spoke. "Had a sad look on her face, though…"

"Can it be…Linn?" Rio muttered.

"No, not her." Joker corrected her. "Her name is Michiko Tachibana and she has something important to show Greg. And she said its best not to interrupt as well."

"Hey, if you think Greg is going to cheat on his woman like that, don't even…" Before Rio can continue, Joker cut in once more.

"It's not about that, but something more grave and serious." He answered. "Something that can't be described with words alone…"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Greetings, Greg Kinezono. We finally meet." An attractive Japanese woman with long brown hair and a gentle tone of appearance, wearing a long brown trenchcoat over her casual outfit of a long dress. She was seated on his bed, watching its contents and the Ascension, which seemed to be emanating a weird energy.

"Oh, God…it seems you're already under the influence, aren't you?" she said, noticing his appearance. Greg simply tilted his head upwards and looked at her.

"Just what business do you have here, lady? No mean to be rude, but I'm not the 'sharing' kind." Greg simply said as he stepped into the bathroom, which Michiko stepped in front of him.

"Please hear me out, Kinezono…I really don't want to do this, but in order to help you, I have to show you something important." Michiko said, opening her hand. "If you really want to be saved from the nightmares about your gifts, you have to be able to confront yourself first. For the sake of those who care for you, please, Kinezono."

Greg felt that this woman wanted to help in some way, but she was a total stranger, how can he trust her like that.

"Well, I guess the only way for this to be over with is give it a go…" Greg complied as he touched her hand. All of a sudden, everything became a pitch black around them…

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Commander, it has begun. The psychic had gotten into contact with the target. Should we intercept?"

"No, this can prove an interesting challenge for the subject. Whether he is strong enough to endure and face himself is all that matters now."

"But in his current condition…"

"I have full confidence Greg will understand. This is all for a good reason. How much time has passed since the integration of the nanos began?"

"About 48 hours, 53 minutes seconds and 12 seconds ago."

"He has only 48 hours, huh?"

"Affirmative."

"Then prepare to intercept within the 24 hour limit, he may need the 'Recourse' then."

"Yes, Commander."

_Time left for Greg Kinezono's existence: 48 hours, 53 minutes and 12 seconds…._

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

ShardclawK: Damn, whatever this Michiko character has to show Greg isn't going to be a pretty picture, I can assure you. So brace yourselves for a chapter you think you have never seen before. More Flame of Recca characters, twists and turns, and the saddest plot you've seen. And it gets worst afterwards!

Ran: Damn, something tells me that the next SX chapters won't be average to tell, but why the '24' reference, Shardclaw?

ShardclawK: Hey, I can't help it if I have to draw reference from one of my favourite TV shows now. Just wanted to add to the tension, you know, and it came from reading a decent chapter of Capcom vs. SNK: Infiltration by the ever so great Lryix.

Ken: Anyway, that's one Easter Egg out of the way. Shardclaw wants to thank all who reviewed the bonus chapter, as more unique ones like those are on the way soon. Shardclaw also wants to thank DarkFusion for sending all the cool anime and manga titles and goodies up to this point, he's really enjoying them.

ShardclawK: Now if only there's a way to really enjoy Girls Bravo without the editing and censorship of the fan service, dammit! As of this moment, all forms of censorship will be destroyed!

Before I continue, the girls from the anime, Maburaho, entered, Yuna Miyama was wearing nothing but a pink, tight, frilly apron, and Kuriko Kazetsubaki was in slinky cosplay outfit with long garners for her high heels and Rin Kamishiro was in a short, hot pink yukata and lace, slip off thongs.

Yuna: Shardclaw-sama, we do hope you're ready for us until DarkFusion's shipments come to you. Tempest made sure to train us with elite training for special bedroom activities.

Kuriko: Not to mention, that we're quite hungry after all this time waiting.

ShardclawK: Aw, damn….look like I got my hands full, and it's not just being taken up playing too much God of War either. (To those who never played it yet, you're missing out on one of the most beautifully, gory games for the PS2!) I'll be seeing you boys around.

Ran: Let's hope things stay light like that when the next chapter comes out, soon I hope. See you all then and please review.

Collis aka ShardclawKusanagi.


	28. The Drowning Man, Part 2

Disclaimer: As always, I do not own the material and characters used in this story, on it, Greg Kinezono and Linn Aramaki are part of the properties I own in this fiction.

ShardclawK: Welcome again, dear readers to another new update of this famous, crossover fic. Glad to be back to be updating this fic as much as I can, but it's kind of hard to do it when I got other current crossover fics that need updating because of the eager and different fan-bases I have. Well, I can only promise I can do what I can to please the masses until I get my own computer soon one of these days, so I can be able to update my stories much faster, hopefully and be able to play some of those H-games Dark-san had recommended to me…man, I really want to experience those kind of games!

Ran: Uh, right, Shardclaw, we can only wish you the best of luck at that category.

ShardclawK: Anyhow, it's time to focus on the story, while in the meantime announce the introduction of part of a cast from another anime/manga that will be also joining the crossover roster. I proudly present to the fans, the female cast of Real Bout High School!

Just as I said that, Ryoko Mitsurugi, Madoka Mitsurugi, Asuka Kuronari, Megumi Momoi, Aoi Asahina, Midori Misato, Xiaoxing Huang Ko, Azumi Kiribayashi, Hitomi Yuuki, Nanako Hishinuma, and Natsumi Fujishima stepped in, as both Nanako and Madoka were wearing skin tight, hot pink nurses outfits with miniskirts, while the other girls were wearing tight, short vests and bikini bottom thongs. Natsumi began to inquire me on her microphone.

Natsumi: And you all just heard it first from Shardclaw himself! Now, tell me in your own words, Shardclaw-san, just how soon can we expect to be appeared in this hit story of yours?

ShardclawK: Um, as soon as I can get the chance and all the current plotlines are out of the way. There's just too much planned for SX at the current timing, especially with the current arc.

Natsumi: And most certainly, your abilities can interpret the characters in this story to their maximum input?

ShardclawK: I can only promise that I will do my utter best to make my fans happy! It's my mission in writing fiction about the anime and stuff I love!

Madoka: Oh, Shardclaw-sama is so determined in making our appearances in his stories! What a turn-on!

Ryoko: And for giving such satisfactory answers, I will lead my Shinsengumi and other female friends in ganging up on you as you take charge in judging a special, 'wet T-shirt' contest we will have.

My eyes widen at the comment to this as I stare at all the hawt, ample bosomed, ninja, brawler and samurai chicks in their tight vests, thinking of all the 'possibilities.'

ShardclawK: Um…wet…T-shirt contest? Do rules imply also using whipped cream and chocolate milk from a garden hose on you girls?

Azumi: Why, yes, Shardclaw. You are free to use anything on us, you know. But we expect a little share from you end as well, if you know what we mean.

Megumi: Yes, we want...'meat' and 'milk' too, you know. So, be a good boy and give us as much as we want, we're only giving you prepared for the other group of hawt anime and game girls Dark-san has waiting for their turn with you as well.

ShardclawK: Ulp. Aw, crap…I think I'm going to be drained by the time this chapter's done. Anyway, I leave this to your capable hands, Weiss!

Ken: There he goes once more. In spite of how things are going to get from this chapter, he still has to keep it light and funny.

Omi: Yeah, it's like stepping into a horror movie. We'd best not be scared about this update ourselves…

Ran: Well, folks, this is as dark and sad SX may get, and probably will later on. Let's see if our hero Greg will be able to choose a side that will help him. On with the story.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Metal Gear: Solider X

Chapter 27: The Drowning Man, Part 2

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

About 45 minutes had passed since the battle against Orochi Shade had occurred in the near, deserted area of old Tokyo, and now it looked closely to something out of an aftermath of a war zone. Special police and Japanese Special Forces and SWAT teams surrounded the warehouse where clearly a battle was taken place. Any witnesses who were around at the time were questioned by the authorities, while photos and evidence was being sampled and taken.

"This was quite a mess here…" one male police officer from the Police Town branch saw the mess made and whistled, scratching his head. "Whoever did this was probably a terrorist's handiwork…"

"Not a terrorist...the bomb squad said there wasn't any explosives used." His partner replied. "But you know the other freaky thing we found out?"

"What is it?"

"It's inside of the building, where most of the commotion started." The police officer walked and showed his partner the interior of the old, run down building where they saw a huge crater, steam rising out of it and spots of blood on various locations around it. The police officer gaped at the sight.

"Seems whoever did THIS was not just any bomber, I mean, who can make a crater like this and it's still hot to the touch when you get close to it?" the policeman spoke, taking out a bottled water. "Watch this as well…"

Emptying out the bottle of water, the other officer looked on in shock as the water started to evaporate into the ground upon contact.

"What exactly are we dealing with here?" the officer asked.

"Beats me…seems we've ran into some crazy ass nutcase, that's what."

"Get Fujidera over here ASAP! She may have an idea of what we're dealing here." The officer said, as he went away for a while and came back with a tall, Japanese woman with long, black hair. She was wearing glasses and had on Police Town's female uniform, her ample cleavage hugging her shirt.

"What is it about? I was still questioning the witnesses, you know?" the woman asked, almost not feeling up to the task of playing part of the evidence team.

"Miyuki Fujidera, you're here on a special case since you know perfectly well that Rio Kinezono and several others of our police force members are nowhere to be found since some time back." The police officer spoke. "If you don't help us locate them by being on the field, then how else can we know if they are even still alive at this point of time?"

"I'm just as concerned for Rio and everyone else, but what good can a traffic officer can do about this?" Miyuki replied.

"You're Rio's friend, shouldn't you have an idea about where Rio or her friends could be?" the officer asked.

"Really, sir. I wished I knew where she was; I lost contact with her myself awhile back and tried desperately to find her since." Miyuki spoke.

"Well, we're not going to put you as a suspect or anything, but we're just keeping you on your toes about the matter. We all heard what has happened to her son, chances are high she may be in hiding with him."

"I'm certain she has a good reason for it." Miyuki replied simply and seriously. "I'll do what I can on my end to find information that could lead to finding her, sir."

"We're sure you do, but its best you keep it from the new commander and all if you want to help Rio and her friends through this." The officer advised her before he left her. Miyuki sighed heavily as she began thought to herself.

(Rio…where on Earth could you and the rest of WARRIOR is?) She thought to herself she started to walk away from the crime scene. (Maybe if I called Youji, he may tell if he has met her someway or the other…I got to find her and find out why she hasn't contacted me for a while now.)

So, the police officer decided to make a stop at where she and Youji can meet later, but decided to wait till she was off duty to meet him, as not to draw suspicions.

(Hang on, Rio…I'm coming to find you…) Miyuki thought as she drove off into the city of Neo Tokyo.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Meanwhile, at a secluded location around the suburbs, a few miles away from the battle that just occurred, Shade had fully recovered from the wounds he had received. He was about to finish off Greg and his group of friends, before he was interrupted by his cell phone and Yukimura and Kenshin Mori's intervention. The call was much more important at this time when he finally made contact with the person who wanted to see him.

"Well, Shingen…it seems that you were having quite the time with yourself." A familiar male voice spoke as he stepped closer to reveal himself. Shade simply grinned at the person in front of him.

"I was going to have the time of my life, actually, that is until some old friends of mine dropped in and interrupted me before I can finish off that meddlesome Kinezono and his friends." Shade spoke. "Besides, I wasn't set to kill them off just yet; I have to show them that I hold more powers than meets the eye, Drake."

Carter Drake smiled at Shade's comment. "Ah, so you've ran into Greg and his group. That's not a surprise to me, since I knew his movements would put him in the situation like that. But I would advise you not to kill him as of yet…I still see that he has to serve my purposes, even if he doesn't see it coming."

"I'd figured you would say something like that, but then again, there's no one else who's capable of drafting a plan to use Kinezono in his state like this." Shade said. "Fine then…I take it that you're in need of my services this time, I guess."

"You are correct…I have plans for the NERV organization as of now that will surely insure victory for us and the Patriots, this is a sure fire plan with no faults." Drake spoke.

"Go on."

"Since that base is under the control of some inexperienced leaders as of now in its unstable moment since Gendou Ikari's death, this is a perfect opportunity to expose the open weaknesses." Drake spoke. "I already placed insiders who have been sending me intel, concerning the status of the individuals that currently preside in NERV."

"Ah, yes…breaking them up from the inside foundation is quite the plan, it's an easy win situation, thanks to the histories of the people in charge of the base. I've gotten contact with the intel regarding the personal bias of the most important people in charge of the base." Shade spoke. "And where do I fit into this?"

"Be patient, Shade…I got the right assignment for you that will coincide with the plan as well." Drake spoke. "You are to keep an eye on Solidus and his Dead Cell group and report to me any discoveries to their plans, so I can use it against them."

"I won't be able to advance right away, since they've allied themselves with the assassin group, Schwartz and now have one of the so-called true Noir as one of their own now." Shade spoke, causing Drake to rub his chin.

"An interesting concept, but it will do little to falter the plans I have in store. Proceed with caution and play along with the plan." Drake said. "I will contact you when I see the right moment comes to strike them when they are the most vulnerable."

"I get the idea…nice plan as always, Drake. I commend your plan will get everyone with one lethal blow." Shade said with a grin. "I guess I should be taking my leave now, then."

"No need to hurry, there's enough time for everything to fall into place." Drake said. "But it doesn't mean that we can't stay cautious for a moment."

Shade simply laughed once, before disappearing into a cloak of shadows. Drake simply started to walk, having his plans to head to Tokyo-3 beginning to become fruition.

(Kinezono's current movements are simply making things easier for me…unless something gets in the way that I didn't foresee.) Drake thought to himself, before he grinned to himself. (He can be reserved for later when I'm ready for his full potential…)

Drake wasn't going to let something like Kinezono's plans for revenge get in the way, he can simply turn them against Greg and his group if need be. But he chose to toy with the idea of using Greg later on, he had bigger fish to fry…one of them was dealing with NERV as of current.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

It was already evening time at NERV headquarters in Tokyo-3 and Naomi Hunter had a tough day assisting Dr. Ristuko Akagi and her team of scientists and programmers in their routines, which she had been assigned to. Still, with her busy schedule, she can't help but wonder how FOXHOUND is operating with some of their vital comrades, Greg Kinezono included. She constantly wondered how they are all doing after the whole deal with Mantis and now that Greg's been targeted by the Patriots.

(Dr. Clark...have we really done the right thing all those years ago?) Naomi thought to herself as she looked out to the GeoFront as the sun was setting. The thought of her remembering her memories of Greg in his younger years as he was getting adjusted to his powers pained her slightly, as she also took the time to remember the consequences he has to endure.

(Were we really doing Greg and his family a favour by cursing him like this? If so…why has his father even risked the concept of having his own son carries such a legacy? It's just too ludicrous and insane!) She thought to herself as she walked. So much was on her mind, that little did she notice bumping into Linn Aramaki who was walking in the opposite direction. Linn had just stepped out of the VR simulators that were located in NERV as she and Garland Durev took charge in training the base's security and even some of its military forces. She looked exhausted and spent, even in her amazing figure.

"Ahhh! Oh, Linn! I'm so sorry…" Naomi quickly apologized, backing a few steps back away right after bumping into her. Linn simply smiled and waved it off.

"Don't worry about it…it seems we're all tired these days to even stay alert of where we're walking these days." Linn joked, causing Naomi to smile a bit.

"Yeah, considering how crazy things are at the moment with both this base and…" Naomi spoke, but suddenly stopped as she saw the concerned look on Linn's face. "Oh, Linn…I know how much you miss him."

"Hey, it's not like anything bad is bound to happen to Greg, right? I trust Riku and his family to take good care of him, I'm sure he's just fine even now." Linn showed a soft smile. "But, still….I do wished he contact more often and at least talk to me…it's been too long since he's even bothered to look out for us, it's as if he's distancing himself from us because of what he's going through right now."

"I'm sure he has his reasons, I bet he's doing this to make sure you and everyone else here are safe." Naomi said, sighing a bit.

"I guess you're right…he's had a habit of trying to do things all by himself." Linn answered. "I really admire him for that, but…"

"But what?"

"I do wish he'd put a little more faith in us, but he's just too hurt to even try, you know?" Linn said, as she and Naomi started to walk in the hallways of NERV. "He'd always do things the hard way, as if he's punishing himself for some reason."

"Well, I'm sure Riku, his partners and his family of ninja will do what they can on their part to assist Greg in this." Naomi said, patting her friend. "What we can do here by the meantime is just wait and pray for good results, but it won't bother to at least contact him and make him feel good once in a while, don't you think?"

"You're right. I should play my role and be supportive to him as well. I am his girlfriend after all." Linn replied, and then looked at Naomi with a happy look on her face. "I know! I'll surprise him by visiting him for a few days, you know? Just to see how fine he's doing and maybe cheer him up if he's feeling lonely."

"But, Linn…you're needed here in NERV and the Patriots are surveying the base's activities now more than ever since Gendou Ikari was killed of by the enemy. Are you certain you want to go there at a time like this?" Naomi asked, having some doubt in her voice.

"I know a lot is riding on this, Naomi, but my own boyfriend is in the middle of this for some twisted reason and I should be at least close to him at a time like this, supporting him until he gets his plans set." Linn said. "And I won't be taking no for answer, I miss him terribly, Naomi. I HAVE to see and be with him."

"Linn…" Naomi looked at the pleading look in Linn's eyes and smiled a bit. She acknowledged how determine Linn was set to seeing Greg after all this time, as if she was driven by something to do this.

"I'll contact the Colonel and ask him to at least consider a few days leave from here to see Greg." Naomi said. "But on one condition…you have to take me along with you."

"You're more than welcome to come along, but why?" Linn asked out of curiosity.

"Oh, you'll know soon enough. I'm just as concerned for Greg as you are, so it's natural." Naomi said. "I'll contact Campbell later and when he approves of the leave, I'll be prepared to leave with you."

"Thanks, Naomi; this means so much to me." Linn bowed to Naomi as she walked off into her direction. Naomi started to shake her head sadly as she pondered on what can happen to Greg soon, as she has a clear idea of what's currently he's going through.

(Linn, I pray to God that you are prepared to handle the cold, ugly truth about Greg Matthews legacy as a psychic…and be ready to help him out of his own darkness in anyway you can.) Naomi thought to herself as she headed for the opposite direction she was heading to.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Back at the Uruha mansion, Aika and her two other female companions were in Kurei's office, along with the WARRIOR group and a select few of the other people from the mansion, ranging from Riku and his partners, Yuina and Seraph, Umi, Inuko and Tatsuko, Kenshin Mori, Raiha, Recca, Yanagi and Neon. Noir, consisting of Mireille and Kirika were also there, as well as Masanori Sanada and Kagero stood attentively in the room as well, listening to the details, while Aoi and Sora stood close by to their older brother's side.

"Big brother, it's good to have you home." Sora smiled at Kenshin.

"As am I, Sora. I hope you haven't been giving our parents any trouble while I was gone." Kenshin spoke, as the children quickly shook their heads. "That's good to hear…"

Aika had been using the chance she got since she arrived to explain to everyone about Greg's powers going awry for some weird reason.

"And that's about it…from what I can assume so far, Greg's just teetering on the edge because of his powers causing him to behave erratically like this." Aika said seriously. "It may not look it, but inside, he's probably suffering and is trying his best to keep it a secret."

"But not for any longer…he seems to reached his mental limit." Maypia spoke.

"And that's why you three are here to help him out? To make sure he goes through this?" Umi asked.

"Yes…as I said before, Geese was worried about Greg's progress and he has feared the worst." Aika said simply. "He, as well as the rest of us in this room was pretty worried about if Greg won't screw up somehow if his powers get out of hand…we've barely made it in time to administer the help for him…"

"Um…excuse me?" Yuina asked, rising up her hand. "What…would exactly happen to sempai if he does lose control of his powers?"

Aika simply sighed as she spoke. "For the most part, Greg may end up losing sight of his gifts and may end up becoming an enemy, than ally. This is as close to an 'evil intent' or the Orochi Riot you can get, people. Geese have been telling me how much battles Greg has gotten into since the whole Mantis thing and it really scares me to know that he's been active in this amount of fighting, which seems to have deteriorated his hold on his powers, causing him to divert more to the negative than the positive."

"Which explains why he went all out on Shiju some time back…" Riku said.

"Yeah, Greg wasn't Greg at the time." Rio cut in. "I'd never seen Greg go at it like that since…since the first time he lost control of his powers."

"Which why I'm here to make sure Greg doesn't fully go overboard and still be of help to you guys." Aika said, standing firmly. "Geese have suggested that he has to go through evaluated training for the most part if he has to maintain control of his powers."

"But…in his weakened state…" Lilica cut in with a sad tone, as Aika looked away in silence.

"Geese said it was necessary that he has to do this…" Aika said, shaking her head. Just then, Masanori's voice cut in time during Aika's speech.

"May I put in my suggestion, Miss Sumeragi?" Masanori spoke. "Taking into consideration of what you just told us, Greg's state at this time wouldn't need any kind of that pressure for the moment."

"Yeah, Geese can't really be trusted in these matters, especially if Greg's involved." Nanvel said. "I've seen some of the training Greg endured in his younger years when something like this did start up the first time…not even someone like him deserved that harsh treatment just to keep himself in check."

"Like lifting weights, isolations in harsh weather, five hour a day sparring bouts…" Maya recalled. "Geese threw everything he had that Greg didn't want part of at him and surprisingly, he survived that. But I don't think he's up for a second run for that kind of torture at a time like this…"

"So, you're saying that this training is…" Masanori stopped speaking and stared at Aika once more. "I see…you're submitting Greg to some kind of strain that even his body can't keep up with at this time. Do you know just how dangerous that is?"

"Try telling that to Geese." Aika replied. "Unless you have other plans to help Greg, I'm all ears."

"There are other ways to do this, and putting Greg into more harm isn't going to solve anything. I mean, take a look at his body right now, he is in serious need of rest and medication for those wounds." Masanori said. "The most he should be doing is getting enough rest to gain the stamina he had lost."

"I agree with Masanori." Kenshin spoke. "There's no point in putting Greg in more hurt than he is, even it is simple training."

Everyone else in the room nodded to this, as did Yuina, who was now sobbing lightly to hearing what was going on with Greg, but did her best to hide it from everyone else.

"In any case, I will just have to contact Geese and tell him of the change of plans. I'd expected you guys wouldn't go along with the idea in the first place, since you're the only people he can trust not to betray Greg." Aika said, with a light grin, before staring at Kenshin. "Besides, I also agree with Kenshin there's no point in adding more hurt to Greg, we can surely use other methods of helping him out at this time."

"He will still need the training to control his powers first, though." Rion spoke.

"Right…the training is still part of the plan, but the recovery comes first." Aika said.

"I can certainly do what I can with my healing powers to help Greg once more." Yanagi spoke.

"And I can work a bit harder on his regenerative nanos." Nanvel spoke.

"Then who will take charge of training Greg?" Aika asked, only to see Rio step up.

"I will do it. He's my son, my responsibility…this is the most I can do to make up for the times I should have stepped in before, but couldn't." Rio said. "You can count on me this time, Aika. Just give me one more shot at this."

"Well, Greg won't be happy if we didn't cooperate on the matter, so I better let you in on the ride as well." Aika said, smiling at her.

"Just wait, you two…chances are he will need more than just the two of you, since his other mentors aren't here to help him now." Masanori spoke. "Allow me to lend my experience to this matter, I promise that you won't regret my help."

Aika stood silent for a moment, before she nodded her head. "You have a point. Kyo, Iori and Geese would have helped solved this in no time, but we got to make up with what we have for now until Greg's completely recovered and set. I will have to contact them soon and tell them about the change of plans…"

"I'm certain they will understand somehow." Masanori spoke, as Rio stayed quiet as she watched the mysterious male who the people in the Uruha mansion claimed to be an old friend of theirs.

(This guy just comes out of the blue and offers a hand to help Greg without even giving a second thought…) Rio thought to herself. (He may look trustworthy, but I'd better keep a watch on him for Greg's sake…)

"Now that we've gotten that problem about Greg's powers out of the way, we need to find out about how Shade was even part of the Orochi power." Kurei said. "Riku, from what we've heard from Kenshin, was it true that he was using that dreaded power?"

"Yeah, he did, uncle." Riku said, swallowing as he spoke while he remembered the experience. "It's even a miracle on how we managed to hold our own till Kenshin and Masanori showed up…"

"But all this time, we'd never thought he was capable of that amount of power." Nagi spoke. "He'd even give Greg a hard time to deal with once he activated his powers as well…"

Riku then looked at his grandmother Kagero and spoke. "Hey, Grandma…do you think that Shade is part of the Orochi clan? Knowing how long into history this goes, there should at least be some clues about how a ninja like him has such powers."

"I certainly wished I had an idea of how he had attained those powers, Riku, but I'm at a loss like you all are." Kagero spoke. "But since he is not of the Orochi bloodline, my assumptions are that he must have gained it through some other methods."

"That could be a strong possibility…" Recca said simply. "In any case, Riku….you and your partners and friends know now Shade's not an ordinary human, I think it's best that you retreat as far as you can the next time you see that man if you value your lives."

"He's right, Riku. Don't go recklessly fighting that man, even if he poses a threat to your friends." Yanagi said.

"Okay, mom, dad." Riku nodded at his parent's warning. "But at least we managed to get out of there, all thanks to Yuina and Seraph."

"Oh, please, Riku….I was only doing what I could to help you and everyone else. Sempai especially…" Yuina said, shaking her head. "And only God knows what could have happened to Ambrosia if we did lose to that…that excuse for a man…"

"Let's not think too much about it, Yuina." Tot patted her. "We all know now that you're quite reliable in battle yourself and we can count on you to cover our backs anytime."

"Yeah, Yuina, all that training with Greg must have paid off." Nagi had his say.

"Thanks, Tot." Yuina smiled, but still felt a bit sorry for what has happened to Greg. Rio then stood up and started to speak.

"Listen, that Shade character is the least of our worries now. One of our own needs our help now than ever." Rio said. "The first priority before everything else is helping Greg with his issues, until Geese's further orders."

"By the time being, we can use this chance to rest and think over things…" Riku said, rubbing his chin. "If we have to confront more enemies that the Patriots throw in Greg's direction, we have to develop more strength in just cases like today."

"I agree with you, Riku." Nagi said. "I actually felt I couldn't do a thing for Greg when Shade went Orochi on us…"

"Same here." Tot followed in as well.

"There wasn't a thing any of you could have done against a man of that strength, children." Masanori spoke. "Be grateful that your experience held you together during that time, but it was a good idea that we should use this time while Greg's trying to recover to re-strategize for the future."

"What do you had in mind?" Riku asked. Masanori stepped up to Riku and handed him what it appeared to be an ancient ninja scroll.

"This scroll will give the wielder the power to control your own shadow as well any other shadow around you." Masanori spoke. "I do advise at first though, you will have to train first and get used to it, controlling both shadows and flames at the same time would be rather hard and you can't use it in bright places. If you want me to, I can offer my assistance in training you to do so as well, Riku."

"Okay, I'll definitely take up the offer." Riku said, nodding his head. (Hmmm…I may have to develop an alternative style when I use this…'Shadow Dragon', huh?)

"In this matter, I've decided to call among the remainder of both the major Hokage and Uruha clans members who would be much help in this in the future." Kurei said. "I've also taken the liberty of getting Team Kuu here as well, as some of the members happened to be good allies to our clans as well."

"So, that means Tokyia, Fuuko, Karou and Domon are on the way, huh?" Riku asked with a light grin. "Man, this will be one hell of a reunion when they get here…"

"If that is everything, we might as well gather on the outside and wait up on Greg and Michiko, who is staying with us for a while as well." Neon said, as everyone walked out, while Riku, Nagi and Tot stayed close together and spoke about dealing with what transpired today.

"I guess this means, Greg's going to find a way to deal with what's going on with his powers, then with Rio, this Aika woman and Yukimura-san putting them together to help train Greg to get stronger, we should probably do the same thing, huh?" Tot spoke.

"It's not 'probably', Nanami, we 'have to' train to get stronger." Riku replied, his expression completely serious. "We all saw how strong Shade became when he summoned the power of the Orochi and used it. If we hadn't gotten lucky and Yuina and Greg didn't surprise him with that new attack of theirs, Shade would have killed us without even a small amount of real effort."

"There's no question about that." Nagi said in agreement. "And when Shade used that power, I could still feel that there was much more behind it than he was currently using. It was like he reached into a bottomless well of power, and the amount he used was like a small handful of it..."

"It's as if he's cursed with the power of hell itself…" Seraph said, also following in the conversation. "An average human being can not be able to hold such power, or he'd be no longer be in this plane of existence by now…"

Riku simply sighed as he continued on with what he and his friend had dealt so far.

"Shade...and not to mention that new psychic, Robert Thorn..." Riku spoke. "Two powerful enemies and not one of us have what it takes to take even one of those guys down. Not even if we combined our current strengths."

"Then we have to get strong enough to do that, right?" Tot asked in reply.

"Right." Nagi nodded in agreement. "We need to get strong enough in order to handle enemies at that level. I don't know if you've noticed, but ever since we joined up with Greg, all we've done is handled the small fry enemies while Greg took on the stronger ones..."

"And the worst part is we didn't have any choice in the matter because Greg was the only one strong enough to take those guys on." Riku added. "Face it, if we can't get strong enough to take on whatever new enemies that the Patriots, and God knows who else, decide to throw at Greg, and only be good enough to deal with small fries, then we're better off not going with Greg on this 'Virtuous Mission' as we'll just be burdens that will drag him behind, or worse..."

"Targets for the enemy to use against Greg." Nagi finished. A cold silence among the group passed by, as they realized what they just said, until Rio, who was hearing all along stepped in.

"Hey, guys…don't let that get you down, okay?" Rio said, as she placed her arms over Riku and Nagi's shoulders. "Sure, there are tough enemies we all have to deal with in the coming future, but I don't think my Greggie would consider you all as burdens, or else he wouldn't have any reason to do his job."

"Still, our help can make things easier for him later." Tot spoke. "He always intend of taking all the hurt for our sakes…"

Rio stayed quiet as she knew what she can say would be pointless. (In the end, Greg's just pushed everyone who cares about him away, so he can carry the weight of the world's problems by himself…I wonder if that's why that Michiko is there to see him about? My only prayer is that she doesn't say anything to upset him as he is now…)

"Come on, don't let it get you down…we'll beat whatever those sorry excuses for villains throw at us together. You can count on that." Rio said. "Just us this chance to relax yourselves, alright?"

"Thanks, Rio." Riku said as she walked off to meet the other WARRIOR members. Just then, Nagi spoke to Tot.

"Nanami, you think we should contact Weiss and tell them what has happened as well? Ran may be of help with advancing your skills a bit as well." Nagi said.

"Yeah, you got a point. Well, I guess I'd better go and get some training from Tokiya-sensei, and then train with Ran when he and the others come here." Tot said and then turned to Riku and Nagi. "What are you two going to do?"

"I'll train with Yuina some and then try some self training to make my powers stronger." Nagi replied, and then his expression became slightly troubled, as if he were reluctant to say what he was about to. "Actually, I'm thinking of using some suggestions Crawford gave to me years ago in the use of my powers in order to strengthen them. If they work, then I'm sure I'll get stronger, but..."

"But what?" Riku asked.

"Those suggestions were for techniques with my powers that would either kill or seriously injure an opponent...or target for killing." Nagi answered bitterly.

"Nagi, you really don't have to go through that if that bothers you." Tot said.

"I know that…it bothers me to think that even Greg's powers remind me of mine sometimes when it's out of control, it's scary." Nagi said. "In any case, I doubt I will go off the track, because even though I'm not as strong as Greg, there's a small chance of me giving in to that kind of nature, because of Nanami and you."

"Aw, Nagi…that's one of the sweetest things I've heard from you…" Tot said, her face slightly blushing a bit. Riku cleared his throat a bit before he spoke.

"As for me, I'll have my dad and Uncle Kurei gives me as much training as possible in order to sharpen my ninjutsu as well as increase my power of flames." Riku spoke. "Since Yukimura-san is already here, I'll see if he can give me any training or ideas on how to get stronger."

Then another thought struck his mind right there and then.

"Well, now that all this has happened, I think it's time the rest of Uruha Ryu gathered here." Riku spoke. "Before I go train, I'd better call Akira, Alice, Kaori, and the others."

"But isn't it their vacation?" Tot asked.

"I'm sure once I explain the current situation to them, they'll understand." Riku answered. "And also I'll ask my uncle to give them a nice bonus in their next paycheck, and an extended vacation once this whole thing is over."

"Does that include what's going on in Tokyo-3 too?" Nagi asked, and Riku nodded. "Better make sure that bonus is big."

"Good idea." Riku agreed. "Well, we'd better get refreshed for dinner soon, and get an early rest for our bodies."

As Nagi, Tot and Seraph left the living room altogether, Riku noticed Yuina sitting one of the chairs outside of the mansion at the gallery yard, wiping away the light tears that fell from her eyes. He went up right to her and sat next to her.

"Yuina…what's wrong?" Riku asked. "You've been a bit moody since Greg left for his room when we got back."

"I was…thinking about what that Aika woman said about sempai…and I was wondering…could it be true?" she said, looking down on her hands. "Is my sempai really in that much trouble, Riku?"

"I don't want to believe it myself, Yuina. But everyone's willing to get Greg out of his own darkness somehow; we just need to make him need our help." Riku said. "And knowing Greg, he's not the type to give up on himself that easily…"

"I wish I can feel better about it, Riku. But I feel…so weak. Fighting against that monster earlier made me realized that…" Yuina said. "I wanted to do so much more for sempai, for Ambrosia and even you and your partners, but I just watched in horror to a living nightmare and only chose to face up to him when he had hurt you and everyone else who helped me enough."

"Still, in the end you were the one who helped Greg in stopping Shade when he went all Orochi mode." Riku commented. "Me, all I could do was distract the guy so the two of you could get a clear shot." He then smiled guiltily. "Kind of disappointing in my case, huh?"

"Not at all." Yuina objected. "You're strong. A lot stronger than I am..." Yuina then looked away from Riku. "I...I can't save anyone. I couldn't even do anything to help sempai with his condition and..."

"Listen, Yuina..." Riku said, interrupting her. "To tell you the truth, I'm not really that strong. I'm just a little further down the path than you are, that's all."

Riku then turned so that he could face Yuina before continuing.

"Don't you understand? The only difference between us is how far we've walked. It's the same for everybody." He continued, and then paused and then looked up at the sky. "The obstacles that you face today...Your worries about the future...Keep fighting them, and walk forward."

Riku then turned back to Yuina with a light and friendly smile.

"You can give up after you come to the end of the road." He finished. With that, he walked off leaving Yuina to think about his words.

(Riku's right…this was more of a test in my trials, in finding out how to control my emulate abilities. This was so much like the first time when…) Yuina thought to herself before stopping. (Oh, Akiho…I wonder if had to you go through the same things I did and now after everything…?)

Standing up straight, she wiped away the tears before thinking firm. She was set now to help Greg in this matter.

(In any case, sempai's counting on my support, now more than ever.) Yuina thought. (I have to help him; no matter what for what he has done for me and Seraph so far. Just hang on a bit longer, Greg…)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"As always, this is a crazy plan….it shouldn't have gotten this far." A male voice spoke in darkness somewhere else. "He should have never fallen so, there's so much at stake."

"Can I get to leave now, or after this Tachibana had finished contact with Greg?" a female's voice simply replied.

"I don't know if should go ahead with this. Percentage points are fluctuating…my sight…dim. I can't predict what's going to happen."

"Then I guess you're out of a job."

"Time is still on your side, Culloden. Wait here and maybe you can…"

"Don't even say it. You could get your plug pulled for even thinking such a thing…"

"I don't care. Maybe you can just let him die."

"But…"

"What if I'm wrong about Greg Matthews? What if all along I've been in error…is a fool's quest worth dying for?" the male asked. There was a short silence between the two, before the woman spoke.

"No, it's not. But if you're right about Greg…I'd die ten times over to see Greg Kinezono do the right thing without a second thought." The woman spoke with a smile. "I'm carrying my son with me; it will be quite the experience for us both to finally meet him. See you in the future soon."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The next thing Greg knew when he woke up was that he was back at the GeoFront in Tokyo-3. Right behind him, Michiko walked forward to show him a vision he wasn't prepared for.

"What the…why am I here?" Greg asked, as he stood up and faced the woman with serious eyes. Michiko simply looked at him and extended her arm.

"This is the place where we would be placed; inevitably…" she spoke in a sad tone. "What am I about to show you, Greg, is greatly disturbing, but it is for the benefit for halting your actions that you are currently pursuing."

Before Greg can answer, the next thing he knew was that the protective barrier over the GeoFront was soon covered in a white, powerful, light that ate away the barrier and strong gusts of wind flew about in their directions, blowing everything around them with powerful explosions.

"Does this seem familiar, Kinezono?" Michiko asked, as Greg was seeing NERV headquarters being invaded by enemy forces. The building was being bombed all over by the enemy forces through heavy artillery tanks, VTOLs and stealth bombers.

"Why…why is this happening?" Greg asked, nearly confused.

"You asked why, but the answers are so unclear to you that you don't realize it." Michiko spoke, waving her arm once more. "I shall take you to the inside where everything will be revealed in due time…"

Like a wave of water, the image around them covered everything around them and soon they found themselves in the hallways of NERV. Right before them, security forces that fought for NERV laid dead in front of Greg and Michiko.

"NERV is being invaded by the organization that rules the Earth, you know them as the Patriots." She said, causing Greg to turn around and stare at her. "They have managed to seize this base and everyone who was assigned to defend it, both from within and outside its parameters."

"You don't mean…they actually did it?" Greg asked.

"Yes, all thanks to one man's quest that started it all. This…is a direct result of your actions, Greg Kinezono." Michiko spoke.

"That's a bunch of lies! I can never do such a thing!"

"Please listen for the sake of those you claim to care about and even more lies on the decision you've chosen." She said. "If you do not believe me, then maybe this will…"

Greg can now see Riku, Nagi and Tot altogether, preparing for something important. They were having an important conversation about Greg's actions and had been assigned to help Michael, who has gone off to find and help Greg one last time. It was Michael's assignment to have everyone evacuated before the invasion and things got hot.

"Riku, Tot…this will be the end." Nagi said to his friends as they knew what was coming ahead.

"Goodbye, I will go first." Riku said to his partners.

"We will meet again where Michael is." Tot spoke

Before he can continue, he was taken to a location close to NERV, while Greg can see two figures fighting each other. One of them was holding an HF Blade, while the other was holding what it appeared to be a lance. It was Greg himself, fighting against his own comrade from FOXHOUND, Michael Hansen. The current Greg stepped back in disbelief.

"That's me…?" Greg asked. "Why am I…fighting against my friend?"

"Take a look at yourself. Michael was trying to help you at first, but things have become different." Michiko said as Greg saw himself to be possessed by his own powers, foaming at the mouth, covered in blood and the cuts from the Blade, while Michael had sustained injuries from Greg's attacks. It was an actual battle to the death and it was hard for the current Greg to soak it in.

"Rrrrrrrraggggghhhh!" the possessed Greg swung furiously at Michael with the Lance, sometimes breaking his defence and delivering fatal blows.

"Greg! Stop this now!" Michael said, having to fight back himself, even though it hurt his heart to do such a thing. "You've lost control of yourself because you think you can protect everyone, when you know it's not possible!"

The possessed Greg simply laughed maniacally in pain at Michael as he continued pressing on his attack, while the current Greg felt weak in his knees as he took this in.

"Is this what this is all about?" Greg asked. "Do you think that what will happen to me soon is the cause of this?"

"No, Greg…your belief of being able to protect everyone is quite noble, but it's not the right choice, as you can't actually do it." Michiko said as she then turned her head. "And this is one of the consequences you have to suffer with for the rest of your life…this is a prelude of what lead to this."

The scene was split into two as the current Greg and Michiko found themselves in the VR training room at the Uruha mansion. Yuina was there in her emulate form, standing next to the future Greg and was in the middle of a heavy argument.

"Sempai, please…Riku and his partners are only doing their best to help, why can't you accept their help…?" Yuina cried out to him, before Greg glared at her.

"I don't need their help in my war, Yuina. This is my battle and I can't let you draw any closer to the danger than you already are…" Greg spoke, before Yuina grabbed him by his nano arm.

"But, sempai…why? Why is it that you think you're the only one hurt by the Patriots?" she cried as she tugged on his arm. "We're all doing what we can to…"

"Silence, Yuina! You will not question my judgement any further!" Greg shouted, hitting her fiercely with his nano arm. The current Greg swore he heard a nasty smack as he can see his future self had drawn out a blade with his nano arm, seriously injuring Yuina with it. Her face and throat began to bleed profusely as she lay on the VR training ground, dying. Even Seraph's healing powers can't save her from this fatal wound.

"Y…Yuina?" the future Greg asked, his body shaking as he tried to stop the bleeding, but couldn't. Still, Yuina took her small, bloodied left hand and touched his face gently with her fading strength.

"Yuina…I'm so sorry…" Greg said, holding unto her face. "I…I didn't…I didn't want you or anyone else to…"

"Sempai…I understand why you carried on like this, but…the most you could have done is start to have faith in all of us…it must have been so hard for you…to trust anyone…in your life…" Yuina spoke, as her hand slowly dropped. "Sempai…I will always…"

Just then, her hand fell silent and lifeless, now shocking the future Greg into a state of dementia as he held his head and started to sob miserably.

"RRRRRRAAAAAGGGGHHHH!" Greg's shouts echoed through the VR hall as he picked up his Ascension and bailed out of the room, leaving the current Greg and Michiko to watch on at Yuina's, tragically beautiful emulate corpse.

"No!" the current Greg shouted, slamming his nano arm into the ground in front of him as he started to shed tears. "I'm not going to end up some kind of monster…I could never do such a thing…"

"That is just part of the scenario in store…shortly after this, your friends; Nagi, Riku and Tot were confused and saddened about how they were not able to help you." Michiko said. "This takes place just before the invasion at NERV and now I shall take you back to what lies in your fate."

As if on cue, Riku, Nagi and Tot arrive at the battle between Greg and Michael. There was a stand off for a moment between the two males, before Riku shouted to them.

"Greg! Michael!" Riku cried out at the top of his lungs. "Don't do it!"

But Greg charged on, ignoring Riku's warning and using his Ascension to attack at Michael, who took up his HF Blade and waited for Greg.

"I'm so sorry about this, Greg…" Michael said, as the possessed Greg swung at Michael, who countered the strike Greg made with a lightning quick slash on his upper torso. Greg ended up behind him, standing in a frozen, shocked expression, as blood sprayed forth from the middle of his chest, a clean line appearing around Greg's throat, as slowly his head fell off from its body.

The current Greg heard screams that would haunt him forever, as Riku, Nagi and Tot stood in awe and shock of what they just saw Greg being beheaded by his own friend. Michael fell down, his body weak due to the injuries he sustained from fighting Greg.

"This…this is a nightmare!" the current Greg shouted at the top of his lungs, and this nightmare got even worst as Garland Durev and Linn Aramaki stepped in now, seeing the carnage in front of them. "Oh, no…don't let Linn see this…I'm begging you…"

"Michael!" Garland shouted as he rushed to him; helping him up as did Riku, while Linn started to sob as she fell on her knees over the possessed Greg's corpse.

"Why, Greg? How could…?" Linn muttered as she even held his head next to her body, sobbing loudly. It was truly a heartbreaking moment for the current Greg to witness.

Riku rushed to help him up, as it was no use trying to help Greg now. "Michael, hang on! We'll get you…"

"I don't think you can do anymore for me….Greg certainly wasn't pulling his attacks." Michael spoke, while struggling to speak one more time to his comrades. "I tried my best…to help him…but if everything was different…I didn't want it to end this way."

Garland looked at Greg's corpse for a moment and shook his head sadly. "So did me…the rest of FOXHOUND as well…we all did what we can for him and how he treated us in return? This is the answer…"

"Garland…I have a…last request from you." Michael said.

"What is it, my friend?" Garland asked.

"Please…look over Mana for me while I'm gone." Michael said with a sad grin. "And the same goes…for Mai and Ritsuko as well, make sure they are safe from here…"

"I will see to that…my brother." Garland said, as he started to sob slowly himself, as did Riku, Nagi and Tot who were witnessing all that was happening.

"Thank you….my brother." Michael nodded his head slowly as his head drooped down into Garland's chest.

"Good bye, then, old friend." Garland said, resting Michael's corpse on the ground. He then looked at Riku and his partners.

"Riku, get your acts together and get out of here." Garland spoke, trying to repress his dangerous alter ego, 'D'. "I'll take Linn to a safe spot and prepare for the war ahead…"

Riku stayed silent for a few moments as he looked on at Greg's and Michael's corpses, the shock was too much for him to handle. But he and his partners still had a job to do.

"Crow, Usagi…let's get a move on." Riku said, clearing his head. "Our back up should be here, taking care of the invaders as well."

"O…okay, Drakken." Nagi choked as he turned away from seeing the corpses of his former mentors and friends. Tot was still crying over their deaths and couldn't bear seeing any more of the suffering, most it was what the current Greg was soaking up as reserve power.

"No more of this…" the current Greg said as he shook his head fervently.

"There is more. Even your surrogate family would fall to the casualties prior to the attack…" Michiko said, as she showed Greg the horrid fates of Team WARRIOR, who was fighting NERV in its defense, being killed one by one, until Rio went down fighting. Greg swore the last words she muttered were…

"My son, Greg…I do hope…you could be forgiven for what has happened to you…" Rio muttered before she died, causing Greg's heart to sink.

"This is like a sequel to the first vision Mantis showed me awhile back…" Greg said as he shook his head.

"It's far from over." Michiko said as she used her powers to split the vision into to three perspectives now. It was a bit further ahead of the invasion and it showed the members of Weiss and several mercenary units from the Aogiri family.

"The Aogiri and the Kurumas are fighting as well?" Greg asked in shock as he saw this. He had just met he members that revolved the C-project some time back and was aware of their financial and political powers, but the Patriots had overrun them this time around during the invasion of NERV.

"The Patriots had seized NERV, while Riku and his group band together with these people one last time against the Patriots." Michiko explained. "However, the forces prove too much for the Aogiri forces…"

With that, several corpses of the Aogiri mercenary members lay dead in front of the current Greg's feet. He can see Riku battling it out with several of the troops of the Patriots' services, but in the process, loses his right eye and his entire left arm. It struck a chord of terror for the current Greg to see this much tragedy in one day in a while.

"Riku…" Greg muttered in shock as he saw Riku still fighting on against the troops, all in the while, providing cover for his partners to escape, but a few of the Weiss members fall to the Patriots attack. Two of them were Yuhi and Toya, who fought alongside Weiss in this battle. Youji and Omi also were killed in front of Greg's eyes as well.

"No! No! NO!" Greg shouted, as he held his head, trying to shake the thoughts he had just seen out of it, but it was useless. The third perspective he was shown was two bomber type planes flying over familiar territory, one of them was a safe house where

Aya, Miku, which were Toya and Aya's daughter, Aki, Maya, and Chidori, who's currently pregnant with Yuhi's child, along with Shuro, Suzumi, Shota and Alec all were in, but something was wrong. It looked as if it just had been bombed and now it was exposed to nuclear radiation. None of them stood a chance of survival from it and all of them died from it. Greg can clearly see their suffering corpses.

"And much more will die from your actions, Greg…" Michiko said as she showed him a view of the Uruha mansion, now itself was bombed to nothingness, thanks to the Patriots. Everyone who resided in it that Greg knew, was gone to nothingness now, all those Greg considered being part of his family and friends. The Uruha and Hokage clans were wiped out with one simple bombing.

"The Patriots used a new type of nuclear warhead on both Riku's entire family and the Aogiris as well…" Michiko spoke in a sad and bitter tone. "When Riku allowed Nagi and Tot to escape, they retreated back to here and now…they are among the numerous victims that lie here. They had only little time to live due to the radiation, and were able to spend those last moments together as they should be…"

"No…more…" Greg said as he started to feel faint, he then looked at a distance past the corpses of those he was friends with and saw a man walking around, a very sad expression on his face. It was Masanori and it seemed he in great grief as he was approaching a slowly dying Kagero. The radiation was too much for her as well, but the radiation didn't affect Masanori at all.

"Kagero….I'm so sorry…I tried to make it sooner…" Masanori spoke, tears falling out of his eyes as he embraced her. "My information…of all the times for it to be incorrect…I should have come sooner to warn everyone before…"

"It's…alright…Yukimura-san." Kagero spoke in a sad tone. "At…least you're here to see me…one last time…"

"Kagero….there's always something I wanted to admit to you for the longest time ever since I've known you." Yukimura confessed. "I've wasted more years than anyone should have ever been entitled to. I should have told you sooner…how much…that I've always loved you…"

"Yukimura…as I've…I've always felt the same about you. I love you too, it's just…I've never found the right words to tell you." Kagero said, as she let Yukimura got close enough to kiss her gently on her lips, as tears both fell from their eyes. Slowly, Kagero dies in his arms as Yukimura only stayed silent for a while, surveying everything around him, before standing up and walking away from the half destroyed mansion. It was another heart wrenching moment for the current Greg to witness.

"No more…please…" Greg shut his eyes as tears came out of his eyes; he was beginning to have about enough of the vision. "This is too much…"

"It's far from over…" Michiko said as she used her powers to shift back to NERV, where already more carnage and death awaited. It was then they heard serious gunfire from the closest direction, then a young girl's scream. Greg recognized the tone of the voice.

"That's Mana's voice!" Greg said as he ran in the direction where he saw Mana Kirishima and Kari Mondeau were pinned down against several Patriots troops. Mana was injured badly and was getting moved out of harm's way from the troops, as Kari started to prepare first aid for the somewhat, lethal wound.

"Hang on, Mana!" Kari shouted, as she tended to the wound around Mana's abdomen, but it was almost too late. Mana was coughing up blood and she was going to die soon.

"Kari…" Mana called to her friend. "You don't have to push yourself any further…Michael's gone, as well as Greg. I'd hate to say it, but this could be the last time we may be together as friends for long…"

"Don't say that!" Kari shouted as she tended Mana. "You'll be alright…oh, if only things hadn't turned out like this…"

"Kari, I just want you to know…how I thought that being in FOXHOUND was the greatest honour I ever had to be part of, especially when I was with Michael, Maggie and Garland." Mana cried. "I…also want to say...thank you…for all the times we shared together, as well as being with everyone from FOXHOUND. I had so many happy times there…"

"And we will! Come on, Mana…" Kari cried out, only to see Mana smiling at her one last time.

"Goodbye, my friend, Kari…." Mana said before her hand dropped and she lay on the hospital bed motionless. The French-Japanese native started to sob uncontrollably, as her gloved hands were now covered in blood. An aura that was not like Kari's started to emit from her body as Greg realized that the events of the future he would create had triggered her dormant Berserker state.

"No, not Kari!" Greg shouted, but before he said anything else, a number of the troops sent by the Patriots busted through the door and were aiming their weapons at Kari. In her berserker rage, she charged at the troops, who all started to fire their sub machine guns at her, riddling her body in bullets. Greg had to shut his eyes as this happened.

"There's more to this sad story…" Michiko said as she showed Garland in the GeoFront now, in his true dread form, was slaughtering troops by the numbers. He was still being outnumbered by the growing number of troops and he was forced to use his Requiem attack, a shockwave like attack using the chi of his strength and berserker like rage, to pound the enemies and everything around him into LCL. But the attack left his body exhausted and tired, and actually defenceless.

On his knees and unable to move, Garland can only see a raining set of missiles heading in his direction, as it meant his end. With a simple, tired whisper, he looked up and said…

"Farewell…Maggie…" Garland Durev said as he met his end when the missiles impacted on the area he was on. Greg's fists tightened as he had to witness this.

"Riku will be the next to join his friend as well in this battle…" Michiko said as she showed Riku this time, which was in the process of attacking a number of bases in Japan owned by the Patriots. He used his incredible flame and dragons' power to increate the bases, only seas of fire and no survivors behind him. He had totally changed since discovering he couldn't help Greg in time.

However, Greg was in shock now when he saw the next base Riku attacks is guarded by Shade himself. A fight between the two ensues, as Shade had activated his Orochi Mode once more.

"Come now, boy…why don't you just give up and join the rest of your family and friends? It is useless to challenge one such as me." Orochi Shade said, as he threw his chakram at Riku, who dodged it easily and splitting into a duplicating technique, inures Shade with a double fire slash blow, before grabbing his body and using an Izuna drop on his back.

"Just die, you monster!" Riku shouted, plunging his Saiha into Shade's body. The evil mercenary leapt back up and using a low trick, plunges a knife repeatedly into Riku's side.

"No, why don't YOU die?" Shade spoke, kicking Riku down. With Riku down and almost dead, Shade was prepared to finish him off.

"Give my regards to all those who died along with you, Hokage scum!" Shade said, raising up an energy infused fist. Just then, a cloud of smoke engulfed his vision, and when it cleared, Riku was already gone. Shade simply fixed his clothing and scoffed.

"Ha, he will die soon; I shouldn't be too worried about how much fight he has left." Shade said as he left the area. "Now, to see if we've fully occupied NERV by now…"

From a distance, Yukimura Sanada was standing at the distance away from the base, as he was still holding unto Riku in his arms. The young ninja's life was slowly disappearing by the second.

"Take it easy, Riku…I will ensure you that things will get better than this." Yukimura said simply.

"Heh, don't bother trying to cheer me up, Yukimura-san. I know I'm going to die." Riku said bitterly, and then suddenly started to cough until blood started to come out of his mouth. "At least I won't die from the radiation..."

"Riku..." Yukimura lowered his eyes in sorrow since he knew Riku was right about this. "So, do you...have any last requests? I'll do my best to see them fulfilled..."

"Well first...when you see Nagi and Tot again, tell them I wish the best for them and that I'm sorry..." Riku paused for a moment before speaking again, this time there was an edge to his voice. "Oh yeah one more very important, please avenge my clan, my family. I beg you..."

Yukimura felt the feeling was mutual; the tone of need from Riku's voice and what he had seen at the Uruha mansion was enough to motivate him.

"I thank you..." Riku then sighed and then gave a bitter chuckle. "I certainly am a pitiful excuse for a ninja. I couldn't do anything to save or stop Greg, I couldn't save my friends at NERV and FOXHOUND, I couldn't protect my friends or family, hell, and I can't even avenge them...Looks like I'm going to die a failure..."

"No, Riku, you haven't failed." Yukimura said firmly. "If there is one thing you accomplished, it was that you were at least able to keep Nagi and Tot alive when so many others died..."

"I guess that is some comfort to know..." Riku smiled and then his eyes slowly closed.

For a moment Yukimura thought the young ninja had died, but was proven wrong when Riku suddenly spoke in a low and mournful tone of voice.

"Greg, why? Why didn't you stay as you were?" Riku asked as his voice was starting to fade. "Why..."

"Riku..." Yukimura spoke, causing Riku's eyes to open. "Were you dreaming?"

"Yeah...hard to believe that we still have dreams, even when we're dying." Riku replied, and suddenly Yukimura noticed that his eyes were starting cloud over and slowly closed.

Riku suddenly felt what seemed to be an intense feeling of exhaustion, a feeling that he didn't even try to resist.

(I will sleep, and when I wake up, I will be where I truly belong.) Riku thought to himself as he felt himself descend into what felt like a peaceful slumber, like he was going to sleep after a long day. (Nagi, Tot, when I see you again, I'll be waiting for you guys on the other side with everyone. Raising a toast in welcome...)

Then, Riku Hanabishi slowly died, with a look that looked as close as to him in a gentle sleep. Greg's heart was more than broken when he saw this, now that FOXHOUND was being taken out of the picture with his friends and loved ones gone like this.

"Not one of them deserved to suffer like this…" Greg muttered.

"But they did, because of your actions, Greg. This is the reality that you will create." Michiko told him, showing him now what has happened to the members of Philanthropy and a few from NERV.

"Snake and Raiden will die while attempting to cover for their loved ones during the invasion…" Michiko said, as Greg now can see Snake, Raiden and Otacon die providing cover for their loved ones. He can see Otacon getting shot trying to escape, then using his last ounce of strength as he closes a bulkhead, shutting the heavy blast proof fire door, along with Maya, Emma, Rose and Charlie who were on the other side.

"Goodbye, E.E….Maya…I did all what I could have done for…" Otacon said as he is finished off by another soldier who shot him in the head to make sure he stays dead. Behind the door, the group continued to retreat, but along the way, Misato is killed on trying to provide them cover. Raiden also dies trying to provide cover for his friends and loved ones.

Greg's heart was pounding as he continued to witness all that was happening before him. He then saw Shinji and Snake coming along the route, which took them to see the dead bodies and suddenly became with filled with horror. Snake held his own against the troops, but not for long as he gets fatally shot protecting Shinji.

"Misato! David!" Shinji cried out as he ran to their dead bodies, starting to sob miserably.

"This is the so called 'Legend'? He was easy pickings, compared to the whore he started to hang out with…" one of the soldiers spoke as he kicked their bodies. Shinji looks up at the soldier and snaps.

"Rrrraaaggghh!" Shinji screamed as he picks up Raiden's HF Blade and in a furious dash, stabs the offending officer through the heart before he could react. However, the rest of the troops open fire on Shinji and he is killed before Greg's eyes in this nightmare of the vision.

"However, only a few of these people will manage to survive the invasion, but what happens afterwards to them…well, I'll just show you." Michiko continued, as she showed another split perspective of what was happening in FOXHOUND headquarters, which was now taken over by the Patriots. Roy Campbell, Naomi Hunter, Nastasha Romanenko and Mei-Ling, along with several other of the new recruits Greg was familiar with were being taken in, some of them being executed on the spot.

Greg can also see Maggie Thompson, with a deep saddened look on her face, sitting on a table with a chess board and pieces on it, having now knowing the fates of her comrades by now.

"Campbell and his subordinates will be executed for defying their wishes…" Michiko spoke. "FOXHOUND will either be replaced by a selected group exclusively from the Patriots, or will be taken out of existence, due to your actions, Greg."

Greg remained silent as further and further, the resonance he was getting from the vision continued to weigh his body with destructive power. He tried his best not to show it or let it get out of hand as he didn't want Michiko to get hurt.

"The Patriots have succeeded in seizing NERV from the enemy that your comrades are fighting, the Sons of Liberty and Schwartz…" Michiko said, as she showed a nearly decimated Dead Cell group, consisting of Solidus, Fortune, Vamp and Chloe, barely escaping with their lives from the SEELE base, as Schwartz managed to escape from the enemy troops as well. They both were outmanned and outnumbered by the troops which could have killed them.

"They will go into hiding for as long at it will take, but doubtfully, they stand little chance against the might of the Patriots who will fully establish control of humankind after FOXHOUND, Philanthropy and NERV have fallen, along with its allies." Michiko said.

"Is that all you have to torment me with?" Greg asked without facing her. He just had about enough of this.

"No, I still have some more of it that it relevant to show you…" Michiko said as she used her powers to focus back on the events that occurred in NERV. Greg can see his old friend, James Masterson, who had been in a serious fight himself, killed as he was protecting Asuka Langley Sohryu. He can see Revolver Ocelot smirking over James corpse, one of his Single Action Army guns smoking.

"James…" Greg simply muttered as he can see Ocelot retreating and Asuka being taken to the Command Centre where she and other several NERV personnel were there bound in handcuffs.

Out from the shadows, Carter Drake stepped out with Shade and several of his mercenary troops behind him, as Drake was all smiles when he read out the sentences of what will happen to those who defy the Patriots.

"The Evangelion pilots, Rei Ayanami, Asuka Langley Sohryu…for be associated with those who go against the Patriots, your sentence is death." Drake said, before an idea came up in his head as he looked at the two young girls.

"My subordinate, Thorn, will make good use of you, First Child…men; take her to him right away." Drake said.

"She will be taken away from her friends and loved ones to become one of Thorn's sadistic experiments." Michiko said sadly. "Even more cruel fates await the others…"

"Asuka Langley Sohryu, I have ways of making rebellious ones like you listen." Drake spoke to her now. "Though…I'm certain my male officers have 'other ideas' of dealing with the likes of you. How about it, Shade?"

"I'm more interested in the captured FOXHOUND woman." Shade turned over to Linn Aramaki's direction, who was still in a state of shock and dementia over what has happened. Shade simply grinned as he eyed the woman and took her close to him.

"That Kinezono fool is no longer worthy of your love, woman." Shade said as he grabbed her by the arm with a sadistic and lecherous grin on his face. "Come with me and I'll take you to where that psychic wannabe could have never taken you before."

"She's all yours, Shade." Drake simply said as he really didn't care about the matter. Greg could only watch helplessly he watched his girlfriend get taken away out of the room by one of his worst enemies. It was truly a moment of shame and guilt that he had to see this.

"The remainder of the troops can deal with the scientist woman as well…" Drake said, as he turned around. "The former Commander, Fuyutsuki, shouldn't have allied himself with the enemies, or else, he wouldn't have to suffer such a terrible 'heart attack' after we got so many details about this base from him…."

"And NERV falls into the Patriots's hands…" Michiko spoke, now showing Greg those who haven't been involved in the invasion to those who managed to escape during it.

The image shifts and Greg can see Ran Fujimiya, Ken Hidaka, Sakura Tomoe and Yuriko Asou joining Yukimura to avenge their lost, loved ones. Mireille Bouquet and Kirika Yuumura also became his aides in the battle. Mai Shiranaui, Kyo Kusanagi, Iori Yagami, the Ikari, Korea, Old and New Hero and the Sakazaki teams stood alongside him. Greg can also see familiar faces of Sousuke Sagara, Kurz Webber, Melissa Mao and Tessa Testarossa with Yukimura, as well with as Yu Ominae.

"I will avenge you both, Jean and Kari…" Yu muttered, remembering how he found out Jean Mondeau died in defense of NERV as well, along with his daughter in battle.

Also with him were Aika Sumeragi, Rion Aida and Maypia Alexmetalia. There were also a number of young people, brandishing samurai weapons with them and carrying flags that had kanji's for different 'fight clubs'. Greg had no idea of who they were, but he had a good guess that they probably were Riku's friends who he hasn't met yet.

"Why Aika would be here with Yukimura?" Greg asked.

"The loss of her students was hard on her, so in a last ditch attempt, she and Kenshin pulled together to confront Drake…" Michiko said, showing Greg now Aika and Kenshin taking on a number of the troops as they tracked down Drake's command post. Greg can see Drake was heavily injured as he did his best to protect Aika before she got any lethal wounds.

"No, not Kenshin too…" Greg muttered as he saw Kenshin entered Drake's office, killing a number of the security that was protecting him from Shade, who he was battling before, and thus giving Drake a shock when he saw a badly wounded Kenshin in front of him.

One of the soldiers draws an HF Blade at the ready at Kenshin. "Prepare to die Shadow Dragon!"

Kenshin, with his remaining strength, prepared to defend, but Drake stops the soldier as Kenshin himself stops in his tracks. Drake then smiled simply and he gets up, walking a good distance away from the ninja, saying to Kenshin, "Well done! Kenshin Mori, you are certainly the Hokage clan's greatest ninja!"

With his energy drained, Kenshin simply dropped on his knees as he already was dead, while Drake used this chance to escape through a secret route. Aika then enters the empty room, only to discover her student in front of her, lifeless.

"No! Kenshin! I can't lose you too!" Aika cried out as she grabbed onto his corpse. "First Greg, now you…Why have I failed all of you?"

Suddenly gaining herself, Aika noticed Kenshin's pair broken swords. Swallowing a bit, she takes his swords and she made her decision along with her friends join Yukimura's campaign against the Patriots.

"The children of the pilots, Touji Suzahara, Hikari Horaki and Kensuke Aida, were among those who were spared of the tradegies that had occurred…" Michiko explained. "However, their world without their friends and those who knew them will never be the same."

Greg was already on his knees by now, his body shaking as he had experienced the vision. Glaring at Michiko, he simply asked, "Are you done tormenting me?"

"Yes, that is all I have to show you, but I still have much to ask and say to you." Michiko said as she used her powers to revert everything to normal. Greg found himself was covered in cold sweat and panting for breath. The feeling in his stomach so badly wanted to make him throw up after everything he has just seen, but it compared to nothing from the growing power within him.

"Tell me something, woman…why did you have to do that?" Greg asked, still unable to face her.

"To make sure that it doesn't come true…I'm only doing you a favour before it's too late." Michiko said, now coming closer to him. "I am so sorry I had to do it, Greg…but there was no other choice. You have to stop this game of yours before someone close to you gets hurt. And you also can't go on thinking you can protect everyone by yourself."

"What the hell do you know about that?" Greg suddenly stood up, his face contorted like before, causing Michiko to gasp at his appearance. "Have you ever been through what I had to deal with? HAVE YOU?"

"Yes, Greg. Like you…I have been exploited by the Patriots and those I cared about had to pay that consequence with their lives." Michiko said sadly.

"Then you must know how I'm feeling right now, but I don't think that matters to you at the moment, doesn't it?" Greg asked seriously.

"It does a lot, Greg. In you, I see myself when I was much younger than you when I thought I could protect everyone." She said. "I came from a small village in the island of Hokkaido and had my psychic gifts since I was four years old. They developed over time until I was in my teens and when I was only eighteen, a man named Robert Thorn came across and tried to take me because of my powers."

Greg's eyes widened as he heard this. (The same Robert Thorn who I ran into some days ago?)

"I ended up challenging that man because I thought I could protect everyone, but he was far stronger than I and was beaten by him. I was thrown into the ocean and somehow survived the encounter." Michiko told him. "After that, I wanted to find out why he didn't finish me off, but when I returned to my village, it was already in a sea of fire. I learnt that mercenary forces had raided it and killed everyone in it, including my father and friends for retaliation…and mostly for my act of challenging Thorn."

Greg stayed silent as she came close enough to touch his right shoulder after he cooled down some.

"I'm here to ask you one thing…is revenge the thing you really desire? Is that what you really want, Greg Kinezono?" she asked. "My need to protect everyone was rather foolish when I challenged Thorn, because I didn't think it would bring an end to those close to me. Do not allow the same thing to happen to you, there's still time to change before it's too late."

"This is not about revenge, in case you haven't realized…" Greg said, as he looked at her seriously. "The point of my existence is now teetering and you think all I'm thinking about is how much I want revenge? All I want to do is just make things right?"

"And you can't do it by yourself, that's where those who are worried about you as of now come in. You need to put more faith in your friends and their talents, Greg." Michiko said.

"I…I just can't do that right now…" Greg choked. "That's not going to be so easy for me to do…in my entire life, all I depended to move on in life since I lost my family years ago was myself. I couldn't find anyone to put my trust on for the longest while."

"It's amazing how you managed to survive up to this point, but it's time you have to change that, Greg. Do you want the vision you just experienced to come true?" Michiko asked. "Do you?"

Greg remained silent as Michiko sensed something unnatural, yet troubling within him.

(Something is seriously wrong with this man…and it's not his actions to blame either.) She thought, as Greg simply shook his head as he started to look outside towards the window.

"I…I need to think this over." He said simply. "I know you are trying to help, but what's the use? I'm already dead anyway. At least it will save everyone around the trouble for the future…"

"But, Greg…I can help you with more than just…" Michiko said, as he grinned at her slightly.

"Please…Michiko. I appreciate the help, and you're more than welcomed to jump in anytime to assist." Greg said, his voice rattling. "I just…want some air right now."

"Of course, it must have been hard on you as well." Michiko said. "I'll be outside downstairs if you want to talk to me again."

With that, Michiko stepped out the door and Greg only stared on as he contemplated what she just said.

"Well, I certainly saw this coming…" Greg said sarcastically to himself loudly. He felt like smoking just to calm his nerves. It's been about seven years since he quit it sometime when his powers went into full effect. Now after seeing the vision, he wished he hadn't kicked the habit. He then went into thought as he gave his actions up to this point some serious thought and what they could lead to.

(But still...if I end up screwing up like in the future Michiko showed me, my hands will be stained with the blood of so many of my friends.) Greg thought as he looked at his right hand.

"Man, that's one short life line you've got there." Riku's voice spoke behind Greg, causing him to jump and turn around to see Riku standing behind him.

"Damn, Riku…did you have to do that?" Greg asked as he tried to catch his breath. "You practically gave me a heart attack."

"That should be my line." Riku replied. "I can't believe I snuck up behind you that easily."

Greg simply stared at his young ninja friend in silence, a depressed and shamed look etched on his usual confident and brave face. Riku sensed something was wrong with him as Michiko was with him for a long time moments ago, not to mention Greg's appearance as of now.

"Well, you just got lucky this time that you succeeded." Greg said simply, his voice low. He surely wasn't feeling the usual 100 percent Greg Kinezono everyone knew him by. "It's just that my mind was on something I needed to ponder on at the moment."

"I'd figured if something was up, you would be giving it some heavy thought." Riku replied simply. "Was it about facing Orochi Shade a while ago?"

"No…something more serious, my friend." Greg simply replied, as he wanted to take his mind off from the vision a bit, he can still feel his powers ravaging his mind by the second due to that. "You've never told me that you're a palm reader, Riku."

"One of the benefits of being a shinobi, it's essential to know of the pressure points of the body as it helps." Riku replied.

"Well, I'd never believe in such superstitious stuff before, but I guess it wouldn't hurt if I let you give it a shot with my fortune just once." Greg said, still in serious and depressed mode, extended his right nano arm and opened its hand.

"So, which one is the life line?" Greg asked, looking down at his palm.

"The one right there." Riku answered, pointing at the shorter line on Greg's palm.

"Damn, you're right. It is short." Greg said as he looked at it.

"Mine goes all the way to my wrist." Riku spoke, holding out his right palm. Greg got a good look at it and knew Riku had a longer 'life line' than his. Lowering his eyes once more, Greg folded his arms as he spoke once more.

"So, why did you really want to talk with me?" Greg asked. "I'm pretty sure you didn't come here just to play palm reader."

"Actually, I just came to have a look at that gloomy face of yours." Riku smiled and then shook his head. "Okay, all joking aside, I'm just here to check on you since Yuina and the others are pretty worried about you. Let me guess, it's about whatever it was Tachibana-san showed you, huh?"

Greg's eyes lowered as he stared at Riku in silence for a few good seconds. Riku can see the now changed tone in his face as it was one of the most serious expressions Greg ever put up since he met him. The glare in his eyes alone was menacing, yet full of remorse and shame at the same time.

"You're right…it is about what that broad did showed me, Riku." Greg lifted his head up and spoke. "And you know what…she was right to do it, and as of now, my body and mind are paying the price as we speak. Fitting punishment for one who seeks revenge and nothing else, huh?"

"But, Greg…like you, we have no idea why this is happening, but don't get the idea that we have intentions of leaving you out in the cold like this." Riku said, patting his back.

"By now, everyone here at the Uruha mansion has a good idea of what's happening to me…" Greg said, as he stared out of the window of his room, staring at the sunset. "Riku…every second by the hour, I feel as if someone else inside me is just persuading me to do what suits me or pay for it with physical pain, when it's obvious that it will get you and probably everyone else killed, if I don't end up doing it first. My mind is just teetering on the edge of keeping things together; man…I'm not sure if I can keep my head together the next time we're in a fight."

"You're not going to be some kind of monster or cold blooded murderer, Greg." Riku said. "Everyone here and around you is willing to do what they can to help with what's going on with your powers…I'm sure there's a way we can beat this."

"Thanks for the concern, Riku…you're really a good friend." Greg hung his head. "But…it's still not going to change anything regarding me if I continue like this. You guys may be safer with me out of the picture and I just drop the whole 'Soldier X-revenge-thing', I'm not cut out for the job I thought I was assigned to. It's best as of today I retire and wait for the end to come and save everyone the trouble."

"Greg…don't say that…" Riku said, feeling the seriousness in Greg's voice. (Whatever Michiko did show Greg really must have affected him in some ways even I didn't predict. Maybe Greg's seen what's he's doing now is going to end up as the biggest mistake of his life, but even if he does drop the whole revenge thing, he's not the same if he's going to allow himself to be defeated like this. I got to help him somehow…)

Riku was silent for a few minutes as he contemplated everything his friend had just told him. He then turned and looked back at Greg whose expression seemed pained at what he had just told him. Suddenly Riku got an idea and spoke.

"Greg, I just remembered something. It was a story I heard someone say in an anime I once saw." Riku said. "Can't remember the name, I think it was 'Cowboy' something, but the monologue sticks out in my mind at the moment."

"Yeah? What is it?" Greg asked.

"It went something like this." Riku answered. "Back on Earth, a man injures his leg on the Savanna and can't walk, so he lays there in agony for a long while. Eventually, the leg rots and he knows that soon he'll die. A rescue plane eventually finds him and saves him, but it's too late and the disease he was infected with starts to take his life. He looks down in the plane and sees Mount Kilimanjaro, the place he was trying to get to. And as he eventually dies, he regrets not ever making it there."

Greg was silent, so Riku continued.

"The character who told that story said that he hated stories like that, and I'd have to agree with him." Riku said. "When someone is looking at or looking for death, it's all because of regret. It may not entirely fit you, but you have to admit that in your case, you aren't exactly stuck in one spot like the man in the story was. You can find other ways, I'm sure of it. Point is, you aren't dead yet and there's still time to get cured and get to that mountain. And don't you even think of going and looking for death either. I can tell you right now that it's probably the worst choice of all. It means nothing more than giving up and simply watching that mountain you never made it to."

Greg simply leaned back against the wall as he took in Riku's advice, his heart heavy with contemplated thoughts about his actions and his powers. With a simple nod of his head, Greg somehow acknowledged the words his friend told him and took them into thought.

"I'll be sure to consider that, Riku. Thanks again." Greg replied simply.

"I guess you need to freshen up before dinner, so I'll excuse you for now." Riku said as he got to the door. "Oh, and one more thing, Greg?"

"What is it now, Riku?" Greg asked.

"You should probably think of this as the time to come forward with whatever other secret you have that everyone else close to you should know about. It's about time you start taking your own advice of keeping secrets more seriously." Riku said with a friendly grin. "See you at the dinner table."

As Riku shut the door, Greg looked on in silence as he was feeling even guiltier for what has been happening.

"He's right…it's not like me to just give up on everyone who's trying their hardest to help me." Greg said to himself. "I got to change gears as of now and try to start trusting everyone involved with their skills if I have to make things work out…but the Patriots are the least of everyone's concerns at the moment."

Greg was in need of a cold shower, a very good reason to start cleansing himself of the sorrow, misery, pain and tragedy he gained from Michiko's vision. His power somehow soaked up a good bit of it as reserve energy and was now adding to the pain he was enduring with his current state. It was more coal and fuel to the fire that was already within him.

"I feel…so sick…" Greg said as memories of those he cared about once again meeting their grim ends clouded his mind. He was no protector or guardian, but soon to be a grand sinner and mass murderer in the future if he continued his pursuit of revenge and not trusting his friends and comrades. Proof of this was when he took off his shirt, revealing the right side of his nano arm now covering almost the entirety of his right chest area with nano and tattoo design like patterns. His body almost seemed to be covered in scars, burns and bruises he had attained from the past and even the vision. He had begun to lose some of his healing abilities which were cooperated from the nanomachines. The front portion of his short hair began to shift from its natural black color to a pale brown grey.

"What's happening to me…?" Greg looked at his right arm, and blood started to cover his sight, as he was now bleeding from the temple. His chest began to throb with all over, his strength began to fade. There was no use fighting the immense pain he was having, as he started to crawl towards the bathroom area, and into the shower.

Turning on the water, it was already set on cold. His body covered in sweat, his appetite ruined and feeling horrible and great guilt inside, Greg huddled his legs together to his chest while still dressed in his jeans and his head in them. While the water fell hard on his back, he broke into tears as it was a traumatic experience for him.

"Am I going to create THAT kind of future?" he cried to himself, the pain in his body increasing as the nanos spread. Greg was at the end of the line here, but he was willing to endure the suffering that was required if he was to pursue the Patriots foolishly like this.

"Please…someone…anyone…help me…I didn't mean for this to happen!" Greg spoke, as his body's stamina victim to the increasing pain in his body. He didn't want to die. He didn't want to suffer either and the same can be said for both cases for his friends and family. But would it make a difference if he was indeed out of the picture for good?

"Sinner…"

"Mass murderer…"

"You see nothing but the destruction that you create!"

"You're useless!"

"How could you?"

"It's your entire fault!"

Greg shivered in silence, hearing the voices of his friends condemning him and his actions. All he can do is just endure this for a while longer and try not to show this side of himself to those who are worried about him. He was becoming someone he didn't want to be because of the influence of his powers, he was too weak mentally and psychically to fight back.

"By the gods…what have I become?" Greg asked as he turned off the shower and got out, too tired to change his wet clothing. Midway to his bed, he collapsed on the floor worn out of his energy, and once again entered darkness in his mind. The next thing he knew when he woke up was finding him at a barren wasteland, as if something that was there before had been destroyed and now just grey dust and ashes spread about around him while distant views of mountains and waterfalls can be seen quite a distance from the wasteland Greg was in.

"This place…no! I'd never wanted to come back here!" Greg stuttered as he stood up to look around. It was the worst place imaginable for him right now, as this was really the base of his mindscape, a place no one else close to him knew about on how it appeared. It truly was a scene of an aftermath of a massive explosion.

"Welcome home, Greg. It's been awhile." A voice spoke from behind him and when he turned, a figure dressed in a dark, overflowing cloak stood there. His face was hard to distinguish, but the red glare in his eyes reminded him of something similar to Garland's alter ego, 'D', but something was much different about the person standing in front of Greg now. He was holding unto something that looked closely to his Ascension lance, as blood covered it and energy was cackling over it, the right arm was exposed and it looked the same as Greg's nano arm, only the nanos had shaped it differently and decorated it with tattoos and Japanese kanjis for 'cursed', 'sinner' and 'murderer.'

"You…" Greg simply replied, now staring at his enemy. "You brought me here, didn't you?"

"Correction…_you_ brought yourself here, since all that has been happening to you would bring you to this." The cloaked figure said, stepping closer to him. "In a way, it just made my job easier to take care of business."

"Just leave me the hell alone, dammit!" Greg said, throwing a punch at the enemy who simply sidestepped it. Greg stopped his movement and spun his body to plant his nano arm into his enemy's chest as it turned into the drill attack move. As blood spurted out of it, Greg stepped up over the injured cloaked intruder.

"I'd never wanted to visit this place again, you should know that!" Greg shouted to the figure.

"But this is your home, Greg…you're back to the other side of the line." The figure spoke as he was grinning now. "It will be good to see you die where you belong."

Before Greg noticed, the figure released a series of dark fireballs at Greg's direction, hitting him in several parts of his body. He got stunned for a moment as his arms and legs were weakened now by the attack.

"Son of a…" Greg muttered. "Why aren't you dead? I thought I had vanquished you son long ago…"

"Simple, boy…you went for the heart." The figure said as he stood up, removing the cloak, revealing himself. It was actually a twisted version of Greg, only now the right side of his face is covered in nanos, the right side of his eye covered in blood and a twisted grin on his face. The clothing he wore was a dark, tattered version of his current FOXHOUND Sneaking Suit, also decorated in scars, tattoos and nanos. "And I haven't had one of those in years, not since you tore it out by denying everyone of your friends that is."

"It's not going to be like that anymore!" Greg shouted back to his dark mirror self. "Things are going to be different now from now on, because of what Michiko showed me and how everyone else is doing their best to help me…"

"Pssh…you'd really think they would help a weakling like you who'd can't even help himself? Don't make me laugh." Violent Greg cut in. "In the end, you're just going have to give in to the reality of your gifts, my friend. I am the side of you that actually makes you whole, after all."

"That's not true!"

"Really? Can't you feel it, Greg? A surge so irresistible you can't fight it, but just want to wade in it for fun?" Violent Greg spoke as he walked around. "It's the basis of the bloodlust, Greg and it's getting stronger by the day as your powers grow. You're not actually dying, but more importantly, shifting into something grand beyond even the Patriot's intentions! You should be grateful for the chance you're getting now."

"I don't have to listen to you!" Greg shouted back. "It's nothing but a pack of lies!"

"Lies, huh? What a hypocrite, but then again, that what makes you such a pedigree, Greg, you and I both." Violent Greg said coolly. "You never really questioned the extent of your talents, or why your father went through the trouble of making you like this, and in the end, you just have to rely on everyone to help you, when you know for damn sure they will just turn on you in the end for the monster you've become!"

_The theme for **Street Fighter Alpha 3's Evil Ryu 'Dark Energy'** plays in the background as the battle commences. _

"RRRRRAAAGGGHHH!" Greg shouted as he charged at Violent Greg once more. The evil counterpart simply grinned as he extended his right arm.

"Still has the fighting spirit, I see." Violent Greg said. "This will make things even more fun…just give up and give in, Greg. It is futile, no matter how hard you fight it."

Violent Greg sidestepped the attack once more, now appearing at Greg's open back, the Ascension at the ready. He was going to make quick work on Greg in his already weakened state.

"Thanks to that Michiko broad, she made this so much easier…" the dark version of Greg said, as he released dark panther like flames at Greg, searing his back with them. Greg began to feel excruciating pain throughout his body.

"It all began that day…remember, Greg?" Violent Greg spoke. "My ultimate loss and your ill-gotten gain. It was the contorted road that would eventually lead us back together…and end here."

As Greg's body was stunned by the attack, Violent Greg moved in and started to pummel Greg with multiple punches and kicks. He was getting one hell of a punishment for his deeds.

"I have taken FOXHOUND from you. No job." Violent Greg said as he gave Greg a right hook.

"I have seen you crippled by your fool's quest to be something you're not. No direction." Violent Greg said as he gave Greg a thrust kick to his abdomen.

"I have watched you turned on your dearest friends and family. No friends, no comrades, no one to rely on you anymore." Violent Greg said as he punched Greg on the left side of his face now.

"I have guided choices that would put you close to the wrong decisions. No love." Violent Greg spoke as he used the Ascension to cut deeply into Greg's right leg.

"No self respect." Violent Greg gave Greg a serious and critical uppercut.

"No hope." Violent Greg said as he slashed an open wound on Greg's left wrist. Greg couldn't stand up any longer due to the injuries he now have gotten and the fatigue he endured while he was in the vision.

"You have nothing left…but faith that the beating of your tortured heart means that you are still alive. That you still stand a chance." Violent Greg said as he prepared the Ascension once more. He then plunged it into Greg's chest. "No chance."

Greg was speechless as he looked down on his bleeding chest and dropped unto his knees. "Now, that's got to be…bar none…"

Greg fell back, his strength faded. "Hold up…this is the wrong ending…do over…"

"Life doesn't work that way…you taught me that….Greg Matthews." Violent Greg said as he looked down at his failed counterpart. He then planted his nano arm on the temple of the unconscious Greg as he scarred it with a Japanese mark for 'cursed.'

"Goodbye, Greg. See you in your nightmares." Violent Greg said as he simply dematerialized into his own counterparts' body. Greg laid there motionless for the moment as two figures stood at a distance watching the events fold. One of them was a tall, white woman, with brown hair and long tied braids, dressed in a white cloak, holding unto a young boy who was clothed in the same attire. He had an innocent, naive look on his face.

"Hey, mommy. Look, it's some guy!" the boy cried out, pointing at Greg's direction.

"Oh, dear…that poor man, probably homeless and lost at a place likes this. No way he's prepared for the worst out here." The woman spoke. "Daniel, let's go help him up and take care of him, he looks like he needs it."

"Okay, mom! Let's take him home and fix him up!" the young boy and his mother walked over to Greg and picked his unconscious and bleeding body up. They were set to help him with what was happening to him, as unknown to Greg and everyone else involved, there are people on the outside willing to help him…

_Time left for Greg Kinezono's existence: 46 hours, 27 minutes and 30 seconds…_

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ShardclawK: Wow, that chapter had to be one of the most twisted pieces of fiction I've put up since the 15th Angel chapter in COE, only more extreme in cases to what had happened to everyone in the vision and what's up with Greg. What I wanted to do is use this arc as a chance to show pretty much of Greg's weakened emotional and physical state; he's a bevy of emotions just bursting at the seams as the story goes along and he's not going to be the tough brute everyone is accustomed to. Don't worry, fans…from the last set of reviews from my usual fans of this and COE, you sounded pretty concerned for the outcome of Greg's powers and I can assure you I have nothing more nastier planned for him, save for the advanced crazy plot ahead in the fic. Though, the thought of an evil Greg has persuaded me for a while, since it was true it seems he's heading for the dark side, so why not have a separate persona featuring him? Safe to say now that's he's becoming a schizophrenic on the edge if his mindscape is like this. (Damn good guy turned evil menace media wise, but hey, I was looking for ideas!)

Ran: That was some deep and heavy stuff, Shardclaw. I just hope everyone around in the Uruha finds a way to help Greg in time before that evil influence of his kicks in again.

Youji: Yeah, just to pull it off was quite a task, huh?

Shardclaw: Yeah, it was a bit tough to pull off, but with that out of the way, things are going to get even crazier as things start to liven up in the upcoming chapters for Greg and company. I got to thank GreyWolf4 and DarkFusion for their suggestions, inserts and the help that got me through this chapter. GreyWolf, let me know if I'm doing still a good job with your OC's and how you liked this chapter, and more specifically how this is turning out. It's going to be better than it looks, trust me.

Omi: Now for some Easter Eggs. The last set of dialogue between Greg and Violent Greg was from the T-Ray versus Deadpool battle in Deadpool number 13, one of Shardclaw's old time favourite comics.

Shardclaw: Wade Wilson is such an inspiration for some of Greg's famous one liners…also; the area which they did battle in would ring a bell for Tekken 5 fans, as it is the background for the second Final Stage of the game. Boy, do I love the track for that stage, Ground Zero Funk. What a beautiful piece of music this side of gaming…

Ran: In the next chapter, one last attempt to keep Greg on the good side is made as mysterious forces come out to give him a hand and one more leap of inspiration before its too late. Also, Thorn makes a new shocking discovery among a finding a new test subject, while everyone at the Uruha pitches in to help Greg come to terms with his problems and prepare for the arrival of more guests and allies.

Omi: Finally, we can look forward to some happy twists of this fic for the time being, I was worried if this arc will be angst ridden for a long time.

Shardclaw: If I did, it would ruin the spirit of this story, Omi. I can't have a sad themed story cramping everyone's expectations! Anyway, now that I have done the near impossible, time for me to take a small break before getting the next COE, End Of Evangelion May Cry and Oh My Metal Gear 2 chapters ready, spend more time on those unfinished games I got piled up at home, Phantom of Inferno included, and finish read out and watch all the manga and anime collections DarkFusion had sent to me so far while I wait for the reviews. What a schedule….

Before I can say anything else, Ryoko, Megumi, Azumi and Madoka stepped in, all of them wearing thin negligee of slinky and raunchy colours and holding unto whipped cream, and an assortment of fruits.

Ryoko: Oh, no you don't, Shardclaw! We're not done with you just yet!

Azumi: Now that you've updated one of your famous crossover fics, it's our job to make sure you don't slack around in brining the next update soon for your eager fans, especially since this story will reach its first 100 reviews soon.

Madoka: Not to mention, to give us a chance to make sure you're…'prepared' for the girls from either the Phantom of Inferno game, Hanaukyo Maid Team: La Verite and Girls Bravo anime who have been waiting very eagerly for their turn with you for a long time now and you can imagine their…'hunger' after a long wait, can't you, Shardclaw-sama?

Shardclaw: Ulp…aw, man…aw, man…I'll be in trouble if the Girls Bravo chicks do get sent with the full works with them: bikinis and swimsuits, motorcycle model outfits, school, cheerleader and maid uniforms, negligees, animal cosplays…and lots of bananas and whipped cream. And that is what I've seen from pics online rather from the edited and censored Season 1 of that show. God alone knows what can happen if I do eventually get the uncensored version one of these days from good old DarkFusion…

Megumi: Oh, don't worry, Shardclaw-sama…if they do arrive for this update, at least you can make up for it until you do…but, by the meantime, let's make sure you're still tasty as before they or any of the other girls arrive.

Ryoko: Mmmm…creamy.

ShardclawK: Time to break out the protein potential pills, I'm going to need them….it's going to be another long night. Guys, I leave this to you.

Ran: Man, I bet he gets a lot of fanboys jealous as hell whenever he does that.

Youji: Same with me, man. Anyway, it was quite a ride for the chapter, so we expect some good reviews. See you in the next update.

Collis aka ShardclawKusanagi.


	29. Bonus Chapter 2: Path to Salvation Act 1

Disclaimer: Same as always, you can check the introduction bios for the respective authors/creators who own the characters and material used in this story.

ShardclawK: Well, folks, after an almost tough to accomplish chapter, I'm back to get this story moving as usual. Glad to have pleased everyone who have reviewed up to this point of the story and I hope to keep on doing the same in the future as this fic grows further, now that it has finally reached 100 reviews! Time to celebrate like crazy!

Ran: He also wanted to especially let one of his faithful reviewers for this and COE, Neo Exodia know for being the one hundredth reviewer of this story, since he was curious if he was the number 100 reviewer. Well, now you know and Shardclaw appreciate that.

Shardclaw: Now, now…I'm just doing what I can to make sure most of the fanbase like the stuff that will happen in this story soon. I always assure them a rather bumpy ride when you're reading my fics, especially crossover fics like this.

Youji: Not to mention more of the hawt chicks you get for updates like this from DarkFusion and Tempest Dynasty.

ShardclawK: Shhhhh! You can't say that right now, Youji, especially in front of the jealous number of fanboys. I appreciate the goodies, but sometimes, things do get crazy and out of hand if the girls can't wait any longer and when its time for shipments…

As I said that, the girls of the H-games, Come See Me Tonight 2 and The Sagara Family entered. The uber hawt Tonight girls, who were Koruri Hanayashiki, Minami Tsukikage, Nanao Torishima and Shiina Kazemiya were wearing, thin see thru, slinky Shinto temple uniforms, while Maria, Arisa, Sanae, Emiru and Ruruka Sagara were wearing an assortment of tight and short biker models outfits.

ShardclawK: Aw, man….I really got to prepare myself first if I have to play games with girls this hot before I can even consider I'm ready for it. And to think this number of girls came from Tempest alone, it pales to comparison to the shipment I got from DarkFusion.

As if that weren't enough, Mariel, Konoe Tsurugi, Melon, Marron, Lemon, Yashima Sanae, Ikuyo Suzuki, and Ryuka Jihioh of Hanaukyo Maid Team La Verite stepped in, all of them wearing nothing but full, laced apron maid uniforms that did little to cover their bodies. The three bed warmers, Marron, Melon and Lemon ganged up on me from all sides.

Melon: Shardclaw-sama, we are rather lonely without you right now.

Lemon: Please come back to bed with us.

ShardclawK: You three or are you implying you and all your friends that you've brought from the Hanaukyo mansion?

The Weiss boys stare in shock as they exclaimed: What?

Ran: Shardclaw, you're kidding right? An entire mansion of maids was sent to you as well?

Shardclaw: Why, yeah. I mean, I'm not complaining now about being surrounded by about a hundred or so maids for each department, makes it easier to run and all. Plus, since they got that shipment of the same skimpy maid uniforms from Tempest, they made it an official uniform for my base, so it's a little hard to work with so much…'distractions'.

Mariel: Shardclaw-sama, it's time for your bath.

Yashima: As always, we can use the whipped cream, fudge, or marshmallow pudding as a substitute for soap, while we become your personal, human, body brushes.

Shardclaw: Ulp…see what I have to put up with? I should be thanking Riku for getting that message wrong, but then again, this is my strength that's going to the girls. Oh, well…I'm not exactly tired of bathing in a sea of hawt girls just yet. I'm all yours girls, do your worst.

As always, I get carried off to the bedroom, Ran starts twitching.

Youji: That does it…time for a new job which we can get girls like he does, this is getting old.

Omi: Point taken, Youji. But in any case, let's just go on to introducing the chapter. From the crazy antics just now, it seems that this chapter will have some kind of lightness ahead, so we'll just see what Shardclaw has prepared for us. Everyone, enjoy as always.

This update should please you for the time being.

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Metal Gear: Soldier X

Chapter 28: Bonus Chapter 2: Path to Salvation, Act 1

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The Uruha mansion, inside Kurei's conference and meeting room, earlier that same evening…

"And that's about it so far." Aika Sumeragi said, as she was in a conference room of sorts at the Uruha mansion, speaking to some important people over the colored monitors they were shown from. One of them was Geese Howard's, which was the upper left. Billy Kane, Gato and Ryuji Yamazaki can be seen behind him, listening in on Aika's story. One of the other monitors beside them to the upper right, Kyo Kusanagi, Iori Yagami and Chizuru Kagura can be seen in that one. Adelheid Bernstein and his sister, Rose were seen in the center monitor of the online board meeting.

The subject of this seemingly important meeting was mostly about Greg in his current state. Everyone who knew and trained Greg since he came about on the scene was concerned and told about the uncontrolled power within him and its consequences. Rio was in the Uruha conference room with Aika, sulking to herself as if she knew well what will happen to Greg unless something good comes their way.

"I see…it is just as we predicted." Iori Yagami spoke seriously. "He already has reached that stage?"

"That's most likely." Aika said. "His mind is already on the edge trying to keep his own self in one state as it is. I wouldn't be surprised he only has a limited time to how much longer he can hold up."

"And you were aware of this, Rio?" Geese asked the Japanese blonde woman, who looked at him with teary eyes.

"Yeah…I tried what I can to help him, but he just kept pushing everyone back." Rio lamented almost miserably.

"That is natural for someone who seeks revenge, but not on the case where his powers are giving such signs." Chizuru Kagura said. "If only I had the Yata mirror with me, I would be of some help to curb some of Greg's violent tendencies…."

"But damn that Ash Crimson for stealing it to start up some kind of trouble back in the '03 tourney…" Kyo Kusanagi said, as he shook his head. "In any case, we got to do what we can to help Greg before it's too late for him. He's been quite the useful addition for the KOF for years and he's also reliable when it comes to alliances for certain groups in and out of the organization."

"I agree." Adel simply said from his screen. "But the downside to this is that we can't be seen for the Patriots to spot our movements."

"Yeah, you can bet those damned power hungry blokes would want to take advantage of the situation and try to attack our Greg." Billy said.

"That is a sure bet, Billy." Gato said with his arms folded. "And let's not forget our other 'friendly folk' within KOF."

"Like NESTS, Wolfgang Krauser, Kain Heinlein, White, Freeman, and Grant…Greg's not on their favorites list because of his past with Geese and among other things." Ryuji Yamazaki said. "They would want to get their hands on Greg at a time like this to settle some scores."

"But at least for now, not one of them has known what has happened to him. We can use this chance to buy time so that Aika can get Greg fixed up." Geese said. "So, what is it that you guys are going to do about it?"

"First off, I had brought Greg some new nano colonies to restrict his powers a good bit." Aika said. "They may strain his overall strength by at least twenty to thirty percent, but that's about good enough to prevent him from turning over to the dark side of things."

"Are the nanos approved by Naomi herself, Aika?" Geese asked.

"They are only duplicates using some of Greg's old DNA before his power were forcibly integrated into him, a while back before the Mantis battle. I made sure he gave me a sample of it before he went off to did that as a 'just in case' measure." Aika said. "All I did was added a little 'tweak' to their ability enhancers, so Greg can shift his powers in ways that it wouldn't overpower him or allow him to give into the bloodlust he's developed."

"So these nanos will surely restrict all of his powers?" Adel asked.

"Not exactly…they will do limit some of his psychical strength at the most though, he will have to experiment with the restrictor nanos to see what other powers they would obscure. But these will do no harm to him in any way." Aika said.

"That's good to hear, but I doubt nanotechnology alone would stop the progressing power within Greg…this is more of a mental problem, you know." Iori said.

"That's why I had Nanvel from Team WARRIOR and Yanagi Sakoshita of the Hokage clan to help in restoring some of the regenerative powers Greg had lost from his nanomachines." Aika said.

"Ah, yes…I've heard about Yanagi before from a certain man I've met years ago named Kouran Mori when the Urabutousatusjin was still around and I was invited as a spectator a couple of matches." Geese said, rubbing his chin. "He told me about a young girl he captured and…well; I won't go any further for those in the Uruha mansion who knew what kind of man Kouran was to do such things…"

"Greg's ninja friend, Riku, just happens to be the son of Yanagi and Recca and Riku pretty much know of what Kouran was capable of in the past." Rio spoke now. "I'm sure if he was listening in, he would understand you, Geese, had no intention in taking part of Mori's acts."

"That's for sure and it's understood." Geese said, nodding his head. "Back to the subject at hand…have you guys come up with any way to help Greg through this?"

"We got the healing problem done, the training itself is a different story." Aika said.

"Rio, I take it that now you'll be serious in helping Greg in this? He may need your help and guidance more than ever in this." Rose said, as Rio nodded her head frantically.

"You got that right…it will take a lot for me to give up on Greggie just like that without a fight." Rio said. "Aika and I have already put aside our differences to help Greg train, but we also had got another person willing enough to help us. He's a friend of the Uruha clan who goes by the name of Masanori Sanada."

"Does this Masanori character know the fields of psychic combat?" Geese asked.

"He looks qualified enough and what he says is true, we should believe him for the time being and accept his help." Aika said. "Besides, I sense the most unusual presence about him, and I'm sure Greg has too."

"Riku and his partners may also pitch in with whatever plan they come up to help Greg as well…" Rio said.

"I may need to look up on this Masanori guy to look for confidential intel on him, but if you guys are in a hurry to get Greg fixed up right away, I guess you can go on ahead." Geese said.

"The faster we help restore Greg, the better for all of us." Aika said.

"Then all we can do is wish you two the best of luck and wish for the best results. We will do what we can to buy Greg some time from his enemies." Kyo said. "And Rio…I know Greg's been through a lot, but I'm sure he's denying himself for pushing you and everyone else away so far. Help him a bit to realize you're that matters to him now, not this revenge thing, because we can all see for ourselves what this is doing to him."

"I got it, Kyo. I won't fail any of you now." Rio said as she bowed to the KOF champions. "You have my word."

As she did that, the screens signed off as Aika had finished her meeting. She turned to Rio and patted her shoulder.

"For a moment there, I thought you were going to turn away from the truth as always." Aika said, as Rio shook her head.

"I can't give up on Greg either. He may have given up on himself, but I won't and I'm sure everyone else in this mansion feels the same way too." Rio said. "We all got to pull in and help him now, Aika."

"You got that right, Rio. We can do this." Aika smiled at Rio. "Come on then, we got to tell the others what we've told Geese and the others and how we'll get this thing done."

"And then…we go for Greg and help him?" Rio asked.

"Yes, Rio…we go help him after that." Aika said as she and Rio left the room together.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Meanwhile, somewhere else in a secluded laboratory, a large glass container containing a human body was seen. But the body had an appearance of a chimera like Shiju, but mostly human. It was covered with green hair about his body; his shoulders had open mouths of green tentacles and razor sharp teeth and his face was in normal human form.

The water was drained out and he fell to the platform, soon coughing out its substance. From the shadows, a male voice spoke.

"Welcome back to the land of the living, Masafumi Takatori." Robert Thorn stepped out to greet the chimera. "Sure took the effort, but my science can do wonders to resurrect dead cells, especially, those such as vital as yours."

"Who…who are you?" the half man, half monster spoke. "Where am I?"

"Allow me to introduce myself…I'm Robert Thorn and this is Mokuren." Thorn spoke, introducing one of Recca Hanabishi's oldest enemies. "I have heard of your reputation as a scientist and the former CEO of Kourin Pharmaceuticals."

Masafumi started to growl at Thorn, but he started to hold his head afterwards as it began to throb his head.

"Where's….Schrient?" Masafumi mumbled out. "Where's my group of female assassins?"

"My, Thorn…how long has it since this guy had kicked the bucket before?" Mokuren asked. "Before the Patriots found him and kept him for safe keeping, that is?"

"It's been about five years since your body was recovered in a destroyed mansion, I'd assume your group had a falling out of sorts with both Weiss and Schwartz. That much I do know." Thorn spoke. "Since then, most of Schrient had become non existent, save for two members who followed different paths."

"One of them happens to be a woman named Hel, am I right?" Mokuren said, causing Masafumi to rise up his head.

"Hel…she's still alive?" he asked.

"Along with the other one named Tot." Thorn answered. "I know how much you treasure women, especially those from your own group. I'm certain you can arrange a reunion with those two somehow…"

"What is it that you want from me?" Masafumi asked.

"I'm quite interested in your science to prolong life, dear Masafumi. Your research in micro-technology would deem a great benefit with my combined genius." Thorn spoke. "With both of us working together, we can make your dream for an elixir to give one power and immortality a reality. I can even enhance your current state as a chimera and add new specifications to your abilities with my form of genetics."

Masafumi grinned at Thorn as he was willing to take this chance.

"Sounds like a fair trade…as long as I get back at Weiss for ruining my chance to become a god." Masafumi said. "I can utilize my talents and certainly make my already gifted powers even stronger with your help."

"Good, then you must do something for me…my subordinates have picked a certain interest in a man named Gregory Kinezono. According to the Intel sent by the Patriots, he just recently got acquainted with Weiss and Tot just also happens to be among one of his friends." Thorn said. "I need you and Mokuren to seek him and strike him in his current, weakened state."

"Does this mean I can go after the meddlesome Recca and his buddies once and for all now?" Mokuren asked, his grin twisted, sadistic and lecherous.

"Yes, Mokuren…have as much fun killing as many women as you want." Thorn simply replied, which caused Masafumi to raise an eyebrow and to speak up.

"As long one of those women doesn't include my dear Tot…" Masafumi stepped in front of Mokuren. "And if this man says there are plenty of women where we're going, I won't let you kill all of them."

"Not my problem. I get the most pleasure killing women…" Mokuren said.

"Well, I'm not like you. I'd like to preserve my women." Masafumi spoke as the two stared at one another with angry looks. Thorn shook his head as he can see this can be a problem.

"Enough, the two of you…you will prepare yourselves and await word of my plan." Thorn said, showing them the door out of his lab. As the two chimeras left as they argued on, the psychic scientist only shook his head miserably.

(Maybe it was a bad idea for them to work together in the first place, but they will provide good use for the time being.) Thorn thought to himself. (As for Masafumi, as soon he is done serving me with what I need; I will eliminate him to get the competition out of the way.)

And so, Thorn began to plan his strike on Greg Kinezono and his friends. He got his BOW army on the ready, now he needs to test Masafumi a bit to do his bidding.

"It won't be long now, my dear Greg. Let's see if you will be strong enough for our rematch when I meet you soon." Thorn said with a grin on his face.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"You've failed everyone, Greg!"

"It's your entire fault!"

"You're responsible for so many deaths!"

"You can't protect everyone!"

The voices kept one ringing on in the darkness, while Greg himself was still knocked out from his evil counterpart's previous attacks. Greg got a hard knock lesson like no other for his current deeds and now he has to pay for them with his life.

"It's over…I'd better give up now and save everyone the trouble…" Greg said to himself, his body injured and ruptured by all that has happened.

First was the ordeal of his shifting powers. Since his fight with Shiju, he can feel himself slipping into darkness and evil by the day.

Then his recent battle with Orochi Shade would have killed Greg, as well as his group of friends if Yuina didn't use her powers along with Greg's training to buy everyone some time. When this was proved futile, Kenshin Mori and Masanori came in time to rescue them from Shade who escaped.

Then right after was Michiko Tachibana's vision, which was the just punishment for Greg's actions towards his friends and his revenge against the Patriots. Greg had seen things that no average person was meant to see, especially in his current state.

Then to top things off, was his dark counterpart, the negative emotions which formed a separate entity and was brought to full power thanks to Michiko's vision. Greg got the worst kind of punishment for his deeds to now and he was slowly leaving his body and mind.

"This…is it…" Greg muttered as the voices and pain increased. Before he let himself slip, he felt a different kind of touch; it was sort of a cold press on his temple area.

"What the…?" Greg moved his right arm to touch his temple, there was something damp on his forehead and as he opened his eyes, an attractive woman of white decent greeted his face.

"Ah, you're finally awake. We were pretty worried you won't come back to us, Greg." The woman said with a naïve smile on her face, as Greg sat up. He looked around to see he was in a candlelit room, small with only a table that held the candle, a large bookshelf and a traditional stove made out of stone. There was only one bed, and Greg was on it, being nursed for the wounds he got from Violent Greg.

"Where am I?" Greg asked his head still fuzzy from everything that has happened thus far.

"This is part of your mindscape that I made my temporary home, for now." The woman asked, but Greg simply stared at her, thinking she could be a next Michiko.

"Who the hell are you to do that as if it's some kind of property?" Greg asked. "Did you come to show me a vision too, like Michiko just did?"

"Oh, no! Please don't take me for anyone who wants to hurt you, dear Greg." The woman waved her hands at him. "I'm only here to help you get on the right path before it's too late."

Greg simply laughed a bit as he held his throbbing head. Even in his current state, he can still sense that this woman was telling the truth and her intentions were the same as Michiko's but more important. It's as if she was wholly dependent on the outcome for Greg.

"I don't know…I think you're a little late on that category." Greg said, while looking at this nano arm. "But…who are you, really?"

Before the long dressed woman answered, a young boy entered the room. He saw Greg sitting up and started to smile. "You're finally awake! You're finally awake!"

(Nani?) Greg simply thought. (Why are this kid and woman so jumpy to see me?)

"Daniel, you shouldn't make too much noise. He's still hurt. Did you bring the tea like I told you?" the woman asked him nicely.

"Yeah, I did, mom! Just like you told me to before he wakes up." The boy named Daniel said.

"Fine, I'll get it ready." The woman answered, getting up. Greg was still mystified a bit as to what is going on right now, so he decided to stay silent a bit while he observed the woman and his surroundings. From a window, he can see the grey ashen battlefield he had created within his mind.

"Oh, I haven't introduced myself…my name's Laura and this is my son, Daniel." Laura said, offering Greg a cup of warm tea. "You should drink it all up; it will do well for the wounds on your body."

Without much of a hesitation, Greg took the cup and sipped on it. It had a mildly hot, herbal taste.

"Okay…Laura, Daniel…it's nice to meet you two in the most unusual of places." Greg said as he took his time to drink the tea. He can feel most of the pain in his body easing up over a due set of time.

"We've always wanted to meet you, Greg!" Daniel jumped as he spoke to Greg, as Laura simply chuckled nervously and patted her son's' short cut brown hair.

"It seems you two know a lot about me." Greg simply said as he looked at the two of them.

"We do, for the longest time." Laura said. "It's a good thing we did while there was still time, but I did wish I'd stepped in sooner before…'this' happen."

"You're referring to my powers?"

"That's it. It seems that you rushed yourself in giving your own fragile body too much power it can handle." Laura said pointing to the wounds Greg had. "Of course, that isn't really the issue, isn't it?"

"Of course not…I'm sure you not here to tell me about what I'm doing wrong with my life like Michiko, is that it?" Greg asked.

"Well…in more ways than one." Laura said, causing Greg to raise an eyebrow.

"Mom and I need your help, Greg." Daniel said.

"Help?" Greg asked, before he scoffed. "What good am I to anyone anymore? All I will ever do is bring ruin to those who trust me…let alone me having to trust anyone in the first place."

"Yes, you may have pushed away everyone's help, but it's not too late to change your ways, now that there are people in this world who will need you more than ever, Greg." Laura said. "Now isn't the time to give up on those who care about you, Greg…or on yourself."

"Why are you doing this?" Greg asked. "What is it in me that you two find your special?"

Laura sighed as she looked at Daniel a bit. "Danny, can you give me and Greg a moment and play outside for a while? It won't be long."

"Okay, mom." Daniel said as he got up to leave. Laura looked on as her son started to play in the empty battlefield of Greg's mind.

"His father…the two of you are often alike at times." Laura said. "He didn't believe much in himself until people like me and Daniel helped him day and out."

"His father? Was he a psychic?"

"No, he was just a federal agent who was among the best. The only ones who are psychic in the family are Danny and I, who he inherited that power from." Laura said. "Yes…Jonathan, my husband…"

"What happened to him?"

"He died some years back in duty. He was killed by enemy terrorists in a rescue mission." Laura said sadly.

"I'm sorry to have brought that up…."

"It's okay. Daniel understands too, even though he's too young to be ready to learn the facts of this world…" Laura said. "He never had much confidence in his skills after Danny was born, but every time he looked at him and knew how much people would depend on Jonathan and those who work with him to enforce justice; he never had second doubts about his skills. I've always made sure to help him beat the odds against him."

"I get it…you see the same thing in me too, huh?" Greg asked. "But really, Laura…Michiko was right, I can't protect everyone by myself, and for sure I can't keep on moving against the Patriots like this."

"Well, I'm not stopping you from making the choice to turn your back on revenge and she was right you can't protect everyone by yourself. But this is not about those, Greg." Laura said. "I'm here to make sure you don't fail yourself when it comes to those who are seeking your help."

"Where are you getting at?"

"Greg…in case you know by now, countless people have suffered under the Patriots suppression throughout history." Laura said. "You are indeed one of them, as do I and Daniel. But you also know now that you can't challenge them by yourself…you need an organized force under your wing."

"Wait a minute…you mean like a team?" Greg asked. "Even if that's the case, its not going to change much in terms of how much of the enemy forces that will come at me."

"Yes, you will have to forge a union like no other to stand against the Patriots. You're capable of such power…the power to bring allies and comrades together." Laura said. "That is what I see so special in you and that is why you can't give up on your friends and family, because if you do, everything will just fall apart like in the vision."

Greg remained silent as he now noticed something. "Wait, you can't be the woman who's been communicating to me mentally these past few days, saying to pay attention specifically to those around me?"

"That's right; it was I who sent those messages." Laura said. "I see a bright future ahead of you; Greg Kinezono Mattews…all you have to do is accept fate and your role in this world."

"And my role would be…?"

"To bring together a special team to assist those in need exploited by the Patriots. You're socializing skills are enough to bring even the most unique of people together." Laura said. "This is where you come in to ensure they stay bonded for life, if this world has to survive the Patriots rule and become strong enough to challenge it."

"What do you think I look like to you? I'm not even old enough to pass for a commander to lead any team, yet you say my actions as a human being can bring people together for going up against the Patriots?" Greg asked.

"I see differently, Greg. I could care less on how unenthusiastic you may sound, but I do have great faith in you." Laura said.

"And my comrades…who are this team I'm supposed to be part of?" Greg asked. "Does this involve my buddies from FOXHOUND as well?"

"Only a few, but your team will be different from them. They must originate from different backgrounds and have gone through as much hardships as you had as well which qualifies them for being part of your team." Laura said. "This is your new role, Greg…"

"So far, you've called out Yuina and Seraph as 'candidates'. Are there anyone else that I must know of?" Greg asked.

"Complying of yourself, and those two, your friends, Riku Hanabishi, Nagi Naoe and Tot would also be among the chosen ones to help you." Laura said, showing their faces. "I've learned of their histories and hardships, which is enough to have them close to you at all times, because of their committed friendship towards you."

"That's true…they go almost everywhere with me nowadays." Greg said with a smile.

"There's also your surrogate mother, Rio and your secondary master, Aika Sumeragi." Laura said. "You won't know it yet, but they have skills and resources that can help you immensely."

"That sounds good to know, but just how many of these guys will have to stick with me through tough and thin?"

"Only a number of twelve."

"Twelve alone?" Greg asked. "Then you have an idea on who the rest will be?"

"I do for some of them…Mireille Bouquet and Kirika Yuumura of Noir also was exposed by people like the Patriots, who called themselves the Soldats." Laura said.

"I heard a bit about them from Maki's conversation a while back when she went to inquire the two. Those guys are nearly just as powerful as the Patriots themselves…"

"Yes, that's the truth. The Soldats have used those two, just as you were used by the Patriots." Laura said. "I wouldn't be surprised by now if the Patriots have overpowered the Soldats by now, or in question, is the same organization."

"That makes ten so far. Who are the last two?"

"That will have to be a secret for now, Greg. I really can't determine for you who those two will be." Laura said.

"You know…do you really think I'm really the right stuff for this kind of thing?" Greg asked. "You saw what Michiko showed me, so you know basically what I can do if I lose control again."

"So, do you think after what Michiko showed you, it's all become a lost cause if you just gave up?" Laura asked, as Greg hung his heads down to watch the half filled cup of tea he was holding. "Greg, giving up now is almost the same as letting you die, when there are people who surely need your help and guidance, now and in the future. It may not look it, but that is the case, Greg."

"I really can't do anything helpful for anyone if all that's going to happen to me is turning out to be a harbinger of destruction." Greg said, as he started to sip the tea once more.

"That's not true…that future which you believed would happen, is still ways off from becoming a possibility. There's a good chance you won't create it, but the chances of you leading a better one outweighs the dark future Michiko claims you could create." Laura said. Greg simply let out a small sigh as he placed the cup down and laid his back against the wall behind him.

"Let me get this straight…it would be easier if I just drop this whole revenge affair because I'm needed for more important things, am I right?" Greg asked solemnly.

"Yes, like your friends and family." Laura said. "I'm talking about those within your surrogate family, Team WARRIOR and those within your group in FOXHOUND as well. You do know there's so much they can do with all their exquisite talents."

"You telling me to take it easy and stay away for the time being while I watch those closest to me get hurt?"

"In your current state, you really can't do anything much, except wait it out." Laura said simply as Greg stared at her.

"You're saying I should just grin and bear it?" Greg asked. "If you know what is really going on with my powers, at least come forth and tell me what's happening already, huh?"

"I already told you, you forced yourself before unto taking breaking the limits of your powers that your body can't take, and now your body has to change as well along with them. This is a phase that rarely happens to those whose powers originate with science as advanced as your father's, Greg." Laura said.

"You can say it's a phase, but it feels so different." Greg said, looking at his changing right nano arm. "And then there's that evil doppelganger I've created from my own powers…"

"Yes, the negative emotions that you've held within you for so long since you started your pursuit of revenge somehow created a separate entity within you, right here in your own mindscape." Laura explained. "However, it seems that it's holding its own strength against you…as if it really doesn't want to take over your mind, Greg."

"Is it playing some kind of game with me?" Greg asked, confused.

"Seems that way…"

"I can be sure he will be around more often the next time something like this happens." Greg said. "What am I to do if that happens?"

"Since he's an entity created by your own powers and your emotions, the matter of taming it to an extent would be the best option available to counteract against this curse that you claim to have." Laura explained.

"So you want me to try and tame it someway? Sounds like a crazy plan…"

"But without it, you're not capable of fighting in battle as you are used to." Laura said. "He needs you as much as you will need him."

"What a lovely catch." Greg replied sarcastically. "In case you didn't know, I don't want to end up starting this whole thing all over and everyone I care about actually dies because of my stupid mistakes."

"That will never happen…I can assure you with my own life on that, Greg Kinezono." Laura said.

Greg remained silent as he rubbed the back of his head to think this over.

"How much longer am I suppose to wait until this thing that is going on with my body is…complete for the time being?" Greg asked. Laura simply looked at the watch she was wearing and grinned a bit at Greg innocently.

"You will have to wait on the next forty or so hours to pass." Laura said, causing Greg to stare at her alarmed.

"The next forty hours? This thing has a waiting period?"

"It should be enough for your powers to finally settle themselves within your mind and body, the process can't be rushed like the first time." Laura said.

"This is some crazy shit that I'm hearing today…" Greg rubbed his head some. This was hard for him to take in suddenly, but he understood that at least now he wasn't going to die.

"In any case, you'll know better to control your talents and trust those who abide in you to do your work at times. I've seen how your friends operate and I'm quite impressed." Laura said. "With most of their talents put together and you heading them, it will be quite the team, won't it?"

"If you want to put it that way…" Greg said, staring at her quizzed. "…but in reality, I really can't see myself as a leader for any team. There are people out there more smart headed and experienced than I am, so why go out on a limb to make me believe that doing this will be my destiny of sorts?"

"Because…because, Greg, I don't want the vision depicted from Michiko, or any other which contradicts to the safety of mankind to happen." Laura said, coming closer to gently stroke Greg's chin. "If you don't want it to happen, the time to make the choice has come. You've been given a second chance to redeem your mistakes, Greg Kinezono."

"That's easy for you to say. I may be able to get through this, but how would everyone else will react?"

"They will learn and accept, eventually. You are one capable of a union that will ensure the security of humankind for the future." Laura said.

"A union? Is this what it's all about?"

"And even more." Laura said. "Just remember one thing, Greg. 'If you can bear pain, you can sleep, but if you inflict pain, you can't sleep'. Be sure to get that into your head the next time someone from the Patriots wants to hurt you."

She then stared at the door leading back out. "My time has come for you and me to separate for now, Greg."

"Wait, Laura. I still have questions that will need answering…you can't just leave me now!" Greg called out to her.

"It's still too early to reveal everything at this point, Greg. Though, I can tell you that you heed my words now and do not give up on those who will need you." Laura said. "I will leave a parting gift with you, so you can contemplate easier as you proceed with your upcoming journeys."

"Nani? Talk some sense for once, woman!" Greg said as the next thing he knew, his body felt an overwhelming surge, not powerful enough to hurt him, but strong enough to knock the wind out of him.

"Goodbye for now, Greg. We'll meet again soon once you've realized how important both you and your friends are important to one another." Laura's voice spoke as it faded out along with the mindscape Greg was in. Everything became white and it was enough mind-tripping for one evening as Greg finally found himself back in his room, sprawled out on the floor, still wet from his shower and most particularly dazed.

"Ugghh…enough with the weird visions and dreams already…none of them are pleasing anymore." Greg said to himself as he got up slowly. He sneezed out loud a couple of times before realizing that was wet and still in his jeans.

"What happened? How long was I out for…?" Greg said to himself, before speaking with a tone of shame. "Oh, yeah, Michiko's vision…I guess she drew some valid points to my actions. I guess this means I should re-direct my actions towards something else."

As Greg got out of his wet clothing, he passed the mirror when he went to the bathroom, only to step back and gaze at the sight before him. Strangely enough, he looked different now as he was before meeting Michiko, as his hair had a mix of black and white; most of the wounds he got were healed, but now were covered by the nanomachines, thus making black tattoo lines across his shoulder and neck areas. Flame like marks decorated the lower sides of his neck area.

"What the hell…?" Greg said as he then turned around to see that even the nanos had spread all the way to his back, decorating it with a black panther's claw. His nano arm looked a bit different as well, but not too much for it to become endangering.

"Don't tell me my body changed to look feral like because of the vision…?" Greg asked himself, but fixed his stare. "No, something else caused this…at least my body's not in much pain anymore, but with my good looks partially ruined by the nanos; this can make my rep look bad."

After another good look, he couldn't help but sigh easily to seeing himself like this.

"Not that is a bad thing. But I still can't understand why this would do any good for what I'm doing now. Are things going to change because I've chosen a different path, or am I being punished in some twisted way for denying everyone who tried to help me?"

After changing his clothes, Greg used a white bandana to cover over the entirety of his head as not to show the unusual hair color he got due to his powers. Slipping into a comfortable vest and short cut jeans, he then covered his nano arm with a white bandage strip, as to conceal its new altered look.

"It seems to have a life on its own now…" Greg said to himself as he stared at the altered appearance of his nano arm. Shaking his head, he was going to face everyone now that they've learned what was going on with Greg, but because of Laura's intervention earlier, he knew part of the problem was solved.

"No turning back now as it's time to face the music." Greg said as he started his way to the dining area where everyone was there having their meals. Rio and Yuina were among the first to see Greg's new altered appearance as they stared on with mouths agape along with everyone else.

"Uh….good evening, everyone?" Greg simply asked to cut into the silence that suddenly filled the room when he stepped in. Everyone was all eyes on him as he appeared in different attire, and look. This was the last thing those close to Greg would think he would do.

Rio swallowed her contents before speaking. "Greggie…? What happened to you?"

"Is this your powers at work?" Aika asked him.

"I'm not sure…all I know is that the nanos did something to me while I was…napping." Greg said as he had omitted telling everyone about his encounter with Michiko, who also was in the same room, taking in his changed appearance.

"This happened in your sleep?" Rio exclaimed, getting up to examine Greg.

"Yeah, it's really hard to explain why…" Greg was at a loss of words to fully explain the situation, but took one of Rio's hands as he spoke. "Anyway, I don't think it's anything bad, mom. At least whatever the nanos did somehow ease some of the pain for the time being."

Rio noticed the sorrowful look on Greg's face as she felt something between him and Michiko had happened. She immediately felt she was responsible somehow for Greg's change. Before she can say anything, Greg cleared his throat loudly to get everyone's attention.

"Uh….before we get to eating, I want to make something clear to everyone here." Greg called out to everyone in the room. "First off…I just want to say sorry for not telling you about my powers and what they can do earlier. Now you all can see for yourself just how screwed up they are when they are at this state."

"Greg, it's not really you're…" Lilica cut in, but Greg simply smiled sadly at her.

"You don't need to say it, Lilica." Greg said seriously, looking at the palm of his nano arm. "If my body has to be punished for ignoring and pushing away those closest to me when they are offering a hand, that is one thing I can live with it."

"Greggie…" Rio muttered sadly as more silence filled the room. Greg looked around before shaking his head.

"Why all the gloomy faces? At least everyone's got a plan to help me out now, right? RIGHT?" Greg asked with his arms outstretched. It was then Riku started to talk.

"Well, one thing my partners and I have planned to do is do some training with some of my old family friends that are bound to show up in a matter of days." Riku said. "I also got to make calls to some of my friends from the Uruha Ryu to show up as well."

"You mean that team from outside of FOXHOUND that you created two years ago, Riku?" Maki asked.

"Yeah, the same one. I'm sure they will be glad to meet up with Greg for the first time to help him out." Riku replied with a grin as Greg looked at him.

"Riku….just how many of your friends outside of FOXHOUND do you really have?" Greg asked. "Aside from Weiss, Aya Mikage and her buddies from the Kurumas, just how many, really?"

Riku let out a small, hearty laugh. "Just as much as Greg has and then some."

"I'm certain there are those who we haven't met, I assume." Yuina said from her seat. "Riku, make sure the next time you're taking Greg to meet anymore of your friends, take me and Seraph with you, since sempai will just…"

"Aw, Yuina…since when you became hostile to your own loving guardian?" Greg asked as Yuina pouted at him at first, before looking down on her plate.

"I'm sorry…it's just that I was really worried about you, that's all." Yuina said. "I really don't want anything else bad to happen to you. I mean…look at you now. You're a walking mosaic, sempai."

"Is that supposed to sound like a tone of worry, or a compliment? Because I'm thinking it's more of a compliment." Greg simply said, looking at the nano marks about his arm. "And I DO so dislike tattoos."

"Now that you say it, it does make Greg look a bit…attractive." Yoko, the year of the Sheep said, looking at Greg's altered look.

"Yes, I've never seen tattoos that looked that way before…" Tatsuko said now.

"These aren't intentional! They just popped up on me while I was sleeping!" Greg exclaimed. "I think it's the nanos fault and that they are screwing up somehow…"

"That is because you're really not dying, Greg." Aika said, as she sipped her drink. "You can say you're going through a phase with your powers and mind at the moment."

Greg then looked at Michiko's direction and started to talk. "Michiko, you're an expert psychic, right? Is this some kind of menopause thing that male psychics like me has to go through, or is it something else?"

"Well…if you want to put it along those lines, Greg." Michiko replied simply, though a bit surprised by his question, though it had to be obvious. "If this does get worst, I'm willing to offer a hand in curbing it in any way I can."

"Then it will be appreciated, Michiko-san." Greg simply replied, before he saw a figure stand up to speak.

"I've also taken the duty of helping your surrogate mothers with training you with your powers, Greg Kinezono." The man said who happened to be Masanori Sanada.

"I don't think we've been properly introduced…but are you up to handling me as a pupil? I can be the most difficult, but devoted student at times." Greg said.

"I've known as much as I can about you, Greg…I have a fair amount of combat experience that should be of good use to you." Masanori said.

"Greg, you think this is a good idea to let two complete strangers to help you like this?" Rio asked as she pulled him down to her ear level.

"Geese isn't here to complain about it, so I'd say why not?" Greg replied. "I'd say lets try something new for once if this will save my ass from eternal damnation."

"But still…I'm not feeling so sure about those two, especially that Michiko broad." Rio whispered into his ear. "Did something happen to the two of you in your room?"

Greg realized what his surrogate mother meant and shook his head. "No! NO! Mom, it wasn't like that! I hardly know the woman long enough to be making those kinds of moves against her!"

Michiko simply laughed a bit as Greg and Rio started to argue a bit about it. It was then Nanvel stood up.

"Greg, before you turn in for the night, you have to let me see those wounds of yours one more time and let me check out the nanos to see if I can determine the cause of their 'shifts'." Nanvel said.

"No problem there, Nanvel. I'm willing to become your guinea pig anytime if I have to save my own life." Greg spoke. "So, basically…Rio, Aika, Michiko and this Masanori guy will put their skills to help me, is that it?"

"That's it, Greg. I'm certain this will do something about your powers." Maki said to him.

"That's right; it will take a lot for the old Team WARRIOR to give up on its member." Maya Jingu cheered.

"That's good to hear…" Greg said, before a grin came on his face.

"Sempai?" Yuina asked.

"Greggie?" Rio asked as Greg stood up.

"Everyone, I got to make this announcement while there's time, so I'll be brief." Greg said. "Now knowing everyone on their end will help me out deal with this thing in their own special ways, I will make sure to accept any assistance that may be of use for the upcoming time being. I will make sure whoever else comes my way; there will be enough to go for everyone, meaning you guys can feel free to pitch in at anytime to help out. It would be relaxing for me once in a while to sit in the sidelines to ease myself if it means keeping me in check."

"Well, glad you really admitted that, Greg." Michiko said. (Now you see why I had to do what I did earlier.)

(As this leads me to my next announcement.) Greg said to her mentally as he cleared his throat. "Considering I'm in no condition to fight for the time being, I'm going to take the time to sit down and rest my body so it can heal properly, while self studying what else my power will lead to among other things. So as of today…I, Solider X, am going into retirement from public life till further notice."

Rio spit out her drink as Greg said this as she grabbed his collar. "You've got to be kidding me! You can't just drop the war at a time like this!"

"No, mom. Of course, I can. It's over…I'm calling off my war on the Patriots to focus on other important stuff and that's final." Greg said with a grin. "You would be even happier if I lived a peaceful life like before this started, right? Now I won't ever have to fight anyone who is our enemy, I can leave that you, my family and those here at the Uruha mansion. I trust you guys to handle my problems from now on."

"But…." Rio muttered in shock as she saw Greg pick up his plate.

"Look, mom…it's going to be fun. If this doesn't work out, I can just adjust to my power while everyone here helps us." Greg said. "Now, if you excuse me…I got to start clearing my room of all the paperwork junk I've been making about revenge against the Patriots."

With that, Greg left for his room, leaving some people in the room in a bit of shock as to hear him say he will give up fighting indefinitely. Rio only looked at Michiko and can only think up of one obvious thing.

(Did this woman do something to Greggie that made him act like that just now?) Rio thought. (I'll find out for myself what her game is when she goes to her room later.)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"So, how did the meeting go between you and Greg, Laura?"

"Better than I expected." Laura replied to an elderly white male, who happened to be playing Japanese chess by himself in a dark, illuminated area. "The road to recovery will be a bit long for him, but he has his friends and family with him. He will surely make it through."

"Good to hear. Are you saying this because he is already showing the signs of change?"

"Yes…he seems to be the right candidate for our purpose, Commander. It's just as the records about him had foretold."

"The Gatherer of the Twelve…."

"I see new and promising challenges for him and his group, but they are covered in darkness." Laura said. "Should I intercept for now?"

"No need to, you and Daniel deserve some rest after visiting Greg like that." The man replied. "From here on in, the operation should run smoothly as planned."

"With your permission, sir!" Laura saluted her superior as the light surrounded her vanished. The male sat back with a smile on his face.

"Yes, Greg…we've shown you a new path on life, now all you have to do is travel on it and not lose sight of it now."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Back at the Uruha mansion, Michiko was already finished with her meal, and had entered her room, when she sensed someone from behind her.

"Miss Kinezono, I presume?" Michiko simply asked, as Rio stepped out of the shadows to face her. She had an angry look in her eyes.

"Nice trick of seeing me in your room before you came in, but I've seen better through Greg's demonstrations." Rio said, stepping closer to Michiko. "Let me get this straight with you, Michiko…I don't know why you're here, and most certainly, how you're going to help Greg, but I know you did something to hurt his feelings a bit a while back. I'll be onto you like a hawk and I'll be ready to stop you if all you're going to do is hurt my son, got it?"

"I can assure you, Miss Kinezono, that I have no enmity towards Greg whatsoever. I was doing my best to help him as well, but before it was too late…" Michiko answered, before Rio cut in.

"Greg's been through enough already, please, I beg you….don't give him any more pain than he has to endure." Rio said as she stepped out of the room, tears in her eyes. Michiko tried to stop her, but it was too late.

(Maybe I may have done the right thing for Greg, but his mother doesn't think so.) Michiko thought to herself. (Still…I will need to convince her that all I was doing was saving Greg from destruction…)

As her door closed, Greg can be seen hearing into their conversation, while holding all of his documents in one hand. He shakes his head as he made his way to the living room, where he would use his powers to destroy his research on the Patriots.

"Now, with that off my back…I'd better go and meditate to settle with this power." Greg said as he left for the VR training room.

_Time left for Greg Kinezono's existence: 44 hours, 14 minutes and 28 seconds…_

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

ShardclawK: This chapter was short in its own way, but there will be similar chapters to this one as I want to do this arc in everyone trying to help Greg restore himself take place in stages and phases. Hope you all liked this chapter, as I got more of them along the way.

Ran: Now for an Easter Egg, the quote Laura used near the end of her meeting with Greg was what Scar's master from Full Metal Alchemist said to him during the series. Shardclaw couldn't help it, as he just completed watching the entire 51 episode series last Friday and its now one of his favorites. His only complaint is that why does one of his favorite major characters have to die midway in the series…

ShardclawK: I won't ruin it for those who haven't seen it yet, so I'm urging you to do check it out if you're into anime with cool, lovable characters and lots of twists.

Just then, Marron, Lemon, Melon, Yashima and Miyabi entered in their slinky maid outfits.

Miyabi: Shardclaw-sama, now that you've gotten this SX update out of the way, you'd better focus on COE as not to keep your eager fans waiting.

Shardclaw: That's the least of my worries, Miyabi…I'm just worried about the jealous fanboys' reactions to the amount of hot girls I get every time I update this and COE because of DarkFusion and TempestDynasty.

Lemon: Well, we just have to make sure to ease the guilt you feel every time you do, Shardclaw-sama. And what better way than to have us gang up on you once more for more…'milk.'

Miyabi: Mmmm….delicious.

ShardclawK: Here I go again. I can imagine the chaos for DF's next shipment…

As I get carried off, Ran and the others shake their heads.

Ran: Youji, I think its best for your turn to say to the audience what's going to happen in the next SX update, shouldn't it?

Youji: Sure, sure….anyway, it's bonus chapter time again when the Flame of Recca characters take over the story, as old friends and allies reunite. Meanwhile, Thorn devises a plan to strike the Uruha mansion, while Greg goes through day one of retirement from his Soldier X duties. And what plans Naomi has for Greg as she and Linn go to look for him? Will everything work out for everyone?

Omi: We just have to find out in the next SX chapter for sure.

Ken: Hope you enjoyed the update and we'll see you in the next update. That's if Shardclaw can survive another numerous quantity of hawt anime or game girls sent to him…

Collis aka ShardclawKusanagi.


	30. Bonus Chapter 3: Ninja Gathering

Disclaimer: Disclaimers stay the same as before, though it still sucks that I don't own any of the Flame of Recca female referees…oh, well.

ShardclawK: I did say before I was going to do a special chapter for the Flame of Recca characters in this story, so here it is for everyone to enjoy. However, I had to read over the bits of manga before actually finishing it, as not to miss anything or anyone important to the anime/manga in terms of references before I completed this chapter. Anyway, hope you all enjoy this offering of an update, as there are surprises abound for all to love.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Metal Gear: Soldier X

Bonus Chapter 3: Ninja Gathering

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The night somehow passed like average for everyone at the Uruha mansion, though the members of Team WARRIOR were still a bit angsty over what has happened to Greg, especially Rio. When last she saw Greg earlier that even, he had somehow let his powers took a change of his appearance slightly. Getting herself ready to sleep, she wondered what's going to happen now to him in his state as she slipped into her pajamas, letting loose her long, golden blonde hair.

(Aw, man…just when things can't get any worst for Greg.) Rio thought to herself as she lied back on her bed. (Greg's power is shifting his looks as well, I've never thought it would be this bad…but as Riku and his family had promised us earlier, they would do something to help Greg soon. The biggest worry I have right now is that Michiko broad who showed up earlier and visited Greg. Bright and early tomorrow, I'm going to ask him what was it that went on in his room earlier to make him call off his duties like that…it's just not so clear that he would do this so sudden, especially with all that's happening.)

Shaking her head, she pulled the covers over her and rested her head. (Well, tomorrow's a new day and I have all the time then to interrogate those two. I do hope Greg's okay as of now…) Rio thought to herself as she closed her eyes to sleep.

Meanwhile, in the VR simulator room, Greg was maintaining his meditating posture, but he couldn't maintain the effects of his growing power. He was covered in cold sweat and his body shivered as the vision kept coming back to him in flashes and his evil counterpart in the background of them.

"Ha! Look at you; do you think things will be different now because of a warning?" Violent Greg mocked him. "In the end, you're just a failure who's just going to murder everyone who he claims he cares about. Face it, Greg…this is your true calling!"

"That's not true!" Greg shouted back at his evil counterpart.

"Yes, it is. My, how conceited you've become." Violent Greg said. "And that Michiko claims things won't work with the way you operate. Whether you obstinate from fighting or not, it's not going to be any different for the situation you're in."

"Leave me alone, damn you!" Greg shouted back at him.

"Sorry, can't do that. I'm part of your mind, remember?" Violent Greg smirked. "Try to deny me if you want, you're just making this more enjoyable for me to participate in, especially if that Michiko claims she can even try to help you."

"You…leave her out of this!" Greg growled at him.

"What's this, are you defending her, even after what she did to make things worst for you right now?" Violent Greg said. "No matter, the more, the merrier, I guess. Well, as much as I would like to spend the rest of the evening tormenting you, my time to depart for now has come. I hope to see you again soon, failure…very soon."

Soon, a bright flash soon enveloped Greg's sight as he woke up in the VR room, panting heavily for breath. Clutching his chest, he looked at the ground as tears welled up in his eyes.

(No matter how hard I try, my actions are just going to haunt me because of what Michiko showed me…how could I have not seen this coming?) Greg thought to himself as he pounded the ground with both fists. His strength sapped, he was too tired to try any further attempts to challenge his own power. Rising up from the ground, he made his way to his quarters with a miserable look on his face.

(Man, at least Linn isn't here or else things could get out of hand if she found out what has happened to me…) Greg thought to himself as he went to bed. (In any case, its best she never finds out, so I won't have her get a heart attack out of worry because of this…I wonder how she is going through this right now while I'm not with her?)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"You want to go and visit Greg at the Uruha mansion?" Michael Hansen asked seated as he was playing chess with Garland Durev at NERV's recreation room. Standing at the side next to them was Linn Aramaki, already dressed in casual clothing and holding a gym bag at her side with Naomi Hunter behind her.

"That's right. I've already packed the necessary essentials for the journey, as well as the things Greg may need later for that Virtuous Mission he's going on to deal with later." Linn replied seriously. "Also, I think I would surprise him and everyone else at the Uruha when I show up, it's been almost an eternity that I've seen Riku's family and friends from that place."

"As much as it would ease us that you're going to check up on Greg now, Linn, you are aware about the situation, aren't you?" Michael asked sternly.

"Yes, I've already considered that…the Patriots would be looking for any movements on our part if we try to find Greg, but I can't let that stop me." Linn spoke. "You have to understand how it is when I'm away from him for so long…"

"We can share your concerns for him and I'm just as worried for Greg, Riku and the others with him, Linn. But you got to be extra careful about this." Garland said, moving his chess piece as he spoke and waited on Michael's turn. "As you said, the enemy can be even looking to see if anyone close to him will be moving in his direction and you could place yourself at danger if you make yourself an easy target for them."

"Right, that's why I and Naomi would want you two to take us halfway out of the city, you know…just until we get on a route that will take us to the mansion's area and let us take things from there, that's all." Linn said.

"So, you're asking for an escort out of the city limits?" Michael asked.

"That's basically it." Naomi answered. "We did wish you could have come along with us, but…"

"We know, Naomi. We got responsibilities not with just the terrorists and looking after this base, but with the rest of the younger FOXHOUND recruits as well." Michael spoke, as he took a second to think as he moved his own chess piece. "We're just making sure you and Linn don't end up getting into a situation because you're worried about Greg and have to visit him. Is it that important that you personally have to go as well to see him?"

Naomi's expression changed a bit as she spoke. "Yes, I need to make extra sure about how his progress with his powers are going for now. I have to confirm if he is still psychically fit as his powers had been forcefully augmented some time back."

Michael stayed quiet a bit as he noted Naomi's look as he asked this, as Garland spoke, breaking his thought.

"Well, it is natural that you do have to check up on him about that, so I wouldn't have any objections to it." Garland said. "You just do us a favor and let Greg know that we got his back still and that to come back to us when he's done with his business. The team's not really the same without him these days, especially to use as a good punching bag like the old times…"

"Hey, you're lucky that he wasn't here to hear that!" Linn playfully punched Garland's shoulder as he smirked a bit. "But we'll make sure to give the message to him once we get there, that's a promise."

"By the way, Linn…I have a good friend of mine who should be staying with where Greg is right now, his name is Masanori Sanada." Michael spoke to her. "In any case that should arrive while you're with Greg, he can be of good help to you, and he's really a good person to rely on in times of trouble."

"Okay, I'll remember that too. Thanks for letting me know that you're a step in helping Greg out as well, Michael." Linn said as she nodded at him as she appreciated his concern. "Well, shall we say we get ready to leave soon, Naomi?"

"Yes, I already have packed my luggage and equipment, so everything's set." Naomi replied. "You'll be meeting us when you two are done with preparations yourselves, Michael and Garland?"

"Sure, Naomi, we'll join you in a minute. Let us finish this game first before we meet you both and its time to leave, alright?" Michael said to her.

"Fine then…come on, Linn." Naomi said as she and Linn both walked out of the room, as Michael continued making his chess movements with a serious look on his face, more different than the one he had before when Naomi stepped in. Garland can see this and suspected something he was thinking about bothered him.

"What is it, Michael?" Garland asked suddenly.

"Naomi's hiding something, I could see that." Michael replied. "It's most surely about Greg's powers at this time and she won't reveal to us what it's about."

"You think something is wrong with Greg and she's not telling us everything, huh?" Garland asked simply. "Would Linn know about this that would make her go in the first place?"

"I would suspect so…" Michael replied. "Even if that's the case, Linn wouldn't know about it, but I guess this can be pretty convenient for us and Greg if that ever comes that way. But we can't be too relaxed about it, I'm sure the enemy would continue to pressure Greg from a point where he wouldn't see coming, even at a time like this."

"Yeah, that can be true…they can use this as an advantage." Garland said when he moved his white chess piece once more. He was certainly Michael's rival when it came to playing chess as this was a tight game with neither men knowing the outcome of this match unless they played their pieces right. "But if you say that your sensei is there with Greg, we should worry less about it."

"I was also wondering if it would be right for Linn and Greg to really know the truth about him while they are staying with Riku and his family…" Michael said as he pondered his next move.

"It would be too soon for them to know anyway, Michael. You should give them some time for Greg to get used to being around that guy." Garland said. "Though, I do hope Yukimura is prepared himself to handle Greg…"

"Yukimura has heard enough tales about him to know him well before; I've made sure of that in cases like these, so it would be easier for him to study Greg and be set to deal with any problems he may have." Michael replied. "I just hope Greg is willing to accept the facts about him eventually."

"I'm sure Greg is prepared to, so you really shouldn't worry." Garland said. But before he can realize it, he soon found his chess piece of the king being cornered off by Michael's pawns as his king gets caught.

"Checkmate." Michael said with a grin.

"Damn, good game as always, man." Garland replied as he scratched his head.

"Want a rematch later?"

"Yeah, but for now, let's go meet the girls and escort them out of the city. We can't keep them waiting." Garland said as he and Michael left the room to meet Linn and Naomi at the NERV car parking lot.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The next morning came bright as usual, despite the prior events of the day before. Riku Hanabishi and his partners Nagi Naoe and Tot were there in the kitchen area having their breakfast meals.

"It's good to be still alive to have a meal, with all that's happening recently…" Nagi said.

"Yeah, that was really a scary fight yesterday, wasn't it, guys?" Tot asked, still having the chills from the horrid experience of facing Orochi Shade.

"Really, I swore we weren't able to get out of there alive." Riku spoke as he chewed on his breakfast. "Thankfully for us, both Yukimura and Kenshin-san were both around to save our necks."

"That reminds me, Riku…does our ever so troubled psychic friend need to know the truth about Yukimura?" Nagi asked suddenly.

"I was told by Michael over the Codec that it has to be kept a secret from him for now. I can understand why he suggested it." Riku said. "In any case, the same has to go to the two of you about addressing Yukimura when Greg's around. And thinking about the history Greg has during his stay in Japan, I doubt a name like that would give him clues about him."

"Yeah, you're right about that." Nagi answered. "In any case, we should be more thoughtful about pitching in to help Greg as he is right now."

"That has been bugging me too up to now, Nagi. You're not the only one who's worried about him." Riku said. "And I'm sure everyone dear to him, ranging from WARRIOR to Yuina share the sentiment as well."

"Yuina…I wonder how she's taking all of this in…" Nagi said in a low tone. "The poor girl must be sad about not being able to do much for Greg during that fight, not to mention as of now with his powers."

Before any other words were said, Rio Kinezono, Yuina Hattori, and Seraph had just stepped into the room.

"Yo. Good morning, Yuina." Riku called out, hoping she didn't hear the conversation that was taking place. "I see that you're doing more fine with all that's happening recently."

"Yeah, I just needed a long sleep, that's all." Yuina said, rubbing her head through her long pale, pink hair. "Actually, I was worried about sempai, since he acted in such a weird way last night…"

"Oh, that. When he announced he's calling off the fighting business?" Rio asked, drinking from a cup of coffee. "I still can't believe he would do that…"

"Is something wrong with that, Rio?" Seraph asked.

"Very…something was totally different about him and it's not just his looks." Rio said with lowered eyes as she thought about Michiko. "And if Greg is going to do what I think he's going to do, there's not much I can do to help his attitude when it happens."

"And what is that suppose to mean?" a stern voice said as Greg himself suddenly stepped in, with a tired look on his face.

"Ah, sempai!" Yuina said as she saw him.

"Yo, good morning everyone." Greg simply said, with a seldom look on his face. Greg stood close to Rio and spoke to her. "Mom, what gives you the idea that something's wrong with me because I made one simple decision to not to after the Patriots anymore?"

"This was not the first time that you tried not to fight for a time, Greg. And knowing what can happen, you're willing to do this?" Rio asked, knowing him more than anyone else and what he is capable of at cases like this.

"At least I won't be endangering myself or anyone any longer if I go on, picking a fight with our enemies." Greg simply replied. "Isn't that what everyone wants?"

"Greggie…it's not that we want…" Rio said as Greg placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Look, let's not dwell too much about it, okay?" Greg simply shook his head. "I got a whole day of reorganizing my stuff and resting, I only came here for breakfast."

Rio only stared at her son for a few seconds in silence as she then looked at Riku and now noticed something, as had Greg, Yuina and Seraph as well.

"Hey, Riku…your wounds from yesterday…" Yuina said as she observed the grave wounds he had, were all gone now, leaving him practically scarless, as if he never had gotten into battle.

"Ah, there's nothing like a good breakfast." Riku said as he started to eat. He then stopped when he noticed that Greg and the others were looking at him strangely. "Oh, good morning."

"Uh, Riku…how did you manage to look like that as if…?" Greg asked as now took notice of Riku in his state.

"Well, its kind of hard to put it into words, but in a nutshell, I somehow inherited some of my mother's healing power." Riku replied with a smile. "If I get to sleep a lot, most of the wounds I get can heal rather quickly, and this is just from a hint that power from my mom."

"I guess that explains why you sleep alot." Yuina said.

"No not really." Riku replied. "I just enjoy resting."

"It's almost the same with me and Seraph." Yuina said.

"Yes, a biodroid like me is capable of healing their master of any psychical wounds, but it has limits." Seraph said seriously and in monotone. "I'm afraid I won't be able to go as far as repairing damage to certain mortal wounds if the battle becomes too serious."

"That's okay, Seraph…" Yuina said, patting her. "At least you're doing a good job of protecting me, and the same goes to everyone here at the Uruha mansion, sempai mostly included."

"Yeah, thanks, Yuina." Greg said, knowing she was trying to make him feel a bit better, but it couldn't work. He then focused his sight to Riku and his partners.

"So, Riku…what plan have you cooked up in helping me out with my powers, hmm?" Greg asked, leaning forward. "I know everyone is doing what they can to help me, but I get the feeling it's going to take a lot of effort to make it happen."

"Actually, Greg, the way you're worried about how your powers are affecting you reminds me of something, or rather someone..." Riku paused suddenly and looked over at Nagi, who immediately figured out what Riku was thinking.

(I know what you're thinking...that the situation with Greg almost reminds you of what happened to Shiso...) Nagi said to him telepathically.

(I admit it's not exactly like it, but I'm sure even you can see some similarities.) Riku replied.

(Yeah, I see your point.) Nagi agreed. (Still, I'm not entirely sure telling Greg that particular story will do much to help Greg, if you know what I mean.)

(No duh.) Riku replied. (Actually, I had another idea in mind, though I need to confirm something first...)

"Uh, Riku…was there something you were going to tell me?" Greg asked, breaking Riku's thought.

"Nothing, Greg. Just a thought I had." Riku waved it off. "But in any case, in light of what you just said, there may be a way we can help you."

"Really? Well, what is it?" Greg simply asked.

"Actually, it revolves the people you met just awhile back, the ones me, Nagi and Tot helped sometime ago." Riku spoke.

"Hey, are you talking about Chidori and the others, Riku?" Rio asked, knowing well what Riku meant.

"The same ones." Riku said. "I think they may have what it takes to help sort out the problems you're having with your powers. And the sooner we do this, the better we can to continue organize plans we may have for the future as well.

Greg placed a hand under his chin as he remembered meeting Aya Mikage and her twin brother, Aki, along with Chidori Kuruma, Suzumi Aogiri, Maya Hirobe, Toya and Shuro Tsukasa some time ago. These individuals were victims of the C-Project which were run by the now deceased Kagami Mikage. This project was focused on exposing the hidden, dreadful powers of the tennyo, which originated from the legendary hagoromo relic, dated back to ancient history.

Greg was told of the consequences that surrounded the lives of these people because of the project and he felt disgusted towards Kagami for ruining innocent people's lives. It then struck him that he felt Michiko was right about other people than him suffering in the world, but it was not the time to focus on her harsh, yet strict warnings, especially with his powers at a time like this. At least the mention of these people from Riku can give Greg a chance to meet Shota Kuruma once more.

"So what's so important that I need to see Aya, Toya, Yuhi, Chidori, and everyone else so suddenly?" Greg asked. "Not that I'm complaining, mind you. I wouldn't mind seeing those guys again, not to mention this would be a good opportunity to introduce them to Yuina and everyone else."

"Actually Greg, Yuhi and Chidori have met Rio, Lilica, Nanvel, and Maya before, sort of." Riku said, smiling at the memory of it.

Greg suddenly twitched his left eye and looked at Rio. "Moooommmm…" he called out.

"Heh, come on, Greg. You know as Riku says: 'You never asked." Rio put up both her hands in defeat.

"Bah, whatever. I'll let you slide on this one…"

"Anyway, the real reason we're going is so I can introduce you to a couple of people you didn't meet before." Riku continued. "In particular, you'll meet quite an interesting if not pretty lady. Don't tell her I said that though."

"This woman isn't another precognitive, is she?" Greg asked, wincing a little at the memory of how things went with Michiko recently.

"Oh, don't worry about 'that'." Riku answered. "This woman is quite different from Tachibana-san. She's someone who's as old as forgotten dreams and as deadly as death's shadow."

"Huh?" Greg sweat dropped as that last part didn't sound like something Riku would usually say.

"You'll understand." Riku grinned.

"That doesn't still feel reassuring a bit to Greg, Riku." Nagi said to him.

"Riku, if there are any more people that revolved around the C-Project, you should really let Greg know now." Rio said to him.

"Ah, yes. He didn't meet Ms. Q while we were there the last time, didn't he?" Tot suddenly asked.

"Nani?" Greg simply asked. "Ms. Q? Is that supposed to be another woman I haven't met?"

"She was on vacation when I called up Yuhi to tell him we were coming over the first time you met them." Riku said with a sly grin. "I bet she would be quite interested in knowing much about you the next time you visit them, Greg."

"Well, with a name as elusive and scandalous as 'Ms. Q', it sounds tempting." Greg simply grinned at Riku now. He was certainly planning to flirt with her, since it was part of his rebellious nature. "Well, how soon can you get them ready?"

"I can call them right away and tell them about the next arrival, if you're so eager to meet Ms. Q." Riku said.

"You don't need to rush yourself, Riku. I need to rest a bit first before I'm set for any more crazy adventures." Greg said as he took his breakfast tray, full of nourishing foodstuff. "Well, if that's everything, I got to be going back to my room now and start my so called vacation. And what better way than to start it off with an all day zombie horror movie festival I accessed on one of the cable channels on TV. It's been awhile since I saw, '_Shawn of the Dead'_…."

Rio looked at Greg as he stepped up as she walked over to him. "Hey, Greggie…if there's anything you want, or just want someone to talk to…"

"I know, mom. You don't need to sound too worried about me. I'll be fine." Greg said as he kissed her forehead. "All I'm going to do is lock myself in my room and watch horror movies all day as a form of recreation…I'll be back for lunch. See you all then."

As Greg left the room, Rio looked at him stunned as she started to think to herself that what's happening to Greg was all due to Michiko's intervention.

(That's it…I'm going to have a talk with that girl about this and get some answers….Greg is acting more strangely than before than last night.) Rio thought to herself as she then looked at Riku. "Hey, Riku….you think Aya can help Greg as he is?"

"That's the best option I have in mind right now, Rio." Riku said. "I really can't say what Ceres can do for him, but I know she will try to help and guide Greg in some way when they meet eventually."

"I do hope so…" Rio said as she got up to leave the room. "Can you excuse me?"

Rio then stepped out of the room, leaving Yuina and Seraph with Riku and his partners.

"So, Riku, these people that you and sempai talked about…what are they like?" Yuina asked.

"Well, they're all great people." Riku answered. "I'm sure that you'll get along well with everyone, especially Aya, Chidori, and Shuro. They're great singers as well. In fact, I think maybe if the four of you ever did a quartet or something like that, it would be great."

"Really!" Yuina suddenly asked in surprise. Everyone around her by now knows how well she sings, though it's on rare occasions. When she does, people stop to listen to her. "Sounds so far like really good people to me."

"Yeah, considering all that they've been through, but we'll know for sure when you get to meet them." Nagi said.

"As long they are trustful enough to help sempai out, it's good enough for me." Yuina said with a smile. "Well, I got to be going to go and train now, but I'll go look for Amber first to keep her company."

"Yeah, it's best you do that, Yuina. She needs someone to be with right now and always." Riku said. As Yuina and Seraph left the room, Riku got up to make some calls from his Codec as he walked to the mansion's garden. The first frequency he selected was Aya Mikage's own, as her face appeared on the other screen.

"Hey, Riku…it's been awhile since we last seen each other." Aya said.

"Hi, Aya, sorry if I caught you at a bad timing…" Riku apologetically said.

"It's not a problem. I was just dressing Miku up for the day." Aya spoke. "Anyway, while you're calling, how's that friend you introduced to from before is doing?"

"Oh, you mean Greg?" Riku was hesitant in answering right away. "Well, he's…doing just fine. Actually, he's kind of eager of meeting up with you guys again soon."

"Funny you'd said that, because I was just over at Yuhi and Chidori's yesterday and you should have seen Shota." Aya said. "That kid is still ecstatic about meeting Greg once more when I mentioned your name."

"Really? I have to tell Greg that Shota wants to see him again badly." Riku said with a light grin. "So anyway, Aya, I need to ask you something. Can you still talk to Ceres?"

"I...why do you need to know that?" Aya asked in reply.

"I can't exactly explain it right now, but it is important." Riku answered. "I'll explain to the best of my abilities after you answer my question."

After a few minutes of silence, Aya answered him.

"If I try, I can contact her." She answered. "But I'm not sure I want to disturb her and Shiso's eternal rest unless it's important."

"I understand that, Aya, but really, this is important enough that I had to ask." Riku said.

"Why did you ask in the first place about it?"

"Well, this important matter does involve Greg in some way." Riku said.

"Is something the matter with him, Riku?"

"In some terms…" Riku said, shaking his head. "Look, I really can't put into details how this is happening, all I know Greg is in some kind of jam and I was wondering if Ceres can pitch in to help him out."

"That's quite a request…are you sure Greg is willing to even meet Ceres face to face, even knowing in some details what she really is capable of?" Aya asked.

"Well, that's a chance he's willing to take if it has to help him." Riku replied. "So, please, Aya…you think you can do it?"

"I can see how you're determined to help Greg, but even I'm not sure that it will work." Aya sighed. "But, if Greg is brave enough to face Ceres and accept her help, I guess we can give this a shot."

"Thanks, Aya. You really came through with good timing for us." Riku said.

"Hey, it's the best I can do to start having to help your friend, Riku." Aya smiled. "You call back in a couple of days and I let you know when its okay for Greg to come back to visit us."

"Oh, yeah…it's not just him you'll be meeting again, but he's also bringing Yuina with him as well."

"Yuina Hatori, that girl who you mentioned the last time?" Aya asked. "From what you told me about her the last time we met, I think she can relate to me and Chidori after all that has happened to her…"

"Yeah, she was just told about you guys, but not in too many details. I'll be sure to fill her in about you guys some more, especially Shuro. I know she will go crazy when she gets to meet her."

"I guess I should tell Shuro to come back as well to visit…" Aya said. "Anyway, Riku, I'll do what I can on my end, you don't worry too much. I'm sure Ceres should be able to help Greg in some way with this problem he has…"

"You and I both, Aya." Riku said. "Be seeing you soon."

With that, Riku logged off his Codec and sighed to himself.

(With that out of the way, I can focus on the other happenings around here…maybe I can get myself more acquainted with Greg's second surrogate mother, Aika Sumeragi.) Riku thought to himself as he made his way to look for her. When he did find her, she was in the living room area, watching television with Rion Aida.

"Excuse me, Sumeragi-san, but I need to ask you a couple of questions if you don't mind." Riku spoke.

"I don't mind at all, and you can just call me Aika you know." Aika replied with a friendly smile. "Well, ask away."

"Alright, Aika." Riku nodded. "Anyway, you and Rion are salvagers, meaning you recover artifacts and stuff like that, right?"

"Along the lines, yes." Aika replied simply. "Though our line of business can be seen more than just salvagers these days…anyway, why did you ask?"

"Well, here's my main question, throughout any of your jobs have you ever come across something like this?" Riku then took a picture out of his pocket and showed it to her. It was a picture of a strange looking object that appeared to be some sort of fossil, held inside a glass container.

Aika took the picture and studied it for a few minutes before handing it back to Riku and then answered him.

"No, I can't say that I have." She answered. "But from how you looked when you asked me about whatever it is in the photo, I can assume it's important, right?"

"You've got that right." Riku replied. "Anyway, I was wondering if you and your group could keep an eye out for any of the things like what I showed you in the picture the next time you do some salvage jobs."

"Well, I'll make sure to keep an eye out for any of them." Aika said.

"Thanks a lot. It would make things for us FOXHOUNDers easier if these things weren't in the enemy's hands." Riku said. "In case you didn't know, that kind of artifact is the kind even a mere human isn't meant to mess around with, trust me. I know some people who had experiences with that, bad ones mostly."

"I'm curious; you guys are going to pay us if we find these things, right?" Rion asked hopefully.

"Of course." Riku nodded. "My family, some good friends of mine, and I have discussed this before, and here's what we're willing to pay for one of the items in question."

Riku then handed a piece of paper to Rion, who took and read it. As soon as she did, her eyes widened in complete shock.

"Are...are you sure this isn't your phone number?" She asked, not believing the amount offered.

"Let me see." Riku took the paper back and looked at it. "Oh yeah, thanks. Looks like we nearly made a big mistake with payment amount."

(I knew it; I knew it was too good to be true!) Rion thought as her head drooped in disappointment. (Me and my big mouth...)

"So what's the real payment amount?" Rion asked hesitantly.

"Oh it's not very different from the original amount; we were just missing one extra digit." Riku answered.

Rion nearly fainted over as she heard Riku said that, as Aika looked on with a puzzled look on her face.

"Sigh…cut it out, Rion." Aika said. "He is giving us money's worth for hunting something like this, you know."

"In any case, aside from that…what plans you got to help Greg out?" Riku asked.

"Oh, I already discussed that with Geese, Kyo, Iori and Chizuru just yesterday." Aika simply replied. "The best thing we can do for Greg right now is trying to limit his power, so it can exist within tolerable levels within his system. I have yet to administer the nano-gauntlets to do this, but it's important he takes his rest for now before he wears them."

"Is it guaranteed to work?"

"It's a long shot, but for now, we can trust science to help him, along with your help as well." Aika said. "You know that, Riku…I have to commend your observation about this situation up to this point."

"Why do you say that, Aika?" Riku asked curiously.

"Your face says 'ignore me, I'm a fool', but I see through it." Aika said to Riku.

"What makes you say that?" Riku asked.

"There's a clue in the casual way you carry yourself." Aika answered. "And the look in your eyes just gave me that impression."

"I just have that way with people, but you can say it's an added bonus for being a ninja of the Hokage." Riku replied with a grin. "In any case, I'm sure Greg has some faith in us to turn this around for him, so we should keep the faith, huh?"

"Do you think that would get him through this?"

"Well, he is counting on us to help out with his problems from now after all, so we really can't let him down." Riku said as Rion got up to speak to him.

"Don't get me wrong, I appreciate how you and your entire clan are helping us, Riku." Rion said. "But I'm starting to get worried about how the Patriots may retaliate against all of you for doing all of this."

"Like we aren't prepared for that." Riku smirked confidentially. "And even if they do make it through our security defenses, we members of Uruha and the Hokage clan are far from pushovers."

"You should tell that to those three idiots who picked a fight with Aika." Rion spoke, showing a thumb at Aika's direction.

"They're an exception." Riku replied. "Besides, for most of my family you've just seen them on their good side. Enemies who get on their wrong side, especially in the case of my father and uncle...well, let's say chances of survival are minimal at best."

"Scary." Rion simply said as Riku left the room. As he did, Rion looked up at Aika as she thought of something.

"Hey, Aika….maybe we should contact Gust, Bandora and Shuntaro to let them know what's happening, huh?" Rion asked.

"Now's like the good time for their help as well…" Aika said as she got up. "I'm going to see Maypia to make the call, you coming?"

Rion simply nodded her head as she and Aika went together to see their accomplice, while Riku stepped back near the kitchen area where Nagi and Tot were still there.

"We saw what that was just about, Riku." Tot said.

"Oh, you mean the thing about the hagoromo?" Riku asked innocently. "I thought since they are close to Greg, sooner or later, they would get curious about what he has been learning about the C-Project recently. Also, knowing as much as I can about their business, I thought I can help promote their business a bit by letting see what a real hagoromo looks like."

"Still, why did you ask Aika to keep an eye out for any hagoromo fossils?" Nagi asked.

"Ceres is gone, so there's no way they can be restored."

"Don't forget, Nagi, the Patriots got those C-Genome embryos, thanks to our old buddy Crawford." Riku answered. "Chances are any children born from those could have the abilities of a C-Genome regardless of whether Ceres is still around or not, meaning they'd probably have the ability to make any of those fossils back into mana. You remember how powerful Ceres was when she got her hagoromo back; now imagine what could happen if the Patriots manage to get their slimy claws on it."

"Hmmm….good point, Riku." Nagi nodded his head. "Its better to be safe than sorry and let Aika take care of finding the remainder of the hagoromo for us than the enemy could."

"Glad you saw through my plan. And I'm sure Greg would understand why Aika agreed when he hears this." Riku said.

"Anyway, since Greg is upstairs, having the twisted time of his life, I'd better go and do some self training before Yuina joins me." Nagi said, as he walked out of the kitchen. As he stepped out, he was greeted by one of the Noir assassins, Mirelle Bouquet. She was carrying an old, silver pocket-watch that was cracked, but it can still play a mellow tune.

"Oh, good morning, Mirelle." Nagi simply said.

"And a good morning to you too, Nagi." Mirelle replied with a light smile. It was almost hard to believe that this French blonde was a natural assassin with a face of a common woman. Kirika Yuumura was almost the opposite of Mirelle before, having being torn between her own personal memories as a child, trained by the Soldats and her emotions.

"Good morning, Nagi." Mirelle stopped to speak to greet him, as Nagi returned the greeting.

"Good morning to you too, Mirelle." Nagi replied.

"How's your friend, Greg Kinezono, going?" Mirelle asked. "I was told by his surrogate aunts that he was in need for a long rest because of what's going on with his powers, am I right?"

"Well, he did show up earlier, but only for breakfast. He's back in his room for the rest of the day." Nagi said. "I'm sure he will be okay…"

"I see. There were some things I wanted to ask him, but it will have to wait until he gets better." Mirelle shrugged her shoulders, only to focus her eyes on Nagi. "Actually, there was something I wanted to ask you, now that it came to mind."

"Really? What is it then?" Nagi asked.

"I was just thinking back to when this all started, you know, when we first met because of Schwartz and Dead Cell attacking us." Mirelle spoke, causing Nagi to gulp a bit. "I had known about Schwartz's activities from the time I became an assassin and had heard rumors about a younger psychic of the group who originated from Japan. Can you say coincidence?"

"Are you certain that information is accurate, Miss Bouquet?" Nagi asked, staying cool.

"Just curious if the possibility I have in mind is true. So, what is your connection to this assassin group anyway?" Mirelle asked some suspicion in her voice. "More to the point, what was it about their leader Brad Crawford that got you so riled up when we first met?"

"I'm a member of FOXHOUND; people like him are my natural enemy." Nagi answered simply.

"Kid, you're deliberately avoiding the subject." Mirelle said.

Nagi was silent for a moment and then spoke.

"Tell me...what's the significance of that pocket watch you're always carrying with you?" He asked in reply.

Mirelle stiffened up at that, since that was a sensitive subject for her.

"What does that have to do with anything?" She asked.

"Nothing at all. I just remember seeing that symbol somewhere before so it's probably important." Nagi answered with a shrug.

"So when will you answer my question?" Mirelle asked seriously.

"When you answer mine." Nagi answered. The French assassin simply grinned and nodded her head.

"Fine then…if its answers that you need, there's quite the tale behind this watch, but in reality, I can just consider this as a bad luck charm." Mirelle spoke. "A lot of bad memories happened in my life, as well as Kirika's, because of where this watch came from."

"I'm willing to listen. I've been through almost the same thing as an assassin as well." Nagi said. "At least we can use this as a chance to share some 'secrets of the trade' as well."

Mirelle only grinned at the young Japanese psychic and sat down alongside him to begin speaking about her past with the pocket watch. Eventually, Nagi got to learn more than he expected about Mirelle when she explained how much the watch was connected with her past, as well as Kirika's.

He got to learn about how much she and her partner has learnt about the existence of the Soldats, a worldly organization which had been in existence since ancient times. They had been secretly ruled the underworld of crime and had been selecting candidates to become 'Black Maidens', highly trained and professional assassins faithful to the Soldats. Mirelle was to become one of the next Noir, since her family's name was known to be among the highest in the underworld ranks of assassins.

Her parents didn't want their daughter to follow in the Soldats direction and were killed for denying them. What shocked Nagi even more was that the one who killed her parents was Kirika herself, trained at a young age by the Soldats. She had her memories of the time she was with the Soldats taken by them. Nagi felt almost sad as he heard this for the two female assassins.

"That must really be hard for the two of you to know that the Soldats were capable of ruining your lives like that…it's not any different with the Patriots." Nagi said as he shook his head.

"You got that right…"

"And Chloe? How would you explain her?" Nagi said. "If you said she's the most faithful to the Soldats and their beliefs, why let her join up with you?"

"It's kind of funny when you think about it, but you can say after Kirika killed her, we felt Chloe was just another pawn used by the Soldats for their own needs and we took pity for her." Mirelle said. "We were all manipulated by the same woman who was in charge of the Soldats' activities at the time, her name was Althena. She was quite the delusional one, if you ask me, one of the most psychotic people I've ever met."

"So this Althena controlled everything that led up to finding out about Kirika being involved in your past, huh?" Nagi asked.

"Yes, it was all because of Althena that everything regarding me, Kirika and Chloe came about today." Mirelle said. "But I'm certain that the Soldats are far from finished with the rest of the world. I wouldn't be surprised if they were in cahoots with your enemy who ally themselves with the Patriots."

"Same with me…we may have more common enemies soon, with how things are going." Nagi said.

"You said it." Mirelle replied. "At least now, before they came into our lives, Kirika and I had made sure to give Chloe a second of sorts of living past the Soldats wishes and she was quite happy for that. My only wish is that those Schwartz and Dead Cell psychos don't take what Chloe has managed to gain for her own away from her…"

"We won't let that happen, Mirelle. I can give you my word on that." Nagi replied sternly.

"Thanks for letting me know." She said with a grin. "Kirika and I aren't going to give up on Chloe ourselves."

Nagi got up and left Mirelle by herself, only to run into Tot who suddenly kissed his cheek as he entered the next room.

"Hey, what was that for?" Nagi asked, a bit in surprise.

"How nice of you as always, trying to help out a fellow assassin, even though she thinks that you're connected to Schwartz." Tot said with a smile.

"I felt like telling her then about Crawford and the others, but it would be unwise of me to do so, especially with all that's happening around here." Nagi spoke.

"Yeah, we should wait until they get to know us a bit better." Tot replied. "Maybe then when they do, they can trust us with helping out their Chloe friend when we get to that part eventually."

"By the mean time, we just got to take it a step at a time…" Nagi said as he and Tot started to walk together. They had quite an eventful day to be braced for as they have been overhearing that some of Recca's old buddies are arriving soon.

"We'd better go and help Riku with the preparations for the next set of guests coming here…" Tot suggested.

"Good idea." Nagi agreed, as they went to look on for Riku to join him.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

By the time it was nearing lunchtime, most of the occupants in the mansion were busy getting preparations finished for the arrival of the fellow allies to the Uruha and Hokage ninja clans that were formed during the Urabutousatusjin tournament many years ago. There were even rumors about that spoke of a big reunion party of sorts for the important, new guests, so the place was quite busy and hectic as Kagero, Kurei, Masanori and Kenshin were in charge of having the maids of the mansion get the feasts and the rooms for the guests prepared.

"It's almost that time now…Kenshin, you should go and get Riku ready to greet some of the guests." Kagero said. "Some of the closest ones are already on the way here."

"Certainly, I will do just that." Kenshin said as he left the room to join Riku on the outside of the mansion, where the young ninja was attired casually for the occasion.

"So, who's to arrive first?" Kenshin asked his cousin.

"I heard that Tokiya and Fuuko are just about to arrive with their son." Riku replied as on timing, a vehicle of a grey SUV drove up to the front door. "Ah, good timing, they have arrived."

Out of the vehicle, a woman in her thirties with short, purple hair and a male with long flowing brown hair that was tied into a long single ponytail, who was in his thirties as well, stepped out holding a two year old boy with green eyes and short brown hair.

"Welcome back to the Uruha mansion, Fuuko and Tokiya." Kenshin welcomed them as they exchanged hugs between them and Riku.

"It's good to be back, even if it's on short notice." Fuuko Kirisawa, the master of the Fuujin, the wind madogu, spoke with a grin. She is known to be an externally rough and aggressive person, but she is actually caring and kind. She also possesses the Oni Tsume, a self created attack that creates blades of wind and is also the holder of the Shinryoshintou, a madogu capable of growing and shrinking. Most of these relics were seen in special cases in the backseat areas of the SUV that they came in.

"And how's Tetsunosuke going?" Riku asked.

"He's growing up quite well, thanks for asking." Tokiya Kirisawa Mikagami said. This man was known to be unbalanced and unstable at times, due to the hardships of losing his parents, then his older sister some time after, though he is known to be a rather intelligent figure in battle. His madogu is the Ensui, a water element relic that normally takes the form of a handle, but can shift to a blade to his liking. He was a major player among the Hokage clan in the Urabutousatusjin tournament, but had lacked team spirit.

"Hey, don't tell me that you're forgetting us now, aren't you guys?" a young male's voice said as two other individuals stepped out. It was another couple of a male and female in their twenties, holding the hand of a three year old girl who had blonde hair and blue eyes. The male's hair style was spiky and he had a fang like smile, while the girl with him has long blonde hair.

"I don't believe it…Kaoru and Ganko came with you guys as well?" Riku exclaimed.

"You'd better believe it, Riku." Kaoru Koganei said with a smile. This orphan who was rescued and recruited by Kurei is the most resourceful of the Uruha clan, as being a genius and a warrior at the age of 13 who has mastered the Kougan Anki, a madogu weapon consisting of six forms that can be used as a puzzle. This came as a natural ability to him, as he was a genius who would be seen with a Rubix cube. He is known to be among one of the Hokage's best allies who has never let his dark past let him down. He was among the most confident of the ninjas in the group.

Ganko Morikawa, who was holding on to their daughter, Miyu Koganei, smiled at Riku and Kenshin. Ganko is known to be the holder of the Kata Kugutsu, a madogu capable of animating lifeless objects. Founded and taken care of by Kurei as well, Ganko had a fondness for Fuuko and ended up becoming an ally of the Hokage after her defeat by her hands when Recca, Domon and Fuuko infiltrated Kurei's mansion years ago to rescue Yanagi. It was after everything had calmed down, Kaoru and Ganko settled down with one another.

"We had to come along as well, guys." Ganko said with a smile. "It's good to be back at this place, even if it does have some bad memories here."

"Now, now, Ganko…it's all in the past." Kaoru said. "Kurei's a changed and better man than he was years ago; we might as well accept the invitation for this little reunion and get together."

"You're right." Ganko replied, nodding at Kaoru.

"Well, we won't be keeping you guys waiting. Recca and everyone else are waiting to see you." Kenshin said as he let the guests enter the mansion. When they did, they got an unexpected surprise, when they saw a tall, muscular male in his thirties with a Mohawk hairstyle on his head.

"Domon!" Fuuko exclaimed, rushing to greet an old friend, by slapping his shoulder before hugging him. "You came here as well?"

Domon Ishijima simply grinned at the people in the room as his wife, Aki entered to stand at his side. Probably known to everyone as the strongest of the Team Hokage in both raw strength and spirit, Domon is also Recca's old time rival, though having failed many times to defeat him and always ends up falling for one of his tricks in battle. His madogu is the Dosei no Wa, or Saturn's Ring, which amplifies the wearer's strength when worn. He has two other madogu under his name, one of them is Kuchibashi, which was once an accessory for the Three Nincompoops and is now Tot's weapon. The next madogu he has is the Tetsu Gan which can its masters body into iron after being ingested.

"Like old times, huh, Fuuko?" Domon grinned. "Recca had to pull me away from training to be here, saying it was important. So, I just had to show up and see how everyone's going."

"You just came for the bouquet that this gathering is supposed to have, didn't you?" Fuuko asked, as Domon rubbed his head.

"Yeah, that too." He admitted with a grin.

"Seems like a certain gorilla had never changed." Tokiya said simply, causing Domon to flare up.

"What was that, pretty boy?" Domon growled at Tokiya, as Kaoru and Riku had to hold Domon back from hurting someone. Tokiya simply sighed, yet enjoying troubling this old friend of his for what it seems to have been a long while.

"That's enough, you two." Riku warned them. "If you want to battle it out, do it another time, but not today when we got other guests coming over."

"Riku's right, you're not the only guests that will be staying here. Team Ku is supposed to show up as well in a while, so try to keep things orderly till the reunion begins." Kenshin said.

"I got ya." Domon said as he focused on Aki now. "Anyway, Aki, lets say we get going and meet up with some of the new faces that are staying here. I heard a lot from Recca we got some interesting guests."

"Miki should be with some of the WARRIOR members, so we should meet her and Neon with them." Aki smiled as she and Domon walked out of the living room, leaving the rest of the old Hokage team in the room.

"We should go to our rooms as well and get prepared for the other guests to arrive as well." Fuuko said to Tokiya.

"Certainly." He replied, taking his wife and child to their rooms, while Ganko and Kaoru did the same and went to theirs, while Kenshin and Riku looked at the time.

"We only have about an hour apart before the others can get here soon, so we should continue on with the preparations, Riku." Kenshin said.

"I'm with you…this party hasn't started yet." Riku grinned back to Kenshin. This was to become an eventful day here at the Uruha mansion with the extra set of guests arriving.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Almost an hour later, the members of Team Kuu showed up, having been received warm welcome by both Hokage and Uruha team members. Team Kuu was one of the rival teams that participated in the Urabutousatusjin tournament years ago. They were a team of assassins who would target after corrupt politicians.

"Hey, Daikoku…it's been awhile since we've been in touch." Recca said, as he embraced the team's leader, Daikoku. He was a tall, muscular man with short, cut hair who is an expert with the Bo staff, which his most powerful attack is known as the Kyukyoku Senbon Geki, or, "Ultimate 1,000 Strikes." After he was defeated by Tokiya during the tournament, he still managed to maintain friendship with the Hokage team.

"Yes, it's been too long. I hope life has treated you well." Daikoku said with a smile on his face. Next to his side, was a man in his thirties with long dark hair that covered the right side of his face.

"I can see that it has treated you as well, Saicho." Recca said, turning to the man next to Daikoku. Saicho simply grinned at this old time friend, as he remembered the good times he had during the tournament when he went one on one with Recca. His madogu is the Shikigami, which controls paper, and is an expert in origami, which attributes in battle. He is a confident fighter who rarely gives up with quite a history. He once defeated one thousand men single-handedly at his dojo, when they rebelled due to the students trying to recruit other students into taking up positions as hit men and using their fighting skills for evil. Saicho was entrusted with the duty to bring order to the dojo and enforce its principles. However, he was wounded during his fight, affecting his consequent stamina, which leads to heart failure if he fights more than ten minutes.

"Yes, you're quite correct on that, especially now that Misora is with me to make it so." Saicho said, holding unto the side of an attractive woman with short dark hair. She was known to have been engaged to Saicho during the time of the tournament and even made up to a thousand paper cranes to keep him safe, which he used in his final attack.

"Now, Saicho...there's no need to be open in front of everyone." Misora blushed as Saicho grinned. "But it is indeed good to be back with friends."

"Speaking of friends, where's Fujimaru?" Kenshin asked amongst the crowd.

"Last I saw of him, he's off on a training journey to be a better man. We made sure to send a message for him to come, so I'm sure he will be here eventually." Daikoku said.

"Actually, I already am and on time too." Fujimaru, a lean man with spiky hair stepped in and said. He is rarely liked by anyone, because in general, everyone thinks he's just a greasy slimeball who dishonors his team with underhanded tactics. He is also considered to be a sick pervert as well and he made sure not to get close to an already pissed off Fuuko when she found out he will be staying as one of the guests. Those two really need to stay away from one another for the time being for the sake of the gathering. His madogu is the Kagenui, a small needlelike weapon that is used to pin shadows of the opponent. His specialty in weapons is a pair of curved knives.

"Fujimaru, so you actually did come." Saicho spoke. "Even knowing that Fuuko's here?"

"That can be considered brave, I'll say." Recca said, causing Fujimaru to grin.

"Ha, things are a whole lot different now, Recca." Fujimaru said to him. "Say, how's you own son going? It's been years that we actually seen him."

"You called for me?" Riku suddenly appeared in a ninja style appearance, catching Fujimaru a bit off guard.

"Wahh!" Fujimaru leaped back as Recca and his old friends laughed.

"Seems that your son has learned well in the ninja arts." Saicho spoke.

"Nah, most of it is naturally from my dad, really." Riku said as he rubbed his head.

"Riku, I'm going to get Saicho and Daikoku introduced to some of the guests staying here and some of your friends." Recca said. "Why not help out and take Fujimaru with you around, huh?"

"Sure thing, dad." Riku said as he then faced Fujimaru.

"Wow, this place seems more filled with people than I remembered…" Fujimaru said.

"Didn't you know? We got some extra guests since you guys last talked to my dad." Riku said. "Anyway, first I got to introduce you to my partners, then some friends of the family. They are quite interesting, considering that the majority of them are women."

"Wow, I'm starting to like this reunion already." Fujimaru said even more joyfully.

"Oh one thing, before I introduce you to everyone." Riku then turned to Fujimaru. "Fujimaru, if you're stupid enough to try anything with the women I'm going to introduce you to, you're going to get your ass kicked by not just the women themselves, but my friend Greg as well and I'm not going to do anything to help you."

"Damn, you're cold..." Fujimaru grumbled. "And besides, you don't have to worry about that, after that training journey I've went on I've become a changed man."

"Really, then could you explain this?" Riku then took something out of his pocket and held up a dirty magazine that was part of Fujimaru's collection. "You really need to hide these better, man."

Riku then casually opened the magazine, at the same time easily dodging Fujimaru's attempt to snatch it from his hands.

"Hmm, no censorship, looks like you imported this one from the US." Riku commented as he took a look.

"Give me that!" Fujimaru shouted, finally succeeding in taking the magazine from Riku. "Do you have any clue what that mother of yours or Neon would do to me if they thought I was giving these things to you!"

"I guess you're training journey made you smarter at least." Riku smiled at Fujimaru's enraged expression.

(Don't blame him though, my mom and Aunt Neon are probably the scariest women I know when they get mad.) Riku thought to himself.

"Hey, I got to find Nagi and Tot first though." Riku said as he left the room. "I'll be back to introduce you to everyone, Fujimaru. By the meantime, stay out of trouble."

As Riku left the room, leaving Fujimaru to himself, he breathed a sigh as he watched the dirty magazine with a lecherous, gleeful grin on his face.

(I'd better make sure not to let prying eyes spot me with this…) Fujimaru thought, until his thought was broken by a male voice behind him.

"Hey, a dirty magazine. Been awhile since I laid eyes on an American one, of course this sort of stuff doesn't float my boat anymore." Greg's voice suddenly made Fujimaru leap and go into a fighting stance in front of Greg, who was dressed in a sleeping robe and holding unto a serving tray of food.

"Who…who the hell are you?" Fujimaru asked out of a tone of fright.

"Greg Kinezono…I'm one of Riku's buddies who happened to be staying at this place." Greg simply replied. "You must be one of the ninja folk I overheard was coming over to stay, huh?"

"Uh…that's right. I'm Fujimaru of Team Kuu." Fujimaru spoke as he extended a hand for a shake. Greg complied as he used his right hand to give it a firm shake.

"I really hope we could get acquainted soon, but not right now. There are some personal things that I need to clear up first…" Greg said as he thought about what was going on with him at the moment.

"You're not staying for the party?" Fujimaru asked. "It's going to be a blast, you know. Everyone in the mansion is going to get together and get to meet those who they haven't met in a long time, as well meet the new folk."

"I'm sure it will be fun." Greg said as he simply took a big bite of the sandwich that he made and kept on watching Fujimaru in silence before he spoke. "But not today, I'm sorry I that I got to turn down this invitation for now. My head is just a mess right now. But it was fun meeting you."

With that, he took his lunch with him to his room as Fujimaru let out a big sigh as he watched Greg left the room.

"Geez…what's his problem?" Fujimaru asked as Kenshin Mori entered the room to see what had just happened.

"You have to excuse Greg, he's one of the other important guests staying with us, but he's going through some issues at the moment." Kenshin spoke, waving an arm. "Don't worry, though, he's quite a nice person once he's on his good side."

"If you say so, but I think just by watching him, he's scary." Fujimaru said as he made sure to hide his pornographic material more properly this time as he left the room to join his teammates from Team Ku and old friends. To his surprise, two other men that weren't there before were now speaking with Daikoku. One of them was a tall, man with long dark hair, wielding a boomerang like weapon, the Kaigetsu, which was similar to Kaoru's Kougan Anki.

"Hey, Tsukeshiro! You actually made it." Fujimaru called to him.

"Yes, it's been troublesome a bit to get here, considering all that has happened to me in the past." Tsukeshiro spoke. He was known to be among the loyal of the Uruha members, but he was also part of a secret police for Kouran Mori to report any disloyalty to him. Tsukeshiro was also the master of the Oboro madogu.

"At least we made it for the party…" another voice spoke as a shorter male dressed in a full ninja's outfit stepped next to his friend. He had a big, scary grin on his face, while a copy of himself was eating away at the bouquet table.

"Kashemaru…you're here too?" Fujimaru asked.

"Yup. I wouldn't have missed this gathering for the world." Kashemaru said. The Uruha Ma ninja controls the copycat madogu, the Nisebi, which allows him to generate a false flame. He is a sneaky ninja of sorts who has an array of ninja techniques who arms himself with sleeping medicine induced sword. Like Tsukeshiro, he is loyal to the Uruha Ma and the Hokage clans.

"Hey, where's the boss?" Tsukeshiro asked.

"He's over there, talking to some of the ladies that we're now getting acquainted with…" Kashemaru replied, pointing over behind him, where a tall male, dressed in partial armor made of bone from the lower part of his body. By first look, he almost looked like a chimera, but here he was getting to meet Lilica, Maya and Seraph, along with some of the Urabutousatusjin referees.

"Gashakura-sama, you shouldn't hog all the ladies to yourself, you know." Kashemaru spoke.

"Just enjoying the moments we have now, Kashemaru…" Gashakura spoke with a grin on his face. He was a man opposite of his frightening appearance in battle, as he is kind, fair and only seeks to fight strong opponents in order to gain more strength. It's his rule to never take advantage of an opponent in a fight, even though his Magagumo madogu, the spider armor, is capable in both offense and defense areas. He always seeks a fair competition.

"You're right…it may be fun to get together like this now, but I sense dangerous times ahead for us." Daikoku said seriously.

"Okay, Recca…there must be a good reason why we're all called here at once." Fuuko asked with her arms folded.

"Yeah, it's kind of guilty that you start making us feel comfortable when you know there's a reason why all of those who stuck out with you through the tournament would be here." Domon said. "Start spilling the details."

"Well, in case you want to know, it involves a friend of the family and then some." Recca said.

"Someone we've met before?" Saicho asked.

"Not as yet, but he's a friend of Riku who's in big trouble." Recca said. "You'll get to meet him eventually, but its best you hear out what Riku and his partners, along with our friend's family has to say about it first."

"Yes, its best you hear it from them about everything that has happened up to now." Yanagi said.

"You'd better make this interesting for everyone of us to hear, Recca." Tokiya said.

"It's more than interesting, it's very important, really…" Recca said. "In any case, Riku should start telling everyone about the situation."

"With some required assistance from us, of course." Nagi said stepping out, alongside with Rio, Tot, and Yuina. "Rio and Yuina have their own tales to tell as well."

Yuina took a deep breath as Nagi nodded at her.

"It's going to be okay…you're among friends." He said to her as Yuina nodded back and faced the Uruha, Hokage and Team Kuu members.

"Everyone, my name is Yuina Hatori…" the sophomore said, with her hands clasped together. "All this began some time ago before I met Riku and his friends…"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

After the celebrations, everyone who came volunteered to help clean up alongside with the maids. Some members of the various teams can't get the details of the Patriots involvement in Greg and Yuina's lives.

"That poor girl…those Patriots really made a mess of her life." Saicho said as he cleared a table of leftovers.

"Yeah, I can sympathize with her in some ways. It's cruel that a girl her age has to lose everything because of the Patriots…" Menou, Joker's wife said.

"And this Greg guy is also targeted by them as well?" Domon asked.

"That's what Riku said." Tokiya said. "Sounds more like a call for help, if you ask me."

"It does, considering the enemy we're fighting." Daikoku said.

"Kurei and Recca are making sure to step up the security around the mansion, in case this place gets targeted by the Patriots." Aki said. "In the meantime, we also have to find a way to help Greg with his powers."

"I heard that's been taking care of." Recca said.

"Hope everything turns out alright for them. But for now, when we're done here, let's see if we still have our skills." Domon said. "You're up for a challenge, Recca?"

"You're on. We can duke it out at the VR hall in this mansion." Recca replied with a grin to his old rival.

"Boys will be boys…" both Yanagi and Aki said as they shrug their shoulders in unison.

"That Yuina girl…she still seemed troubled, even when assured that she's going to get the best of help though." Misora said.

"When I get the chance, I may go and have a talk to get to know her better." Fuuko said. "She seems nice enough to get along with and everything…"

"Yeah, so is that Team WARRIOR." Gashakura said. "I do pray for the recovery of their loved one, he seems quite important to them."

"To everyone in this mansion, he is, Gashakura-sama." Tsukeshiro said as the cleaning continued into the night.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Night fell and after a hectic day of meetings and reunions in the Uruha mansion, Yuina stepped into Nanvel's workshop, where the WARRIOR tech head was busy servicing Nan-bot once more. She was dressed in her karate gi uniform.

"Hey, Nanvel…I see you're busy tinkering away as usual." Yuina said as she sat down to become a spectator of Nanvel's skills.

"Yuina…it's unusual of you to come on this side, unless its something that Greg sent you for." Nanvel said as she looked at Yuina and saw the concerned look on her face. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"I was thinking, Nanvel…" Yuina looked at her left palm and then back at her friend. "I was wondering if by chance you are finished fixing sempai's Codec?"

"Yes, I have. But why doesn't he come down for it?" Nanvel asked.

"Actually…I'm not asking for him, I'm asking if I can just borrow it for awhile." Yuina said. "I know it sounds weird, but I want to make sure what is it that he listens to that gets him in that state of mind, that's all."

"Oh, so you know about its MP3 capabilities, huh?" Nanvel asked. "But I need to warn you, Greg's got quite a selection and he can detect if any of his songs are deleted by someone else who uses it."

"Don't worry, its not like I would to that to upset sempai." Yuina smiled. "Since I don't have a Codec, I might as well start emulating him a bit and see what it that he listens to can affect my training."

"He has a very weird taste in music, Yuina. Some of it isn't even good for the ears, if you know what I mean." Nanvel warned her. "You sure you can handle it?"

"I'm old enough to handle it. I'll be fine." Yuina said.

"If you want me to, I can always make one just like it with your choices of music." Nanvel said.

"Okay, do just that. Let me decide which of sempai's I want, before I let you know what of my choice I need." Yuina said, as Nanvel simply sighed and handed over Greg's Codec. Yuina was accustomed to seeing Greg and Riku use them and knew how to put them on without any problems. As she did, she then stood up to walk out.

"Hey, Yuina…Greg won't need it anytime soon, so take good care of it. I won't tell him that you have it and by the time yours is ready, you should give it back to him, got it?" Nanvel said.

"Thanks a lot, Nanvel. Leave it to me." Yuina bowed to Nanvel as she left the room. All that the busty, tanned beauty of WARRIOR can think about was:

(What the hell was that all about?) Nanvel thought. (Oh, well…at least it shows how determined she is to help him…unlike those times before. Now that I think of it, they aren't any different now, aren't they, Naomi?)

And it was then Nanvel sat back and started to think back on the other times before when Greg first entered Team WARRIOR's lives…

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

ShardclawK: Damn, this chapter was one of the most challenging to portray, especially with the amount of ideas I had while writing it, I just throw in every aspect to make a good update even better along with the promise of more Flame of Recca characters appearing in this story, so I do hoped everyone enjoyed it. Incorporating stuff like this almost makes all of us feel as if you're reading Lyrix's 'Capcom vs. SNK: Infiltration' fic, huh? Well, I doubt my work will be nearly as good or large as his, but at least this has a decent fanbase anyways.

In note to the last set of reviews from the last chapter, I was surprised to see the lot of you who are Full Metal Alchemist fans and I got to admit, it was one anime that got me hooked for as long as I can remember. And worry not, curious ones; I do have access to the manga, thanks to my good buddy, DarkFusion, though I got to say that it's far funnier than the anime is, despite its entertaining major and minor differences. Now if only I had more time to read out the remainder of the story, as I already begun chapter 30…

And yes, I'm a fan of Maes Hughes as well, a decent mix of a father figure, badass-ness and humor rolled into one, he was a lovable guy, but I never expected him to actually die. When they showed the funeral scene at the end of episode 25, I choked from crying when I saw his daughter calling out for him and shame on me, it happened at a public internet café! Ah, Hughes…you will be missed and noted as everyone's favorite.

Next Chapter: It's another bonus chapter festival, as we go back in time to reveal some secrets surrounding Greg's powers as Team WARRIOR gets a chance to shine in a special flashback chapter just for them. Hope you stay tuned for that one.

Collis aka ShardclawKusanagi.


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